Surin Airport will reopen in November
To cope with the growth of tourism in North Thailand and Isan, Surin Pakdi Airport will reopen for commercial use in November, this year. Eleven years after its opening, in November 2002 for Air Andaman, an airline based in Bangkok who has experienced financial problems and left the airport, a year late. Nok Air should de the company offering the first rotations from and to Bangkok.
Surin is known for its Elephant Round-up Festival
Surin Governor Nirun Kanlayanamit said that the Surin Provincial Administrative Organization had been assigned to supervise development work to ensure that the airport will be able to reopen its services in time for the annual Elephant Round-up, one of the most famous cultural events in Surin. The Governor stated that, apart from welcoming more tourist arrivals, the reopening of Surin Airport in 2013 is also intended to accommodate economic and investment expansion in preparation for the realization of the ASEAN Community in 2015 and increasing border trade.He said that Surin would serve as a gateway to ASEAN, since it has become a tourism hub in the Lower Northeast of Thailand, which hosts many visitors from Cambodia and Vietnam. The airline Nok Air will launch an inaugural flight at Surin Airport on 14 November 2013. The 53rd Elephant Round-up in Surin is scheduled for 16-17 November 2013 at the Si Narong Stadium in Mueang district. It is aimed at promoting tourism and conserving elephants, which form an important part of Thai cultural life. This famous event features elephant performances to show elephants’ talent and ability, both at work and at play. It also includes other interesting activities, such as a bazaar of products under the One Tambon, One Product program, a Red-Cross fair, and cultural shows.
About 450 kilometers from Bangkok and 50 kilometers from the Cambodian border, Surin is an ancient historical province from the Khmer period. This province is regarded as the land of elephants, with around 300-500 elephants.