RATES for long-term parking at Phuket International Airport have increased dramatically, despite a continuing drop in tourist numbers.

In contrast to the easing of aircraft landing fees, the Airports of Thailand head office in Bangkok has lifted the overnight parking rate substantially to 200 baht.

A Phuketwan reader drew attention to the increase. After parking his car in the airport carpark on Saturday between 9am and 5pm, he returned from Singapore to face a bill of 200 baht.

''That's a hell of a lot more than it used to be,'' he said. The AoT declined to tell us the old rates, but a spokeswoman said that the parking fees had not been increased for many years.

The overnight fee had increased fourfold because of concerns about security in the carpark, the spokeswoman said.

Our reader, an expat resident, said he did notice a large sign in the carpark. But it was all in Thai.

''If there was something in English, I didn't see it,'' he said.

The spokeswoman said that the new rates apply from March 1.

For four-wheel vehicles, the rates are: first 15 minutes free; first hour, 20 baht; two hours, 40 baht; three hours, 50 baht, 4-6 hours, 100 baht; seven hours to 24 hours, 200 baht.

''Next time I will catch a taxi,'' our resident reader said.

For six-wheel vehicles, the rates are: first 15 minutes free; one hour, 100 baht; two hours, 200 baht; three hours, 300 baht; four hours to 24 hours, 400 baht.

As Phuketwan has reported, flight numbers to Phuket airport in February 2009 nosedived by 24.5 percent compared to February the previous year, with passenger totals tumbling by 22.87 percent.

Latest figures from Bangkok's main international airport for February 2009 show a continuing slide at Suvarnabhumi, too.

The total number of international passengers arriving and departing Bangkok dipped by 20.57 percent compared to the previous year, and down a little more than the 18.26 percent drop in January 2009.

Domestic passenger numbers through Suvarnabhumi were also down slightly by 0.89 percent, reversing a rally of 5.15 percent in January.

March 2008 was the busiest month of the year, with 3,891,635 passengers passing through the big Bangkok terminal. The total for the year was 38,603,490.

International Bangkok arrivals and departures totalled 2,384,229 in February 2009, down on 3,001,801 last year. The domestic total for the month was 652,868.


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