U-tapao is for tourists, not US warplanes
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Re: "US planes may fly out of Phuket or U-tapao", National, May 27.
Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn has responded favourably to a US request to use U-tapao Airport as a base for planes assigned to monitor the movement of migrants stranded in surrounding seas. The request seems strange – U-tapao is on the Gulf of Thailand, while the migrants are stranded on the other side of the peninsula, in the Andaman Sea. Perhaps this is a pretext for using U-tapao as a military base.
The US and its allies recently slapped economic sanctions on Russia, resulting in a dramatic decline in the number of Russian tourists in Thailand. Luckily, we have a new wave of Chinese tourists, especially to Pattaya. Please keep U-tapao for tourism, which is a huge income-earner for Thailand.
Prasan Stianrapapongs
