The cabinet has approved the use of about 1,000 rai of the Eastern Airport City (EECa) project for development of an airport city to draw major investors.
Speaking after the weekly meeting, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the cabinet approved the designation of 1,032 rai as the airport city, which would be a free-trade zone.
The EECa zone totals about 6,500 rai. It is part of the Eastern Economic Corridor.
There would be activity and recreation areas in the planned airport city to support services around the clock – such as five-star hotels, shopping malls, duty-free shops, Michelin-star restaurants, exhibition and convention halls, and a range of entertainment, the prime minister said.
This 24-hour entertainment complex would attract spending from professional niche groups, such as stopover travellers and entrepreneurs, and the inhabitants of airport city.
“There must be special conditions on flexibility to support the enormous economic expansion, such as benefits, value added tax, comprehensive services to accommodate arrivals, visa and work permit applications, personal income tax payments and relaxation of legal restrictions involving foreigners working in Thailand in occupations where there are shortages or lack of skills.
“Hopefully, the EEC will be an important area to generate income for the country in the future. It will be a big leap forward in no more than 10 years, bringing the country a reputation in agriculture, modern industry, transportation, research innovation and the BCG (Bio-Circular-Green Economic) model, which is sustainable development that is environmentally friendly for both Thailand and the world,’’ the prime minister said.