The Office of the Vocational Education Commission (Ovec) has expanded its aircraft maintenance training centres from two to six locations to catch up with the growing demand for aircraft maintenance technicians in Thailand.
Ovec's deputy secretary-general Wanich Oumsri said Ovec has recently opened four more aircraft maintenance training centres in Samut Prakan, Bangkok, Ubon Ratchathani and Khon Kaen. The two older centres are based in Phuket and Chon Buri.
He said the expansion is aimed at producing more airline professionals to ease the shortage of skilled workers in the growing industry.
"Earlier, Thailand had the capacity to train less than 100 aircraft maintenance technicians a year. But with the four new training centres, the number produced by Ovec can be raised to 180 per year," he said.
Mr Wanich admitted that although Ovec could now produce up to 180 aircraft maintenance technicians per year, it is still not enough to catch up with rising demand for these airline professionals. He said the country needs to train at least 500 technicians a year to meet the needs of the aircraft industry.
He said Ovec will continue its plan to open more aircraft maintenance training centres in other provinces that have airports, but the shortage of teachers in the field of aerospace engineering is not allowing the plan to proceed at the moment.
"We can establish more than six aircraft maintenance training centres, but we also need to consider quality control, so for now we have decided to move slowly but steadily," Mr Wanich said.
According to Boeing, the world's largest airplane manufacturer, air travel in the Asia Pacific is estimated to triple over the next two decades. This is expected to account for nearly 50% of the entire world's air traffic growth. Based on these figures, the company believes it will generate demand for 13,000 new planes worth approximately US$1.9 trillion (66 trillion baht).
Southeast Asia is also projected to be one of the highest passenger traffic growth markets worldwide. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia are expected to account for the majority of this growth as the emerging consumer class can increasingly afford to travel.
Meanwhile, the Airports of Thailand this year predicts passenger traffic passing through the six major airports it supervises to grow by 8-9%. They include Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports.
The number of foreign visitors to Thailand in 2017 is expected to grow to 35 million from the 32.5 million that had been estimated in 2016, according to the latest projection by Tourism Authority of Thailand.