Committee calls for U-tapao airport upgrade to ease traffic

U-tapao military airport in Rayong should be upgraded to a commercial airport to reduce congestion at Suvarnabhumi, says the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development. The meeting of the committee, chaired last week by Virabongsa Ramangkura, chairman of the Bank of Thailand, agreed it is imperative for the government to develop U-tapao to offer commercial services instead of being a reserved airport used only in emergencies. The services should be designated mainly for private and charter flights, particularly those carrying foreign visitors who head to Pattaya and nearby areas, said Pansak Vinyaratn, an adviser to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The committee suggested there is no point having a reserved airport but instead urged the government to use it as a commercial airport. The Royal Thai Navy has been already been assigned to study a plan to upgrade U-tapao as a commercial airport, he said. The committee's proposal is in line with a similar proposal made by the private sector at the meeting of the Joint Public Private Consultative committee in June. This was against the Defence Ministry's earlier proposal that asked for a 240-million baht budget to develop U-tapao as a reserve airport from 2013-14. Currently, U-tapao can service 49 large planes such as Boeing 747s, while the passenger building can accommodate 400 passengers. The Navy has spent 790 million baht improving the airport such as a new passenger building. In a separate development, Mr Pansak said the committee approved 6 million baht for the Thailand Creative and Design Center to study value creation for high-speed train projects. The study is expected to completed within six months. An initial study showed four high-speed trains can generate about 2 billion baht. Payungsak Chartsuthipol, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said the committee expects to open bidding for the high-speed train projects in next year's first quarter. The government has already agreed to develop the first phase of four train routes _ Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima on the Bangkok-Nong Khai line; Bangkok-Hua Hin on the Bangkok-Padang Besar line; Bangkok-Phitsanulok-Chiang Mai; and Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong on an extension line from Suvarnabhumi airport. The cost of the first phase is estimated to be 400 billion baht for a system that can handle speeds of up to 250 kilometres per hour.