The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) was set up in 1960 and a Chiang Mai branch was opened in 1967. The Thai Government organized the PATA (The Pacific Asia Travel Association) conference in Chiang Mai in1969. Businessmen rushed to build the Rincome Hotel to serve the participant of the conference. The city had an airfield before World War II and it was enlarged by the Japanese forces during their occupation of Chiang Mai. After the establishment of the TAT, this airfield was expanded further into an international airport. Its construction began in 1969 and the official opening was in 1987. A super-highway between Lampang and Chiang Mai was constructed during the later phase of the First National Economic Plan, 1963-66. To the surprise of the engineers, this super-highway was made to curve, cutting through the grounds of two historically important temples, Wat Jet yod and Wat Khuang Singh, to end at the Rincome Hotel (Somchote Ongsakul et al. 2003).