THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Thailand’s inbound travel industry might be taking somewhat of a battering at the moment but all indications are that it will recover in line with the global economy improvements expected in 2010.

Displaying confidence that indicators and research shows this to be the case, the Airports Authority of Thailand (AOT) has announced construction of a second terminal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi (pronounced “su-wan-na-poom”) International Airport will commence in 2012.

The new terminal, catering to domestic flights, is expected to cost less than Bt10 billion (about $US294 million) and be completed in 2015, with a monorail connecting it to the main terminal.

AOT president Serirat Prasutanond said the project is part of a long-term investment program that also includes construction of a third runway and a midfield terminal.

The AOT has also invited private companies to invest in six projects for the former international airport at Don Mueang. The projects are: a landing-gear maintenance centre; an aircraft-parts stock-management centre; small and medium-sized maintenance centers; an international free-trade zone; a flight-simulator centre; and jet and air taxi terminals.

As previously reported in Thailand Travel News , the AOT has previously announced a five-year plan to upgrade the Vietnam War era U-Tapao-Pattaya International Airport (see: Pattaya airport to get $US29 million upgrade, including the construction of a new runway and expansion of the terminal and other facilities and services.

Opened for international flights on September 28, 2006, Suvarnabhumi Airport has the world’s tallest control tower (132.2m/433ft) as well as the world’s third largest single-building airport terminal (563,000sq m/6.06 sq ft), and has the capacity of handling 45 million passengers and three million tonnes of cargo per year. Its final construction cost is estimated to have been Bt155 billion (about $US3.8 billion) at the time.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for September 1, 2009