Cabinet shelves Suvarnabhumi Maha Nakhon project

The cabinet decided on Tuesday to shelve the previous government’s ambitious plan to develop a mega city near Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Deputy Government Spokesperson Natepreeya Chumchaiyo said.

The cabinet endorsed the Interior Ministry's proposal to withdraw a draft legislation on the establishment of "Suvarnabhumi Maha Nakhon" or Suvarnabhumi mega city which was initiated by the previous government, she said.

The Thaksin government approved the Suvarnabhumi Maha Nakhon project on June 20, 2006.
The Interior Ministry, she said, would review the plan in light of hearings from various agencies particularly the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) which insisted that the planned mega city near the international airport would not be necessary.

The BMA indicated that two major districts of Lat Krabang and Pravet which are adjacent to Suvarnabhumi airport have had their own development plans.

The two districts should not be sliced from Bangkok metropolis to be part of Suvarnabhumi Maha Nakhon, slated as Thailand's 77th province, the BMA insisted.

Meanwhile, residents in the outlying province of Samut Prakan where the new international airport is located also disagreed with including Bang Plee district and Bang Sao Thong sub-district into the new mega city.

Without Bang Plee and Bang Sao Thong, the size of Samut Prakan will be much smaller, thus impeding a full development of Samut Prakan, some residents said. (TNA)

Bangkok Post
Tuesday April 03, 2007