On the local radio news this morning. The Thai authorities are considering re-opening Bangkok Don Muang Airport due to "continuing problems" at the recently opened Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.
The low cost airlines have been unhappy for some time. There have been reports of collapsing taxiways and various problems with lifts and baggage handling.
Something of an embarrassment! I haven't had an opportunity to use the new airport yet so I have no first hand experience of it from a pax point of view.
Firstly, let me re-state that this IS a rumour site, so I don't know whether this can be confirmned. However, having said that, a Thai acquaintance told me that many of the problems associated with the new BKK airport stem from the recently departed Prime Minister of Thailand and the allegations of corruption that lead to his political demise.
She said the word is that all contracts went to 'mates' and the said 'mates' supplied the lowest quality matrial and work they could possibly get away with, to the point where most Thais are terriby embarrassed by the end product, given that it is so highly visible to all visitors to the country.
The whole terminal has an unfinished look and feel to it. Signs giving directions are almost non-existent, and what ones are there are confusing for someone used to airports - God only knows how inexperienced travellers cope with them. The floors remind me of PSP - perforated steel plating - the old temporary runway material used for throwing down a quickie temporary runway back in WW2 days. They actually move underfoot when there're just a few people on them - I'd hate to think what they're like with a 747 load of pax walking over them.
And is it only me who thinks it more than a little strange they've gone for the "twilight" look inside the terminal? It's so gloomy in the departure lounges, it's impossible to read a book. I find myself wondering if they've done that so the bare (or no) ceilings and general lack of finish won't be so obvious, or whether it's because the wiring can't handle the extra candle power required to provide adequate lighting? (It might be even simpler - maybe there aren't enough light fittings!)
I must agree on all items posted above. I travel through BKK many times and had worked with many employees at the airport. They are saying the same thing what is posted above. Whoever approved a glass structure in the tropics should loose their job or at least are made to walk from domestic to an internation gate each day they are employed. The glass is always dirty and always seems a mess. It is also extremely hot and the higher you go the hotter is gets. Restraurants are few and the ones that are there are expensive. The only airport that I think is worse is Heathrow, but that has an excuse. It's old.
Windows growing mould, taxiways subsiding, tarmac so soft that large amounts of power requires to taxi, building too hot, no signs, no announcements, few baggage counters.
Someone, somewhere has no doubt made a lot of money out of this disaster area, but the airport users are left to suffer the consequences.
Heads should roll, for what should have been a showpiece facility is a rapidly becoming a national embarrassment.
Wiley & Callout summed it up well. Having used Suvarnabhumi virtually weekly I’ve watched the place literally fall apart.
The revolving glass entrance doors are nearly all unserviceable and the outside walkways from the roads are filthy. It already looks like an old airport as opposed to a new one.
It certainly is an embarrassment. These pics were taken today. 1st is Level 1 and 2nd is Level 2 (arrivals).
Last edited by ZFT; 22nd Dec 2006 at 11:25.
Reason: Images added
And to think that having missed the opening of Suvarnabhumi by a few weeks and thus flown in to and out of Don Muang, I was mildly disappointed!
As an aside, I flew out of Don Muang with BA a couple of nights after the "foiled liquid bombs plot". Having reassured myself that the a/c, ex-Oz, would have left LHR outbound prior to the grounding of flights and thus be on time (it was) I still expected security related check-in mayhem. Whether it actually improved security I know not, but I must say that the coordinated army of security personnel thrown at the extra x-raying and searching made pre-check-in a complete breeze.
When it came to check-in itself, I travel worldwide frequently to conduct my work, and the Thai lady who handled me in was the most pleasant, efficient, and fastest, by some margin to date for any long haul, "with hold baggage", flight. No smarm, no false smiles, just genuine, excellent, professional, friendly service.
Mrs Al Fakhem is Thai and a political analyst. The problems at Suvarnabhumi are simply symptomatic for the entire Thaksin era, where cronies could get away with anything as long as they supported Thaksin in his quest for limitless power. One has to see the wider picture. His goal was the time after the present King Bhumipol, who is ailing. Thaksin had loaned Prince Vajiralongkorn, the heir to the throne, massive amounts of money (the Thai royal family is not as rich as people might believe) and then "purchased" a palace from him at a throwaway price. The obvious conclusion that the Thai public (and King Bhumipok, who is 80) were drawing is that Thaksin was getting a hold over the Crown Prince to the extent that the latter could no longer be seen as a moral authority (as his father, the current King, is) or - even worse - that the Crown Prince might not even accept the throne and Thailand would adopt a presidential system, such as the US, with Thaksin at the helm. The Suvarnabhumi project was simply a stepping stone for Thaksin to consolidate his power base - something that went very wrong.
XV105 is spot on! I actually miss Don Muang. I've been passing through there 2 -3 times year for the past 30 years. It had good restaurants, access was reasonable via the overhead expressway (provided you timed it right) and the plane spotters area is one of the best places to pass an hour or so if your flight is delayed. MK actually combined both which was brilliant. As to Thaksin and the graft - starting with Thaksin, all those who took kickbacks (and they are surely identifyable) should be publically identified, their photographs, names and addresses published, their assets frozen and confiscated and the funds thus raised used to repair the damage that they have caused through their greed and corruption. Now. What's the chance of that actually happening?
Last edited by Xeque; 23rd Dec 2006 at 04:36.
Reason: spelling :)
stop whininG & bitching around..................the airport its ok same or worst problems hapen evrywhere, AMS , DEL, you name it i was in taipei, JFK, Maimi, & PHI airports last week, & their thin can“s, the worst being T4 in JFK, which is suposed to be new, ,,,,,,damn its suck“s!!!, no space between conveyor belt to pick up your bags, within arriving flights, what a mess not to mention the time wasting , getting naked , stupid question of security @ any aiport in USA...................%&$"$·"$·"(/&%, plus the very unfriendly customs people that receive you when you enter! onle there you are treated like that..............no other place in the planet, they are freaks when it comes to the so called security! but coming back to the airpot.................its OK i get in & and out of there faster, always find a taxi stop screaming like ladies, & enjoy the thing................Jeez!!!
well pal,.....its one of the few country(s) if not the only 1, in which U have to take out shoe,belt,jacket,hat, & ok, if it makes U happy..........well then "almost" get naked in front of evryone not to mention the procedure now with liquids, gels or medicines, to take out & put on a plastic bag ha ha ha so funny, looks like a bargain sunday market , hearing the customs guys screaming it out loud , ha ha ha ha
The Bangkok Post report:- AoT backs rebirth of Don Muang Old airport to service some domestic routes AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK The board of Airports of Thailand Plc yesterday approved the use of Don Muang for domestic flights with no international connections and set March 15 as the possible date for the relaunch of services at the old airport.
In an attempt to save costs from expanding Suvarnabhumi airport and to fully use its existing infrastructure, the board led by chairman Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr decided to move to Don Muang domestic flights with no connections to international routes operated by Thai Airways International (THAI) and no-frills carriers. Domestic flights with passengers connecting with international routes will remain at Suvarnabhumi.
It targeted March 15 for the resumption of regular services for Don Muang, which was closed on Sept 28, when the country's main airport moved to Suvarnabhumi.
The March 15 date was set to allow sufficient time to prepare for an expected surge in air travel to the provinces during the Songkran holiday. Sources in the Airports of Thailand (AoT) board said its president Chotisak Asapaviriya told the meeting that the March 15 move was possible. However, he told reporters afterwards that he could not guarantee complete success. The decision was based on a study by AoT to compare the advantages and disadvantages of expanding Suvarnabhumi against relocating domestic services to Don Muang.
The use of Don Muang to ease air traffic at Suvarnabhumi would give officials more flexibility to fix a number of problems at the new airport, sources said. Mr Chotisak said the board has directed AoT to work on the details of the use of Don Muang and forward them to the Transport Ministry _ which oversees the airport agency _ within two weeks. After that the ministry, which has already made clear its preference for Don Muang, needs cabinet approval for the plan.
Based on the current volume of passengers, Suvarnabhumi will serve 42 million passengers a year, just three million shy of its full capacity. Don Muang accommodated almost 39 million passengers a year before it was closed to regular flights. It currently services only chartered and special flights.
Moving domestic flights with no connections to Don Muang will defer plans to expand the new airport, including the need to build a new terminal to service only local flights in the future.
The move will boost revenues at Don Muang, which currently earns only 500,000 baht a month from the chartered and special flights. Don Muang director Pinit Saraithong said the airport was ready for the return to services because none of the facilities, including ground and safety equipment, had been moved to Suvarnabhumi.
However, he said the airport needed about 45 days to prepare for the return of regular passengers and to hire more security staff. With existing facilities, Don Muang could serve up to 15 million passengers a year for a decade, he added.
Airlines with domestic services _THAI, Nok Air, Thai AirAsia and One-Two-Go _ supported yesterday's decision.
Bangkok Airways could not be reached for comment.
THAI president Apinan Sumanaseni said the national flag carrier needed one month to move some equipment and hire more staff to be stationed at Don Muang but he said it was not a serious problem for the airline. Mr Apinan said flights serving popular destinations among international passengers such as Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Hat Yai could remain at Suvarnabhumi.
Nok Air CEO Patee Sarasin praised the decision, which could save AoT at least 1.4 billion baht from constructing a new domestic building at Suvarnabhumi.
One-Two-Go chief executive and founder Udom Tantiprasongchai also hailed the decision, saying it was a ''good decision'' to shift domestic routes to Don Muang.
But Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said the move to Don Muang should be on a voluntary basis. He admitted that the move would affect Thai AirAsia, which needed to rotate its fleets between international and domestic flights.
The glass enclosures of the otherwise well designed terminal create too many hot spots during sunny days. Instead of conditioned air bubbling from ceiling registers, conditioned air is ejected from floor mounted radiators which traps the heavier cool air on the floor, creating a greenhouse effect in many parts of the terminal where uneven temperatures exceed 25c.
The glass enclosures of the otherwise well designed terminal create too many hot spots during sunny days. Instead of conditioned air bubbling from ceiling registers, conditioned air is ejected from floor mounted radiators which traps the heavier cool air on the floor, creating a greenhouse effect in many parts of the terminal where uneven temperatures exceed 25c.
It's only well designed if you want a free gym. I've never walked as much!!!!
I work in Bangkok and live just outside Pattaya. So, early Monday mornings, I drive up to BKK on the Chonburi motorway to spend the week there. I usually pass by Suvarnabhumi at around 6 am ( just before dawn at present). The problem is swamp flies. They seem to launch at about that time and within seconds my windcreen and (indeed) all forward facing surfaces of my car are covered in squashed insects. My screen washers have difficulty in dealing with them. My question is - what effect does that have on aircraft windscreens during landing/takeoff at that time of day. The swamp water at the new airport is a real problem. Unless that can be taken care of properly the swamp flies will continue to swarm in enormous numbers just before dawn. And now the other question - how soon before a runway subsides under an arriving 'heavy'?
I went through the new airport (as SLF) for the first time this weekend and got to see the shambles first hand.
The check-in arrangements for StarAlliance/Thai seem to be woefully inadequate - by 6am queues stretched outside the terminal. Only the need for wheel chair assistance made it possible to get through the process in sensible time, even this required a 90 minute wait. Some pax were taking 2.5 hours in the queue.
This doesn't surprise me in the least, and I think the problems will get worse. Corruption pervades Thai society and Government from top to bottom. I have personally handed over 500 baht (£7) to a police officer, as I was told that the alternative was to spend 5 hours in the station filling out forms etc. on a trumped up speeding charge. I have no doubt that some people with good connections would have made plenty of money even by doing the job properly, but no, greed takes over and corners get cut even on profitable work. As for the the logistics of the new BKK, I'll cast judgement in march once I've been through it.
While not excusing the bent traffic police ( I too have paid off the police when stopped whilst driving) but they are paid a pittance and as with all else in Thailand the farang can afford to pay.
Corruption is endemic from top to bottom. Nevertheless a beautiful country with a mostly hard working and pleasant population.
The new airport is much like the shopping centres which mysteriously acquired extra floors before completion and subsequently collapsed with great loss of life after opening.
Airconditioned Nightmare
Slightly unrelated
