A lower rent would allow the department to transfer the tourist attraction to Tambon Krasom Municipality.

Department of Tourism deputy chief Santi Pawai along with Takua Thung district chief Sarawuth Thanacharoensakul and Tambon Krasom mayor Anurak Antimanon inspected the attraction on Wednesday.

Santi said Phang Nga Treasury Office would co-ordinate with their head office to find an appropriate rent rate so the municipality could afford to rent and operate the facility for tourists.

“Since this building is constructed by taxpayers’ money, we should find a way to make use of it. I’m confident this would be an impressive tourist attractions for both Thai and foreign visitors,” he said.

The attraction located at the Surakun port, which reportedly cost Bt40 million to build, was designed to showcase the 1974 movie, The Man with the Golden Gun, which was filmed in Thailand.

The facility – fully equipped with film props, a theatre for sound and light shows and a gift shop – was officially launched in 2014 but it has been closed to tourists and left to ruin due to contractual problems.

The Department of Tourism was required by law to transfer the facility to the Treasury Department. The initial intention of handing it to the Tambon Krasom Municipality was shifted to having the municipality run it on a rental basis. The Treasury Department initially quoted the rent rate of nearly Bt200,000 a year.