Moruya

Wonder if Samak has lined up some som tum and a slippery massage for him?

Why does Singapore airport work so much better that Suvanaboom?

Immigration in and out are so much faster, with far fewer desks and staff.

Baggage comes out so much faster

The taxis are properly managed

Whay can't the 'managers' take a trip to Changi to see why this should be?

There are some bitter people about.

I've wondered for years about the senses of humour of some ex-pats that live in the land of smiles.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...npenguin101.xml

Read and enjoy

It's a shame but you could write a book about the amount of improvements required to driving/traffic here. Even on the expressways they drive in the breakdown lane turning 3 lanes of traffic into 4 or sometimes 5 lanes or danger - normally followed by the intransigent police on their bikes. The speed limits are never enforced unless the police have spent their pay packets, the idea of U-Turn lanes instead of roundabouts and traffic lights can only be explained by the fact that not one Thai driver knows how to use a roundabout and they think you can go through red lights up to 15 minutes afterwards.

36 road deaths a day was the last semi-official statistic that I saw.

I guess K. Karnasutra finds himself in a difficult position.

I'm afraid that whilst I used to use Thai as my airline of choice, I have switched to SQ. Fed up with old planes, being dumped on the tarmac into a bus, shockingly poor standard of cabin crew (not getting passengers strapped in, hanging around talking and then running for their seats mid take-off...). Many of my colleagues have also done so for the same reasons.

Well done to the crew who controlled an unexpected situation with skill and professionalism that resulted in no injuries to passengers or crew.

Everyone here is more concerned with the lack of reporting / damages to aircraft / airport facilities.

At the end of the day you want a skilled pilot who will get you to your destination safely even when unexpected emergency situations arise such as this.

Alright so protocol was not followed correctly post event but no one was injured / died during the event which is the main thing and shows the professionalism and skill of the flightdeck crew DURING the incident - WHICH IS WHERE IT COUNTS.

I would not hesitate 1 sec to get on a airplane with the same crew tomorrow. Well flown guys!

You're joking right?

The pilot and co-pilot are trying to cover up an incident, breaking major rules of their profession, but since there is no blood in the streets you're proud of them?

No thoughts for the planes that are landing on that muddied runway and potential of an accident because the THAI pilot was covering his bum by not reporting the incident?

Professional ethics be dam*d as long as he somehow keeps the shiny side up?

And a company VP who has a penchant for stonewalling on safety issues.

I think the air crew will have some answering to do after this one. And hope they never fly again!

~WISteve

I'm not convinced we've heard the truth over whether the crew filed a report or not - but that is certainly a major part of this problem. Leaving mud all over the runway was extremely dangerous for incoming planes as the friction would have been reduced in eneven patches.

More importantly, how did they manage to leave the runway at high speed? That was not great work at all unless there were exceptional weather conditions which have not been hitherto reported.

Whether 'jerking' a plane off the mud and back onto the tarmac was the right thing to do in these circumstances I am not sure. My guess is that you need to get the wheels all back onto the runway to decelerate and stop effectively. Wonder if the video is available?

Whatever the case, this needs a full investigation to ensure that the correct steps were taken - and if they weren't then the appropriate action needs to be taken. 200 tons of aeroplane coming in at 180 miles an hour needs a hel_l of a lot of control and discipline and is at it's most dangerous at this time.

Latest from PPRUNE:

I've just read all your comments with interest. Was there an incident? YES! I was onboard that flight and believe me it all happened. We ran off the runway when landing. Not taxiing. We were going fast and ran off the runway and everyone onboard heard it and felt it. I could see it because I was watching the wing fill with mud and grass. The noise was deafening. People were screaming "Oh my God" and other scary stuff. Who are they kidding saying the passengers didn't know? The guy next to me broke into tears! I had to get back on a flight to return to Hong Kong and I had to call a pilot friend to help me get over my fear just to get back on another flight! The thing that made the whole experience so bad was that there was no announcement over the PA. Just get off the plane and all the flight crew pretending nothing happened. I can't believe people are saying IF and incident occured. There must have been 20 passesgers who leant over my seat to take photos. Believe me it took place!

I was in Phuket last week when they tested the alarms there. They were pathetic. There I was right on Pathong beach and the alarms were like a car alarm going off about a mile away. It failed to wake my son and I failed to believe that it was really the alarm until I checked with the staff.

The latest news is that Thai Airways have allegedly agreed to pay for the damage its aircraft caused on landing and veering to the left of the runway insodoing, destroying some runway lamps...

[source = Bangkok Post]

"Thai Airways International (THAI) has agreed to compensate Suvarnabhumi airport for damage caused to a runway by one of its aircraft earlier this month, Suvarnabhumi airport director Serirat Prasutatnont said yesterday. The aircraft in question, an Airbus A300-600 which arrived from Phuket, caused the damage when it momentarily slid off the runway at Suvarnabhumi airport during heavy rain at around 5.30pm on July 7. But the pilot never reported the incident, Mr Serirat said. The plane partly missed the runway and smashed some runway lights. Its left rear wheels slid off of the runway and ran on the grass beside the tarmac, leaving behind a track about 100 metres long in the soil. However, its pilot managed to bring the aircraft back onto the runway and stop safely at the B4 parking bay.

About an hour later, the pilot of a Thai AirAsia flight informed the control tower of dirt tracks on the eastern runway. The runway was then closed from 7pm on July 7 to 6am the following morning for maintenance and inspection. The pilot of the Thai Airways flight reportedly failed to inform the Airports of Thailand (AOT) of the incident.

The Thai Airways flight smudged the tarmac as mud was spread all over its left rear wheels and the underneath of its fuselage.

The plane also smashed four sets of runway lamps. The repair of the lamps cost the Airports of Thailand 72,800 baht on top of 98,000 baht required for cleaning the eastern runway.

Mr Serirat said the Airports of Thailand has written to Thai Airways seeking compensation and the national carrier has agreed to take financial responsibility for the damage.

Airports of Thailand board member and spokesman Chirmsak Pinthong said the board had ordered an investigation into the incident which proved the problem did not stem from any runway defect."

There is certainly a big fear that Thailand, along with many other countries in SEA and beyond, is a diabetes time bomb. The reason for this is the number of refined carbohydrates and sugars that have fast become the norm in the Thai diet - largely because they are cheap, easy to buy and taste good.

One of the good things about Thailand's government is that it can act very quickly (although not always making the right decisions as when they made the changes to foreign investmant last year - but they put that right very quickly!) They could put a ban on the use of all trans-fats very quickly and could, say, double the price of sugar. Won't stop my wife from spooning it all over her noodles, but at least I have got her using sweeteners as an alternative when she cooks for me!

What scares me is the restaurants in every mall that you go to. KFC, McD, BK, donuts, cakes etc. etc.

This is complete lunacy and should be nipped in the bud.

The next step after the constitution would be to seek political parties to be formed and to produce a manifesto detailing what their policies would be on finance, transport, health etc. that would form the basis of them being elected.

What is being suggested here is (in the words of Thailand's other adopted national anthem) "it's the same old team."

Just to straighten a few things here.

Unless the som tum was loaded to the hilt with sugar or carbohydrates, it will not have sent anyone's blood sugar levels rocketting.

The preceeding hours may be crucial as he had just flown in and was likely to have been dehydrated to some degree. If he had been drinking on the flight and then continued when he landed and had then had diarrhea he would have needed a lot of water to rehydrate himself.

I have seen many times here, including kids and close friends, who have become dehydrated either through excessive excersise without water or excessive drinking of alcohol without water that has left them so dehydrated that they have started to convulse and rushed to hospital.

Airport tout war going badly

SUVARNABHUMI: -- Police who promised to end the operations of the operations of cheating unlicensed black-plate taxis and illegal tour guides at Suvarnabhumi airport by mid-June have admitted a first-round defeat - but will try again.

Last month, Pol Maj-Gen Wut Liptapanlop, deputy chief of Police Region 1, vowed a major crackdown that would take the touts and illegal guides out of the airport within 15 days.

On Sunday, Pol Maj-Gen Wut urged Airports of Thailand (AoT) to apply tax laws to curb the illegal operators, and vowed it would take just [more...]

-- Bangkok Post 2007-06-25

There are 2 issues here - The "Black Market" taxis here appear to have increased by a huge amount since the move to Suvanabhumi and they just add to the already very congested areas at the exits. Why the local security guards can't throw them out or clamp their vehicles is beyond me....

DPM raids Pantip Plaza and seizes 1 pornographic VCD

The Deputy Prime Minister led a raid on Pantip Plaza to suppress vice and intellectual property crimes.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Development and Human Security Paiboon Wattanasiritham (ไพบูลย์ วัฒนศิริธรรม), conducted an inspection of pornographic vendors at Pantip Plaza and instructed officers to conduct a sting operation resulting in the apprehension of 1 VCD vendor, along with the seizure of 1 pornographic VCD, 30 MP3 discs, and 2 bags of marijuana.

The Deputy Prime Minister then visited entertainment venues along Patpong district on Silom Road and reports finding no illegal activities. Mr. Paiboon reported that youths under the age of 20 years were not found inside local entertainment venues and bar proprietors and their staff were cooperative.

The Deputy Prime Minister added that he would conduct discussions with Bangkok Governor Apirak Gosayothin and representatives of VCD dealers to arrive at a proper solution to violation of intellectual property rights.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 24 April 2007

The amount of times I have visited the DVD shops of the Capital to get the latest films (not pixelated nudity I have to say!) only to find the shops closed and be informed by the vendors that thay are expecting a raid - "come back tomorrow" leaves me convinced that the channels of communication from the police to the vendors are wide open. If the minister seriously thinks that Panthip is free of porn, illegal copies of films and software rather than saturated with it he is seriously mistaken. If he also thinks that Patpong wasn't fully prepped and awaiting his arrival then he really needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

The current authorities are a joke. They talk the talk but fall significantly short of walking the walk. They have been threatening to get tough for too long whilst doing nothing. If there was the slightest possibility that Thaksin had started these fires, we'd have had arrests, assets confistcated, the army deployed and half the sea from the Gulf of Thailand dumped on the fires.

It's the same with the airport. We get all this hot air about fixing the problems and sorting out the fire exits but the main exits once you come through customs are still locked forcing you go go right or left. The area is far too overcrowded with nobody clearing the way. The road access outside is constantly blocked with 3 lanes of parking and sometimes even 4. If there is a fire or bomb there the casualties will be huge. The fire department and ambulances, if there are any, will not be able to get near.

I think the minister is right in some respects - but a lot of it boils down to granularity. However this 'sufficiency economy' thing is just a bandwagon that all the Thais have jumped on without understanding what it means as it remains completely undefined unless you use money instead of rice, prawns, coconuts etc. and look at the balance of payments which is what every country does anyway. If the population listens to the adverts on the radio and sets about buying land, dividing it into 30:30:30:10 and farmning it then there will be even less technology. Zero to be precise! And noone will be interested in any technolgy conventions. In fact there won't be any conventions. Indeed there will be no minister of ICT - just agriculture.

At the moment he is correct that Thailand makes extremely little in the electronics. The 'PC' companies here just buy-in the components (motherboards, disk drives, memory chips, modems, monitors etc.) badge up a piece of tin and then sell it on. Companies such as Dell do exactly the same but offer the full global sales and support package. What Thailand needs is some kind of policy or plan or it will still be fulfilling the roll of adding no value in another 10 years. It needs to aim at adding more value - whether through manufacturing components themselves, creating a new Dell or by creating the conditions where foreign companies can manufacture here and then lobbying them to get them here.

A more interesting metric would be how many arrived!

Given that about 1 in 249 international phone call attempts succeeded between NYE and 2nd Jan, nowhere near 100%