BANGKOK, 3 September 2015 – Minister of Transport Arkhom Termpittayapaisith revealed after charing a meeting of the Joint Public-Private Sector Standing Committee on Thursday that the meeting was informed of the 17 transportation projects that the government wanted to put to implementation during 2015-2016.
He said the committee agreed to meet every two months to accelerate the realization of the prioritized projects. They also agreed to separate the meetings for fast and concentrated consideration for each transport sector, namely rail, land, marine and air transport.
In today’s meeting, the private-sector committee asked the Transport Minister for a clarification about the government’s policy to upgrade provincial airports to international ones which would allow the airports to accommodate more passengers.
Mr. Arkhom explained that the policy is being expedited, and improvement has already been made to several airports such as those in Lampang, Udon Thani, and Ubon Ratchathani. The Department of Civil Aviation is conducting a feasibility study to upgrade Mukdahan Airport and Yasothon Airport. Meanwhile, runways of Narathiwat and Betong Airports are under renovation for southern passengers.
The meeting also discussed the Thai-Malaysian land transport links. The two countries will hold a meeting with stakeholders to draw up criteria for Thai and Malaysian truck operators to do business in each other’s countries.
Moreover, the Transport Ministry would coordinate with authorities concerned to provide leniency to truck operators concerning weight and height limits of their vehicles. The Minister said an amendment to the rules might be proposed to the Commission for the Management of Road Traffic (OCMLT) for consideration.
