PHUKET: Samui residents have banded together to buy 2000 rai for a new airport to challenge a monopoly held by Bangkok Airways.
The plan for a second ''Samui airport'' was a measure of the discontent with the way that the existing airport was being run, the Phuket-based chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism, Tunyaratt Achariyachai, told Phuketwan today.
''The residents are taking action because of lack of change,'' she said. ''The current arrangement suits Bangkok Airways, and nobody else.''
The Samui residents plan to apply to the Transport Department in Bangkok for a licence for the airport, on a large holding of land close to the existing Don Sak ferry in mainland Nakorn Sri Thammarat.
As with tuk-tuks and taxis on the ground on Phuket, the transport monopoly in Samui has alienated the rest of the tourism industry.
Bangkok Airways not only imposes high landing fees on aircraft arriving on Samui, it also has turned down requests to lengthen the existing runway. As well, Bangkok Airways controls the taxis that take passengers from the airport all over the island.
There are 12,000 rooms in resorts on Samui - but only 3000 arrivals a day. The short existing runway suits the Bangkok Airways aircraft.
''Bangkok Airways' fares for the high season to Samui are going to rise by 55 percent,'' Senator Thanyarat said. ''It is not difficult to see why residents in the industry are looking for alternatives.''
An airport near the Don Sak pier would leave Samui-bound passengers with a 50-minute ferry trip to the island. Existing mainland airports near the city of Nakorn Sri Thammarat and Surat Thani are 40 minutes and one hour respectively by bus or minivan from the ferry pier.
Promchote Traivate, the regional coordinator of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport and a former Phuketwan Phuket Person of the Year, said today that at one stage, an airport had been proposed for Samui's neighboring island of Phangan. But residents objected, he said.
''Phangan is mostly used for people making snorkelling trips from Samui and for the famous full moon parties once a month,'' he said. ''It would also mean passengers heading to Samui needed to make a 45-minute ferry trip.''
Khun Chote believes that 12,000 rooms is about right for Samui, an island about one fifth the size of Phuket, if the balance with the region's natural attractions is to be maintained.
Phuket's airport is about to be expanded but tourism industry leaders await Airports of Thailand's strategy to handle ever-increasing tourist numbers once the enlarged airport reached its capacity of 12.5 million arrivals and departures.
Eight million are expected to use the airport this year, and if current increases are maintained, that could be 10 million in 2012. The expanded Phuket airport is scheduled to be ready by November 2014.
The plan for a second ''Samui airport'' was a measure of the discontent with the way that the existing airport was being run, the Phuket-based chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism, Tunyaratt Achariyachai, told Phuketwan today.
''The residents are taking action because of lack of change,'' she said. ''The current arrangement suits Bangkok Airways, and nobody else.''
The Samui residents plan to apply to the Transport Department in Bangkok for a licence for the airport, on a large holding of land close to the existing Don Sak ferry in mainland Nakorn Sri Thammarat.
As with tuk-tuks and taxis on the ground on Phuket, the transport monopoly in Samui has alienated the rest of the tourism industry.
Bangkok Airways not only imposes high landing fees on aircraft arriving on Samui, it also has turned down requests to lengthen the existing runway. As well, Bangkok Airways controls the taxis that take passengers from the airport all over the island.
There are 12,000 rooms in resorts on Samui - but only 3000 arrivals a day. The short existing runway suits the Bangkok Airways aircraft.
''Bangkok Airways' fares for the high season to Samui are going to rise by 55 percent,'' Senator Thanyarat said. ''It is not difficult to see why residents in the industry are looking for alternatives.''
An airport near the Don Sak pier would leave Samui-bound passengers with a 50-minute ferry trip to the island. Existing mainland airports near the city of Nakorn Sri Thammarat and Surat Thani are 40 minutes and one hour respectively by bus or minivan from the ferry pier.
Promchote Traivate, the regional coordinator of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport and a former Phuketwan Phuket Person of the Year, said today that at one stage, an airport had been proposed for Samui's neighboring island of Phangan. But residents objected, he said.
''Phangan is mostly used for people making snorkelling trips from Samui and for the famous full moon parties once a month,'' he said. ''It would also mean passengers heading to Samui needed to make a 45-minute ferry trip.''
Khun Chote believes that 12,000 rooms is about right for Samui, an island about one fifth the size of Phuket, if the balance with the region's natural attractions is to be maintained.
Phuket's airport is about to be expanded but tourism industry leaders await Airports of Thailand's strategy to handle ever-increasing tourist numbers once the enlarged airport reached its capacity of 12.5 million arrivals and departures.
Eight million are expected to use the airport this year, and if current increases are maintained, that could be 10 million in 2012. The expanded Phuket airport is scheduled to be ready by November 2014.
