From cnngo.com: Kan Air to build airports on Koh Phangan and Koh Tao

[short 215]

Party island Koh Phangan to build its first airport

 

Celebrating the full moon just got a lot easier: Kan Air will build an airport and launch Bangkok-Koh Phangan flights

By Hiufu Wong 18 October, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more excuse to go all-out: we can just hop on a flight after the party.

 

Koh Phangan, Thailand's gorgeous island famed for the full moon parties that take place on Haad Rin Beach, will soon get its own airport.

Why didn't they think of that earlier? There is little worse than enduring the rocky two-hour ferry ride away from Koh Phangan with a mega party hangover.

Kan Air, a Bangkok-based regional carrier, is spending 700 million baht (US$22 million) to build an airport on the birth place of Thailand's full moon parties next year, according to Bangkok Post.

Koh Phangan attracts up to 30,000 people during the peak season of December to March.

The carrier will introduce flights to Koh Phangan's neighboring islands, Koh Samui in the south and Koh Tao in the north, as well as three 80-minute flights daily to and from Bangkok’s Don Muang airport.

Currently, the island is accessible by a 30 to 45-minute speedboat ride from Koh Samui. Visitors can make a five-hour journey from the larger island of Surat Thani, including a 2.5-hour ferry ride.

The construction of the Koh Phangan airport has begun and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2013.

More on CNN: Island hopping in Thailand

The “thatched-roof terminal” airport, as described by Bangkok Post, will be located on the eastern side of Koh Phangan.

The construction does not require an environmental impact assessment report due to a short runway, said Somphong Sooksanguan, the president of Kan Air.

The runway is only 1,100-meters-long. It is almost half the length of Koh Samui airport's 2,060-meters-long runway.

Founded in 2010, Kan Air operates only one Cessna Caravan aircraft at the moment. The 12-seater flies between Chiang Mai and Nan, Pai, Mae Hong Son, Phitsanulok and Khon Kaen.

The carrier plans to lease two 50-seater ATR 42 turboprops to run the planned route between Bangkok and Koh Phangan.

Hopefully, the cabin crew on the new flights will stock enough aspirin and coffee.

Edited October 23, 2012 by short

[jacko 8,815]

I have been to Koh Tao.

 

It is certainly a beautiful place, but I thought it remained so due to the fact it was not so easy to get to.

 

I suppose you cannot deny the locals the opportunity to wealth that mass tourism will bring.....

[samfreeland 64]

The giant speedometer hits 150 kilometers an hour. The heads of the three sleeping Russians in front of us sway in unison with the next lane change.

I'm not sure whether i should close my eyes or start laughing hysterically.

Pick up trucks and scooters overflowing with produce and people crowd the four lane highways to Don Sak ferry pier.

But our bus driver doesn't seem to care. Hes going so fast that he has no time to swerve around a metal bar and blown out Tyre in the middle of our lane.

He speeds over it. The undercarriage clangs and the van swerves dangerously. The driver glances at the Buddha stuck on the dash and continues on. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/destinations/in-thailand-a-beach-of-ones-own/article6084993/