Govt dedicates 238 rai for B1.4bn sports complex
MAI KHAO: The Treasury Department has signed an agreement with the Phuket Sports and Recreation Development (SRD) Office allowing 238 rai of government land in Mai Khao to be used for a sports training complex costing 1.4 billion baht.
The agreement was signed February 23 by Tamrong Tongtan, Head of the Phuket Provincial Treasury Office, and Promchote Traivate, Head of the Phuket Office of Sports and Recreation Development.
The land, near the Welcome Gateway under construction in Tah Chat Chai, is under the control of the Treasury Department’s State Property Management and Services Office, or Ratchapassadu.
The first phase of the project includes three connected buildings – an administration building, a sport science center and a dormitory – as well as a parking area.
Work is expected to begin next year under a 15-million-baht budget from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, K. Promchote told the Gazette.
The Phuket SAT office is currently drawing up a budget proposal, he added. Other sports facilities, including gymnasiums and outdoor sports fields, will be built with funding from the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT).
Additional funding is expected to come from the private sector. The Treasury Department has authorized the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to consider any private sector development proposals for the site that comply with Ratchapassadu land use regulations, K. Promchote said.
The idea to site a sports complex was originally championed by former Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura.
The 238 rai now earmarked for the project is less than half of the area originally sought by the province.
In a January 2006 proposal submitted to the province, the Phuket Office of Sports and Recreation Development intended the sports complex to include a multi-purpose indoor stadium for basketball, volleyball, badminton and martial arts; outdoor tennis and basketball courts; outdoor pool with spectator seating; shooting range; facilities for “extreme sports”; and a boathouse for sailing and water sports.
