The plot of land occupied by the airport with an approximate area of 8,000 acres (32 km²) was purchased in 1973, but the student uprising on October 14 of the same year was followed by the overthrowing the military government of Thanom Kittikachorn and the project was shelved.[8] After a series of ups and downs, the "New Bangkok International Airport" company (NBIA) was formed in 1996. Due to political and economic instabilities, notably the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the civil construction began six years later in January 2002 during the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. The airport is located in a once low-lying marsh, formerly known as Nong Ngu Hao (Thai: lit. "Cobra Swamp"), which took about 5 years (1997 - 2001) to clear through land reclamation. In 2005, the construction supervision and management was transferred to the Airports of Thailand PLC, while the NBIA company was dissolved.
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