TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn, in announcing on April 15 that the TAT will propose the construction of Phang Nga Airport to the National Policy Committee for Tourism, said the airport construction would take three to five years to complete.
“The new airport will also be a transit hub to other destinations, and help relieve passenger congestion at Phuket International Airport,” he said.
Three investment options were being considered for the construction, Gov Yuthasak added. “The government or the private sector may be the sole investor, or the airport could be a result of a joint-investment scheme,” he said.
Chula Sukmanop, who at the time was the Director-General of the Department of Airports but is now the head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), confirmed on April 21 that representatives of local industries and provincial governments of four provinces – Phang Nga, Bueng Kan, Mukdahan and Kanchanaburi – had submitted formal requests to his office asking to build airports in their provinces.
Mr Chula confirmed that he had assigned officials to inspect the sites for proposed airports and to investigate further to determine whether each proposal was worthy of investment.
“If the new airports opened, would enough airlines want to provide services there?” he posed. “We also need to examine the number of passengers. How many will they have?
“We have to consider many details every time we want to open a new airport. We have discovered that some airports we have previously invested in, such as those at Petchabun, Tak and Nakhon Ratchasima, were a waste because the number of passengers using those facilities was small.
“It was not worth the money we spent to build the airport. As a result, airlines refused to provide services there, and there is nothing we can do to make them fly there,” he said.
At a meeting with other local officials in November, Phang Nga Governor Phakpong Tawiphat emphasised the preference for locating Phang Nga Airport at Koh Kho Khao in Takuapa, just north of Khao Lak.
“The location for the new airport has to be huge, and the proposal for construction will have many issues to deal with,” he said.
“We have already suggested the area where the old military airfield used to be at Koh Kho Khao. This area has already undergone preliminary studies in 2005-2007 and was proposed to the Cabinet in 2012, but the Cabinet rejected the proposal because the construction would affect the environment,” Gov Phakpong explained.
“We have now presented a revised plan to avoid any damage to the environment by building a bridge to connect Koh Kho Khao to Baan Nam Kem toward Phetkasem Rd,” he added.
The area proposed for the new airport on Koh Kho Khao covers 454 rai of state land land, measuring 400 metres wide and 1,641m long, Gov Phakpong noted.
“We also have an additional 75 rai which is currently a protected area next to the 454 rai in case we need it to help ease tourist congestion and make using the airport more convenient,” he added.
Gov Phankpong pointed out that in 2014 Phang Nga Province generated B32 billion in tourism revenue, but the province lacked infrastructure development, which affected tourists travelling to Koh Kho Khao, the Similan and Surin islands, Koh Tachai and other tourism spots in Phang Nga.