Mr Srettha, who also serves as the country’s Finance Minister, visited the province’s Takua Thung district around 3pm yesterday where the international airport is set to be developed over an area of 7,400 rai as part of the Andaman International Airport construction project, which also includes new infrastructure development work in Phuket and Krabi.
After hearing an official summary update on the plans for the Phang Nga airport, Mr Srettha emphasised that any development work must not cause any adverse impact on local residents and they should be fairly and properly compensated for any inconvenience incurred by the project, including any land expropriated. Such measures should be clearly specified in the plan ahead of any work commencing, he added.
Mr Settha explained that it is important to develop transport systems to connect with the proposed airport project and appropriate utility infrastructure to enable urban expansion in the future.
The cost of building the airport in Khok Kloi, Takua Thung has been estimated at B80 billion, officials confirmed.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, Chai Watcharong, stated that “the Prime Minister emphasised that the visit to Phuket and Phang Nga provinces did not have any political implications and that Mr Srettha purely came on behalf of the government to listen to get an update and hear any problems that may arise from the development project.”
The Prime Minister had visited Phuket earlier in the day to receive an update on various infrastructure projects that are viewed as a way of boosting the revenue generated by the island for the national economy.