Flights At Suvarnabhumi Airport Delayed As Repairs Of Cracks Continue

[younghusband]

Some reasonable comments here. I always like the replies, 'if you don't like it, go back to your own country'. Now, in this case the comments were by an Thai architect as ColPyat pointed out.

Still waiting for some proposal to where to send this fellow, go home would not work, obviously?

Not just any Thai architect but the extremely well connected Cambridge educated Dr Sumet Jumsai, son of ML Manich Jumsai of dictionary fame who, as longer terms residents will remember,also owned the Ploenchit bookshop (by Erawan tea rooms, remember that!).Sumet was responsible for in my view two of the oddest constructions in Bangkok, the Elephant Building and the old British Council (port hole) building in Siam Square.But he is a good architect and a highly civilised man with an eclectic range of cultural interests.

Thanks for that piece of captivating information younghusband. Keep it up sir

Captivating?!? Clearly the younger Jumsai rates as highly in architecture as does his father in the making of dictionaries. Not that either is not quite civilized or not that either does not possess a range of cultural interests, but the younger's architecture and the elder's dictionaries both leave something to be desired.

Agreed on both counts, ie both as to dictionaries (chiefly remarkable through the miniature editions) and architecture (mainly weird).Sumet has another recent claim to fame in that although not a Yalie led the Thailand campaign against the Yale University Press in advance of the publication of Handley's book.He actually threatened that institution reminding one of King Lear's invocations. "I shall do such things.What they are yet I know not but they shall be the terrors of the earth."In the event Sumet was told to shut up and cooler heads prevailed and George Bush Senior was briefed to intervene on the Bangkok lobby's behalf, delaying the publication by a few months until after anniversary jollifications.

Very off topic so no more from me on Sumet Jumsai!

[midas]

It appears that the runways are made from poo.

[opalhort]

...... Does anyone know of a map that points out the locations of the damage? I thought it was only taxiways and runways that had problems.

The BKK Post published a map in their print edition on Fri. 26.01.07

here is a scan:

[thai_narak]

...... Does anyone know of a map that points out the locations of the damage? I thought it was only taxiways and runways that had problems.

The BKK Post published a map in their print edition on Fri. 26.01.07

here is a scan:

Damaged goods... This is Thaksin's bequest!

[Tony Clifton]

When the Shah found out about the problem, he called in the contractor's company heads.

He had their families arrested. He told the company heads they had 3 weeks to solve the problems.

The Shah then called the head of his security police, and in front of the company execs, he told his security chief that if the execs did not have the problems fixed after 3 weeks he was too kill their children, one a day, until all the repairs were finished completely. He was to start with their youngest children.

Not that I support the idea but I'm afraid this wouldn't intimidate Thaksin at all as he' s already shown how heartless he is by using his own children for the Shin deal and probably countless others. Also, he is involved in so many scandals that the punishers would run out of children within 3 days

[Siripon]

Some reasonable comments here. I always like the replies, 'if you don't like it, go back to your own country'. Now, in this case the comments were by an Thai architect as ColPyat pointed out.

Still waiting for some proposal to where to send this fellow, go home would not work, obviously?

Not just any Thai architect but the extremely well connected Cambridge educated Dr Sumet Jumsai, son of ML Manich Jumsai of dictionary fame who, as longer terms residents will remember,also owned the Ploenchit bookshop (by Erawan tea rooms, remember that!).Sumet was responsible for in my view two of the oddest constructions in Bangkok, the Elephant Building and the old British Council (port hole) building in Siam Square.But he is a good architect and a highly civilised man with an eclectic range of cultural interests.

Thanks for that piece of captivating information younghusband. Keep it up sir

Captivating?!? Clearly the younger Jumsai rates as highly in architecture as does his father in the making of dictionaries. Not that either is not quite civilized or not that either does not possess a range of cultural interests, but the younger's architecture and the elder's dictionaries both leave something to be desired.

Agreed on both counts, ie both as to dictionaries (chiefly remarkable through the miniature editions) and architecture (mainly weird).Sumet has another recent claim to fame in that although not a Yalie led the Thailand campaign against the Yale University Press in advance of the publication of Handley's book.He actually threatened that institution reminding one of King Lear's invocations. "I shall do such things.What they are yet I know not but they shall be the terrors of the earth."In the event Sumet was told to shut up and cooler heads prevailed and George Bush Senior was briefed to intervene on the Bangkok lobby's behalf, delaying the publication by a few months until after anniversary jollifications.

Very off topic so no more from me on Sumet Jumsai!

Dr Sumet Jumsai was also in the news for getting upset with the ex Miss Thailand, Pop, Areeya, for adopting his aristocratic surname. If I remember she had to apologise and revert to her old name.

[sbk]

On Saturday, water was discovered leaking into the passenger terminal from broken pipes.

I remember seeing something that looked like leaking pipes in the domestic passenger terminal, leading to the Bangkok Air lounge back in November. Buckets on the floor and all.

[Dupont]

...... Does anyone know of a map that points out the locations of the damage? I thought it was only taxiways and runways that had problems.

The BKK Post published a map in their print edition on Fri. 26.01.07

here is a scan:

Doesn't look like total corruption and incompetence. It looks like almost total corruption and some incompetence, stopping short of actually deliberately causing an aircraft to crash on the runways.

The thinking must have been, rip em for every baht at every stage, but do a good job on the runways. If only that the names of the people involved would be remembered more if 500 people died on a taking off or landing plane.

[Jai Dee]

Director of Don Muang Airport indicates readiness to accommodate airlines if they return

The director of the Don Muang Airport indicates that the airport was ready to accommodate airlines and flights that may be returning for service.

The Don Muang Airport director Mr. Pinich Saraithong (พินิจ สาหร่ายทอง) said that Don Muang Airport was ready to accommodate airlines that may be returning to the airport for service. Mr. Pinich said facilities could be prepared in as little as 2 weeks, but for greater safety and convenience 45 days may be required. The director said some modifications needed to be affected on runways bordering the Viphawadee-Rangsit road.

Meanwhile Mr. Thasapol Bearawell(ทัศพล แบเลเว็ลด์), the Chairman of the Board of Thai Air Asia Airlines said that his company would have to examine details of a Cabinet ruling before deciding whether to relocate airline operations back to Don Muang Airport.

Mr. Thasapol said that due to Thai Air Asia's rotating usage of aircrafts for both domestic and international operations the company may not be able to relocate to Don Muang Airport if it was opened only as a domestic flight center.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 30 January 2007

[Jai Dee]

Delays as Thai airport closes

THE Thai government overnight ordered Bangkok's old Don Muang airport to re-open following a series of infrastructural and management problems that have plagued the capital's new gateway, Suvarnabhumi Airport.

After a crisis meeting today, Transport Minister Admiral Thira Haocharoen made the decision that will see Don Muang revert to its role of handling all domestic commercial flights.

This will mean that once again millions of tourists - including the estimated 380,000 Australians who will visit the kingdom this year - will have to arrive at the new international airport, then be bussed back to Don Muang for flights to Thailand's popular vacation spots such as Phuket and Kho Samui.

The plan will add at least two or three hours to their journeys, since the two airports are located about 32km apart.

The decision was taken to ease the burden on Suvarnabhumi, which is in urgent need of repairs to its runways, taxiways, and terminal buildings - just four months after its fanfare opening in September.

Admiral Thira said he had ordered the change and added: "We will now ask the cabinet to approve the decision sometime early in February."

He said the move would be "temporary", although expert opinion in Thailand believes it will take more than a year to get the $7 billion air hub back in full service.

A total of 377,685 Australian visitors flew to Thailand last year, and the overall total reached nearly eight million foreign visitors, up 15.97 per cent over the same period for 2005.

European arrivals were up 17.78 per cent to 2,099,159, while the UK remains the top source of arrivals from Europe, up by 7.96 per cent to 540,401.

The latest problem to strike the airport came on Saturday. Suvarnabhumi director Somchai Sawasdeepol said a connecting joint in a pipe in one of the toilets on the third floor of the terminal came loose.

Water then leaked, some seeping down to the baggage storage room on the second floor below. The water damaged some bags. The owners would be compensated, the director said. Airport workers turned off the water valve and mopped up the area.

Don Muang was officially shut on September 28 after serving as the capital's international airport for 90 years. All international and domestic flights used Suvarnabhumi thereafter.

But even before the first turf was cut 15 years ago, experts were warning that the new super-gateway would be built on dangerous swampland.

A well-documented and embarrassing series of management and infrastructural problems have been blamed on poor and rushed planning and corruption.

Admiral Thira revealed last week the new airport already had about 100 cracks in 25 of its taxiways and one of its two runways. The taxiway cracks meant 11 of the airport's 50 aerobridges have been out of service, forcing passengers to take buses to the terminal.

Passengers and airline officials have voiced their disappointment at the poor state of the airport - and some commercial airline pilots stated publicly its problems made them fear for the safety of their aircraft and the people they carry on board.

The facility, described as one of the world's biggest, was a pet project of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a military coup on September 19 while on a visit to New York.

He has since been accused of allowing rampant corruption and dividing the nation.

Observers in Bangkok say the billionaire pushed the opening deadline forward before the country was due to hold a general election in October. The military coup put an end to the poll, and Mr Thaksin has since been living in exile variously in the UK, China, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore.

Thailand's Civil Aviation Department last week refused to extend an "interim" aerodrome certificate - a document initiated by the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation to prove airports meet international safety standards - that was granted the Suvarnabhumi Airport upon its opening last September.

Although airports can operate without the certificate, international airlines have reportedly warned the Thai government Suvarnabhumi has now entered a safety certificate "no man's land".

The Civil Aviation Department refused to renew the interim safety certificate it granted the airport four months ago because of numerous problems, and the military government says it is still investigating serious allegations of corruption including the awarding of contracts for its construction and operation.

Source: AAP - 30 January 2007

[Arandora]

"Speaking to journalists after meeting with representatives from the Civil Aviation Department and the Airports of Thailand (AOT), Admiral Thira said his ministry will submit the proposal for Cabinet approval next week.

The transfer is expected to take 45-60 days to complete.

He conceded that the service transfer, on a voluntary basis, is due to congestion and problems with taxiways and runways at the four-month old Suvarnabhumi Airport which resulted in the closing of some areas for heavy repair work."

So on that basis our onward flight to Phuket in March will be from the new airport but our return in April will be to the old.

Half good news. Knew I should have used Kuala Lumpur as the hub!

[Rinrada]

Wonder if the Consultants who oversaw the Project have anything to SAY?

[John K]

If I were to guess and this is only a guess, their comments and concerns were quietly rejected and squelched by the expert group known as corrupt politicians.

So now I read that the repair work is on hold until they find the cause.

Looking at the map kindly provided by opalhort it appears the cracks are where the aircraft dwell. That would also suggest that the cracks are caused by dimpling. Dimpling would occur if the underlying platform was too soft.

I am beginning to visualize the first airport that the runways and tarmac are made of 5cm thick plate steel to add surface support.

[PhilHarries]

From today's Bangkok Post article "Engineer suspects airport cover up".

Tortrakul Yomnak, a member of Airports of Thailand (AoT), said like other engineers, he used to believe that cracks at the new airport were ''technical cracks'', which are not unusual during construction.

Mr Tortrakul also inspected the airport in 2005 after the Bangkok Post ran stories about cracks in the runways.

''I'd never thought there were real cracks on the runway until recently when I went back to inspect the airport, and I remembered that the runway looked so new, and that aroused my suspicion about whether there were cover-ups,'' he said at a forum at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand last night.

Mr Tortrakul said more inspections would be made to see if the cracks were due to ''systematic failure'' _ an engineering term referring to a very serious structural problem, mostly occurring when substandard soil is used in landfill _ or whether the cracks are on the surface.

If the former is the case, it will take at least three years and a huge budget to repair the structure, he said.

Questions may be raised over whether the cracked runways were worth repairing when compared to the costs for dismantling and rebuilding them, he said.

Full article here : http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/01Feb2007_news08.php

(Sorry, tried to paste a link but it don't appear to have worked)

At last a view from within the Suvarnabhumi camp.

[Jai Dee]

Sonthi to summon airport probe panel for briefing next week

Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, chairman of the Council for National Security, said he will summon a committee in charge of probing corruption in the Suvarnabhumi Airport to a meeting next week.

Sonthi said he would like to be briefed about the results of the investigation so far because the CNS is concerned whether the corruption would affect air traffic security.

The briefing by the panel would be made some time after he returns from visiting southern border provinces on Sunday, he said.

Source: The Nation - 1 February 2007

[Payboy]

have they considered making bigger tyres compulsory on all incoming aircraft? Edited February 1, 2007 by Payboy