The Transport Ministry will conduct a study for the possibility of building six more airports to link up with neighbouring countries in preparation for the Asean Economic Community (AEC), said Deputy Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisit during a seminar on Saturday.
He named the six potential airports as Betong in Yala province which will link with Malaysia and Indonesia, Mae Sot airport in Tak province to link up with Myanmar, Muk Dahan airport to link up with Laos and Vietnam, Uttradit airport , Kanchanaburi airport to link up with the Dawei project in Myanmar and Aranyaprathet airport in Sa Kaeo province to link up with Cambodia.
The study will take two months and construction is expected to commence next year if any of the projects get the nod from the government, said Mr Arkhom, adding that construction of each of the airports will take about five years.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong announced that the government would go ahead with the second phase of the expansion of Suvarnabhumi international airport estimated at 62 billion baht in costs.
Also, he said that the committee to be set up to study the second phase project would, at the same time, consider the Airports of Thailand Company’s plan to build a new multi-function terminal.
The phase two expansion project for Suvarnabhumi airport includes the expansion of the passenger’s terminal, a monorail train to link the old and new terminals, new runway, 28 parking bays for planes and a car park.