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Ambitious plans to upgrade Hua Hin Airport and develop the region into an international travel destination continue.
During a webinar for investors, stakeholders and media on Friday (September 10), John Laroche, CEO of Phoenix Group, provided an update on the progress of 'The Phoenix Plan' to redevelop and improve Hua Hin Airport.
Initially, the focus will be on international arrivals from Singapore and Hong Kong and later on mainland China and India. Within three years, one million passengers will arrive at the airport, two years earlier than originally envisaged.
Seven airlines have expressed interest in operating flights to and from Hua Hin Airport. AirAsia has already confirmed to operate one international flight per day from the airport, in addition to resuming its domestic routes from October. Thanks to the agreements with airlines, passengers from Hua Hin will also be able to use the international networks of Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Singapore Airlines.
JetStar and Scoot have issued letters of intent to operate flights between Hua Hin and Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Greater Bay Airlines and Hong Kong Express also want to carry passengers from Hong Kong to Hua Hin. From India and the Middle East, GoFirst has said it is ready to fly to Hua Hin as soon as possible.
China Express, one of the largest domestic airlines in China, has stated that Hua Hin will be one of the first destinations the airline will fly to once it starts operating international flights.
In addition to the expansion of the airport, Hua Hin aims to promote as a destination for golf, events and healthcare through strategic partnerships with, among others, Golf Asian and Be Well Medical.
Hua Hin Airport will also undergo a significant infrastructure upgrade, which will begin as early as the first quarter of 2022. As part of the upgrade, the airport will become a hub for events, providing facilities not only for tourists, but also Hua Hin residents and expatriates.
Hua Hin wants, Prayut wants, the TAT wants, has plans and is working on them. Thai hotties love to make plans (when they can't plan), if only to show they're busy and want the good of the mean people.
The media happily hops along after this and after a while they don't wonder what has become of those plans and that will.
The problem is that the expressed will usually depends on the national government and, in particular, on bureaucrats who will be less than the will of the inventors.
You know what I would like: a little sense of reality from all those stilted planners. But also in this case what my father used to say applies: your will is behind the door, with a broomstick in front of it.
What is also short-sighted to say the least in these times of rapidly growing climate awareness is that apparently much benefit is expected from connections with relatively nearby destinations such as Kuala Lumpur.
Not to mention the reality, of course. And that is that Hua Hin airport is actually mainly (and still) interesting for domestic flights.
Thailand can indeed boast a leading role for Bangkok as a major hub for international flights that also serve surrounding countries.
But to start dreaming that there is room in Thailand for even more international connections…?
Is this megalomania or simplism?
I'm starting to believe more and more that neither is foreign to Thailand.
In combination with the lack of striving for consistency and the apparently ineradicable penchant for what I came to know as organized chaos, I am increasingly questioning my decision of 10 years ago to settle here as my new home country.
I figured out long ago that this couldn't possibly be my new home.
And I believe that the Covid crisis has accelerated this realization among many, but that the same crisis is certainly not the main cause of that disappointment.
The rose-glasses army is probably going to revile me, but that is really, in addition to my very personal feeling, mainly an emotional and practical tendency that I notice more and more in my close (but also wider) environment.
Color
I think it's nice that people make these kinds of plans.
Don't forget how big Thailand is! More than 12 times the size of the Netherlands. and slightly smaller than France. And how many airports do the French have?
I don't like the environmental stuff either. But I say that already former aviation employee.
Gossie, there goes my rest; All for the money. Every month I flee the noise, chaos and bustle of Bangkok for at least two weeks to my 2nd place in Hua Hin. And the last few months even longer; thanks to COVID-19 it is so wonderfully quiet there; no congestion, queues, etc. In that respect, the pandemic can last forever for me, but that is very selfish thinking. I also see the misery and increasing poverty for the local population due to COVID. So let the tourists come, I just hope that the local government upholds the image of Hua Hin and preferably improves it. So no copy Pattaya, Benidorm or Phuket, but its own identity, class and style.