Authority Plans New Sports Complex

PHUKET: If all goes as planned, a 220-rai site in Thalang district will become the home of southern Thailand’s newest major sports venue. Officials of the Sports Authority of Thailand are planning to construct a 20,000-seat multi-purpose stadium, a 5,000-seat gymnasium, a shooting range, and athlete housing on a tract located along Thepkasattri Road in Tambon Tachatchai at the northern end of the island. Wirat Visuttharom, Chief of the Sports Authority Region 8, told the Gazette today that the facility would be on par with Chiang Mai’s 700 Year Stadium complex, the site of numerous national and international competitions. Bangkok-based 110 Company has been retained by the authority to draw up a preliminary design. Estimates on the cost of the project range from 700 million to one billion baht.