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Published on December 5, 2007

Transport Ministry permanent secretary Chaisa-wat Kittipornpaibul, chairman of the committee set  up to address the conflict, yesterday said it had been resolved the households  were entitled to compensation.

However, he was not specific on exact compensation amounts.

"The new government will make the final decision, because it involves a huge amount of money. It may be necessary for the Finance Ministry to set aside a special budget for this purpose," he said.

The tripartite committee will also propose to the Cabinet by December 18 that it abolish previous resolutions on the noise issue made in November 2006 and May 2007.

The Cabinet will also be asked to issue a new resolution covering aspects of the previous resolutions.

Chaisawat said details of the existing resolutions made it hard to negotiate with residents.

The November 2006 resolution requires Airports of Thailand (AOT) to pay compensation to households in an area with a Noise Exposure Forecast of more than 40.

This is provided that residents were living there before September 28, 2006, which was the opening date of the airport.

The May 2007 resolution requires compensation for households settled there before 2001, the date when airport construction began. It was found that 766 households had settled there before 2001.

Chaisawat said the committee would suggest to the Cabinet that the upcom-

ing resolution should sti-pulate that AOT would be responsible for compensating households settled there before 2001.

It will suggest that the Finance Ministry allocate a budget to compensate those moving there after 2001, but before the new airport opened.

One resident said people were satisfied with the committee's conclusion, given that compensation would be wider than simply covering those settling there before 2001.

Watcharapong Thongrung

 The Nation