The airport, 21 kilometres west of downtown Surat Thani, is also home to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) squadrons.

[2] Later, the runway was expanded by the Royal Thai Air Force to 1,000 metres, which was still only capable of handling small planes, such as the Douglas DC-3.

However, in 1973, the government suspended the development project and used the funds to support Phuket International Airport's operations instead.

The Ministry of Defence and CAAT showed interest in the project and the airfield's development began in 1978.

[5][6] On 11 December 1998, Thai Airways International Flight 261, an Airbus A310-200 (HS-TIA, Phitsanulok), bound for Surat Thani from Bangkok, was making its third landing attempt in heavy rain when it crashed into a rice paddy about 3 km (1.9 mi) from the airport; 101 of the 146 passengers and crew aboard were killed.