• 
• 

Published on September 1, 2007

The residents demand that no landings or take-offs should occur between 9pm and 5am because they claim the noise disrupts their sleep.

Prasert Boonkaew, a leader of the residents, whose houses surround the airport, said the protest was being organised to show the people's anger at the Airports of Thailand (AOT)'s slowness in dealing with their problem, including compensation, purchasing houses located in excessively noisy areas and repairing houses affected by the noise.

"We had to take the ultimate step by announcing the night curfew on air traffic. It will start on September 7," he said.

Prasert warned that if the government ignored their plea, the residents would march from Ruam Ruedee Housing Project to "block the airport roads" from the north and the south until they got satisfactory answers.

Meanwhile, a source from AOT said it was aware of the plan but noted that the confusion might have been caused by "conflicting resolutions". The Cabinet first agreed to the buy the houses but later decided only to repair them.

The source said: "People have the right to protest, but they should target the Cabinet, not the AOT, because the confusion arose when the Cabinet changed its mind."

Thewa Racha police chief Colonel Yongyuth Decharat said police would have no choice but to arrest those who actually did release balloons, although he personally sympathised with those affected by the noise pollution.

"Releasing balloon would be considered an act of sabotage with severe consequences and would harm the country's image world-wide. I would like to plead with those who have threatened to do this to rethink their campaign," the officer said.

The Nation