AOT to pay for Suvarnabhumi noise pollution next year

The Airports of Thailand (AOT) will start paying compensation for noise pollution caused by the new runway at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport from early next year, the Bangkok Council chairman said.

Surachit Pongsingwitthaya, who chairs the council, was speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with the Transport Ministry and AOT on Monday about the impact of noise pollution from the use of the third runway.

He said many people living near the airport have filed complaints with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) about the level of noise caused by the increase in flights landing and taking off.

An AOT source said the agency may spend some 12 billion baht on the compensation.

The AOT began using the third runway from the start of this month. The 60-metre wide, 4-kilometre-long runway is located to the west of the airport and runs parallel to the first runway.

At the meeting, Surachit said, he asked both agencies about the progress being made in providing compensation and was informed that the AOT was in the process of receiving complaints and considering the rate of payouts.

He said AOT is expected to start paying compensations from early next year.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting on Monday, Transport Ministry’s deputy spokesman, Kittipon Ruayfupan, said the AOT will first compensate those who were initially listed when an environmental impact study was being conducted for the new runway.

However, he said, new houses were built in the area after the list was compiled, so the AOT will need to study the criteria for compensating this group.