The traveling cabinet has tentatively approved 13 small projects today, valued at around 300 million baht, put forward by northern provinces. It has also instructed the Ministry of Transport to conduct a feasibility study for an airport in Phayao province.
The prime minister also directed the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to expedite the establishment of an office in Phayao in the final quarter of this year and to designate Phayao as a special area for sustainable tourism.
Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao stated that if the cabinet greenlights the airport project, estimated to cost about 3 billion baht, the governor of Phayao will request cabinet approval for 100 million baht to finance an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the airport project.
He noted that the Department of Airports had already completed a feasibility study.
Some of the projects approved by the cabinet today include:
- 14 million baht for a project to enhance the competitiveness of tourism in Nan province.
- 21 million baht to conserve the culture and historic city of Nan in order to attain world cultural heritage status.
- 26 million baht to modernize the infrastructure for “innovative tourism”.
- 15 million baht for wellness services and products in the far northern provinces.
- 23 million baht to improve the production of agricultural goods and increase their value through marketing and creative promotion.
