Mae Hong Son Tourism Jeopardized

16th May 2014

The tourism industry of Mae Hong Son province whose economy heavily anchors on, is now in jeopardy following the departure of Nok Mini that used to link the province with Chiang Mai, a more popular resort destination to its southeast.

Nok Mini ceased all its operations since April of this year after it ended its 4-year alliance with Nok Air in March. The sudden withdrawal of Nok Mini resulted to the monopoly operations by Kan Air since then which offers three daily flights between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai.

That leaves Kan Air having a monopoly in air linkage between the province and Chiang Mai using its single-engine aircraft, the 12-seat capacity Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. The airline has one more single-engine aircraft, the 6-seater Beechcraft Premier I that is based in Don Mueang Airport.

Kan Air operates three flights daily between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai.

The provincial governor, Surapol Panasampon, lamented the sudden withdrawal of an airline company stating that his province's economy is now hurting as it relies heavily on tourism.

Mae Hong Son is primarily a tourist haven with its pristine natural wonders such as lush beautiful mountains and deep valleys, spectacular scenery, indigenous wildlife, hill-tribes and man-made attractions such as religious temples or wats that dot the province.

A single airline with a very limited capacity is just not enough to sustain its tourism economy. Though the province can be reached by any type of land transport, travel time can take long hours via dirt roads and sometimes dangerous passes along the way which can be forbidding to visitors.

The province of Mae Hong Son is second only to Chiang Mai province in terms of annual visitor arrivals with 600,000 during the previous year, contributing approximately THB2 billion to its economy.

The governor also lamented the dilly-dallying of the Civil Aviation Department's action to the request made by Kan Air to increase frequency between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai at night time. Until now, he said, he got no response from the agency which adds to his frustration.

The governor disclosed that he asked Thai Lion Air to operate flights between his province and Chiang Mai, maybe up to twice daily during the low season and 3 daily flights on peak seasons. Currently, however, the carrier doesn't hold a license to serve the route, thus it can't mount flights soon enough to solve the governor's dilemma.

Kan Air hinted, though, that it's willing to add frequency to its thrice-daily service between the province and Chiang Mai.

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