PHUKET: A meeting that was set to sort the future of Phuket Internation Airport rental agreements did not get started yesterday because no Airports of Thailand representative appeared.
AoT wants the present Phuket airport contractors - retailers, restaurants, tour groups, taxis and limousines - to sign up for just a temporary six-month term.
But the operators, now on three-year contracts, say that's unreasonable. They say their investments in the airport now appear to be at risk. The present contracts end this Sunday.
The president of the group representing rental shops at Phuket International Airport, Thammarat Wongjalenyos, said he was disappointed that AoT had failed to send a representative to the aiprport meeting.
''We think it's not really fair on the existing contractors,'' he said. ''In six months, they could be shunted aside while some larger brands move in.''
Khun Thammarat said all of the present contractors were subjected to high rents - and to extra payments above and beyond the rents.
In the case of one restaurant, the extra monthly payments above the rent totalled 300,000 baht, he said.
Taxi and limousine drivers also complain that the high rents at Phuket airport are one reason for the high fares that Phuket tourists frequently complain about.
The lack of negotiations by AoT comes at a busy time for Phuket International.
Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction is preparing its 2000 Thai staff to start work on Monday on the multi-billion baht development of a new Phuket airport international terminal and improved car park facility.
While the new international terminal will lift capacity from 6.5 million passengers to 12.5 million passengers, one commentator has predicted that the new facility could be ''dead on arrival'' if the number of passengers - likely to hit 9.3 million this year - continues to increase at current rates between now and 2015.
There will still only be one Phuket runway, and with the maximum number of flights an absolute limit on growth, onlookers wonder how Phuket will deal with likely increases in tourists.
Most rival airports have 10 year or 20 year plans.
AoT has so far not revealed its plan for Phuket International Airport beyond 2015, when no further expansion will be possible.
AoT wants the present Phuket airport contractors - retailers, restaurants, tour groups, taxis and limousines - to sign up for just a temporary six-month term.
But the operators, now on three-year contracts, say that's unreasonable. They say their investments in the airport now appear to be at risk. The present contracts end this Sunday.
The president of the group representing rental shops at Phuket International Airport, Thammarat Wongjalenyos, said he was disappointed that AoT had failed to send a representative to the aiprport meeting.
''We think it's not really fair on the existing contractors,'' he said. ''In six months, they could be shunted aside while some larger brands move in.''
Khun Thammarat said all of the present contractors were subjected to high rents - and to extra payments above and beyond the rents.
In the case of one restaurant, the extra monthly payments above the rent totalled 300,000 baht, he said.
Taxi and limousine drivers also complain that the high rents at Phuket airport are one reason for the high fares that Phuket tourists frequently complain about.
The lack of negotiations by AoT comes at a busy time for Phuket International.
Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction is preparing its 2000 Thai staff to start work on Monday on the multi-billion baht development of a new Phuket airport international terminal and improved car park facility.
While the new international terminal will lift capacity from 6.5 million passengers to 12.5 million passengers, one commentator has predicted that the new facility could be ''dead on arrival'' if the number of passengers - likely to hit 9.3 million this year - continues to increase at current rates between now and 2015.
There will still only be one Phuket runway, and with the maximum number of flights an absolute limit on growth, onlookers wonder how Phuket will deal with likely increases in tourists.
Most rival airports have 10 year or 20 year plans.
AoT has so far not revealed its plan for Phuket International Airport beyond 2015, when no further expansion will be possible.
Poor management and poor communication in Thailand are the main causes of failures to modernize the country without forgetting the corruption at all levels of the Thai administration; then the worldwide recession in rich countries and the opening of the ASEAN community in 2015 that will add negative points and bleak futures for years coming.... Mai Pen Rai as say those decision-makers in the Thai administration as they are not concerned by the pennyless people.
Posted by Whistle-Blower on September 27, 2012 12:15