Thanachot Anuwan
Plans to transform U-Tapao Pattaya International Airport
into a modern aviation facility have been suspended after the Royal Thai
Navy refused to approve construction of a new passenger terminal.
Thosaporn Thepabut addresses the Pattaya City Council about the situation in
U-Tapao.
Thosaporn Thepabut, Democrat MP from Phuket and Deputy
Chairman of House Committee on Tourism and Sports, said 600 million baht
earmarked for U-Tapao’s new 25,200 sq. meter terminal will be used instead
for flood relief and rebuilding in the north.
The government announced in May 2009 a 995 million baht
plan to transform U-Tapao into a modern international air hub with the
construction of a terminal capable of handling 1,500 passengers per hour,
new parking facilities, fuel depot, fire-fighting systems, x-ray machines
and improvements to other equipment and landscaping.
The plan became necessary after yellow-shirted
anti-government protestors shut down Bangkok’s two international airports
two years ago. Pressed into service as the country’s main gateway, U-Tapao
was over-run with stranded travelers, causing horrific delays and critical
damage to the country’s image.
The Navy, which owns the tiny facility built in 1965 and
used by the US military during the Vietnam War, approved the redevelopment
and name change in September last year. At the same time, it asked Pattaya
officials to pay for new signs, landscape improvements and a railroad
station that would connect Pattaya with the airport about a 45-minute drive
outside the city.
However, during a December 18 inspection of the airport
and Chonburi’s sports facilities, Thosaporn said the Navy has stalled
signing the terminal-construction contract so long, the House has been
forced to reapportion the money for disaster relief.
Pattaya Mail reporters tried to get a comment from
the Navy officials as to the reasons for not signing the
terminal-construction contract with the contractor, but were told that the
matter was confidential and could not be made public.
Thosaporn encouraged tourist-related businesses, airlines
and local governments to write to the committee to urge the program to
continue, deeming it vital to development of tourism in the Eastern
Seaboard.
