At Don Si Chum Sub-district, Dok Khamtai District, Phayao province, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Srettha Thavisin, together with Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thammanat Prompow, and Minister of Transport Suriya Jungrungreangkit, followed up on the plan for Phayao Airport development. He was welcomed by Phayao Governor, local administrators and people.
Government Spokesperson Chai Wacharonke disclosed gist as follows:
The Prime Minister expressed pleasure to meet with Phayao and Dok Khamtai residents. This was his first visit to the province, and he also thanked Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives and local MPs for the welcome.
It was the Prime Minister’s intention to explore the feasibility for the development of Phayao Airport, as one of the Government’s key policies is to upgrade secondary cities to primary cities, and the most important factor in the transformation is transport development, particularly airports. According to the Prime Minister, a feasibility study must be carefully conducted to ensure cost-effectiveness and benefits. He also called on Phayao people to be patient and wait for the study. The Prime Minister, later, greeted with local residents who gathered to welcome him.
Phayao is situated in the North of Thailand. With the approx. area of 3,900,412 rai, the province is subdivided into 9 districts, and has been visited by an average of 486,679 tourists per year (an increase of 11.15% per year) during 2009 – 2019. The nearby airport is Mae Fah Luang Airport in Chiang Rai province which takes approx. 1.30 hours to travel. A construction of Phayao Airport would facilitate people’s traveling and commuting, in line with the 20-year National Strategy on transport infrastructure development.
The Phayao Airport project occupies an area of 2,813 rai. Land acquisition is expected to cost 1.7 billion Baht, and the construction is estimated at 2,201.485 million Baht. The airport will be developed in 3 phases. It is planned to be fully operational in 2034 during the first phase (the first 10 years) to accommodate an average of 78,348 passengers per year, and later in the 2nd phase, 94,920 passengers per year in 2044. (PRD)
