A squatter looks at a plane from her makeshift home on a piece of land for which the AOT has agreed to pay Bt26.4 million. The property has five other houses affected by severe noise.

Airports of Thailand has paid Bt66 million to buy four plots of land near Suvarnabhumi Airport from owners who have complained of noise pollution since the airport opened in September.

The first compensation to be paid for noise pollution was based on appraisals by independent assessor SD Con Corp, which is in charge of inspecting 129 structures near the airport built before 2001, said Surathat Suthammanas, deputy head of Suvarnabhumi Airport.

He said owners of structures in the zone with noise problems had been placed into five categories.

The first is those who agree to sell their land to AOT unconditionally, which so far amounts to four people who own a combined four rai of land. These were the four who signed a deal yesterday for the Bt66-million in compensation.

The second is homeowners who have asked for AOT assistance to reduce noise effects. They will require an estimated Bt9 million.

The third group is property owners who oppose AOT purchasing their homes or structures. Conflicts with this group will be left to the courts.

The fourth is landowners who want to sell their entire blocks, but AOT prefers to buy only areas within the "noisy zone".

The fifth group is owners who have yet to identify themselves.

Surathat said that AOT would move quickly to solve conflicts in a second round of negotiations. But if this round ends without result, the cases left would proceed to court.

He insisted AOT would use conditions set out in the contract drawn up with the four property owners yesterday as a standard for remaining purchases.

"The price we offered was almost double the market rate. We can't offer any higher. When someone wants more from AOT, others always want more, too. AOT's budget is taxpayers' money - from people across country - so we have to spend it wisely. We will try to compensate everyone equally," Surathat said.

For house owners asking for AOT assistance to reduce noise, AOT would install panels inside their buildings, plus doors and windows that reduce noise. This work would start at the beginning of June and be finished within a month.

Alternatively, AOT would provide reasonable funds to homeowners who prefer to modify their homes themselves. He said some schools, temples and hospitals in the area were affected by noise levels of around 75 decibels. AOT would install panels to reduce noise in these buildings.

However, monks at some temples had asked AOT to fit air-conditioners and also wanted AOT to pay their electricity bills - indefinitely.

When asked about 382 new home-owners who may also apply to be included in the noise-compensation package, Surathat said that would depend on whether the Cabinet expanded the area regarded as noise-affected. If that happened, AOT would apply the same rules for them. They could either sell their houses at the offered price, or get assistance to reduce noise.

Currently, there were 129 houses in the noise-affected area, but only 71 owners have allowed AOT to carry out valuations and offer them a sale price. The rest had still not made any decision or were continuing their protest against AOT.

Pasara Puthamat

The Nation