Chiang Mai airport's new hours met with protests

Chiang Mai airport filled with tourists. (File photo)
Chiang Mai airport filled with tourists. (File photo)

Residents are protesting a plan to extend Chiang Mai International Airport's operating hours, saying many have yet to be compensated for damage caused by flights taking off and landing at the airport over the past five years.

According to the president of the Nimman Noradee Neighbourhood, Meena Chankaew, residents whose properties have been affected by traffic to and from the airport will ask the Administrative Court to stop the plan to allow round-the-clock operations at the airport starting on Wednesday.

She said many residents have complained about the damage caused by the noise and vibration from flights, but Airports of Thailand (AoT) has yet to come up with a solution to the problem.

Ms Meena, who lives next to the airport, said over the past five years she has received about 20,000 baht in compensation for damage to her property, but nothing has been done to resolve the situation.

At a meeting with Mae Hia residents on Monday, AoT representatives and officials from Chiang Mai airport promised measures to address local residents' concerns.

They agreed to set up a fund to compensate residents for any damage that may be caused by the extended operating hours, offer hearing tests to local residents in affected areas and put up sensors to measure noise from the airport.

However, local residents want the AoT to carry out a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) on 24-hour operations, as the original EIA for the project, which was approved in 2005, only allowed operations until 1am.

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Vocabulary

  • address: to deal with a problem - จัดการปัญหา
  • Administrative Court: the court which deals with disputes between the private sector and government agencies - ศาลปกครอง
  • affected (verb): having received an effect or influence - ถูกผลกระทบ, มีผลต่อ
  • compensation (noun): money that someone receives because something bad has happened to them - การจ่ายเงินชดเชย
  • damage (noun): physical harm caused to something which makes it less attractive, useful or valuable - ความเสียหาย
  • environmental impact assessment: an evaluation/research project into the possible positive or negative effects that a proposed project may have on the environment - การประเมินผลกระทบสิ่งแวดล้อม
  • fund: to provide money for something - ให้เงินทุน
  • measure: an action taken to solve a particular problem - มาตรการ
  • operation: a business activity - การดำเนินการทางธุรกิจ
  • protest: a meeting or rally, sometimes forceful or violent, of people who strongly disagree with something - ชุมนุมประท้วง
  • resident: a person who lives in a particular area - ผู้ที่อาศัยในท้องที่
  • resolve: to solve a problem, or to find a satisfactory way of dealing with it - แก้ไขปัญหา
  • round-the-clock: 24 hours a day -
  • sensor: a device that can react to light, heat, pressure, etc. in order to make a machine, etc. do something or show something - อุปกรณ์ส่งสัญญาณที่ไวต่อแสงหรืออุณหภูมิ, ตัวเซ็นเซอร์
  • vibrations (noun): continuous shaking movements or feelings - การสั่นสะเทือน,การสั่น
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