Cobra Swamp Is Reclaiming Bangkok's Showpiece Airport

[Etrigan]

The legend of Armageddon is based on a city not unlike Suvannabhum's. Megiddo, Northern Israel, was razed and rebuilt a staggering 27 times!!!

[s.pylos]

Sumet Jumsai, one of Thailand’s top architects, however, insists that the airport would have collapsed — corruption or not. Fifteen years ago he had fought against its location on a swamp. “Nature is now taking its toll in this swamp, and I feel everyone has got it wrong in the ongoing investigation,” he said. “The bottom line is that with or without corruption the runways and any structure not on piles will be subject to differential settlement and cracks.”

You do not need to be a brain surgeon to realise that concrete and steel do not float very well.

LOL !

So they need to close the thing down. AOT needs to pay to have everyone moved over to DM plus they need to absorb ALL expenditures for manpower for ALL the carriers. Swampipoon needs to be sank by pulling the plug or nuked and it needs to be broadcast on live circuit TV to be transmitted globally. A Sadaam like hanging of Taxsin. And the Governator needs to come over to BKK to hold motivational conferences for the Thai people; yup, that should do it !!!

You mean Sawampipumi ?

:D

[slim]

So often, over India, I have looked at that in-flight route map that they show and wished we were truly (not just apparently) going to land at Khon Kaen.

With you on that one dude.

The price of flights from Khon Kaen to Bangkok have more than doubled in the 3 years I've been living there (especially after Air Asia pulled out).

I find it utterly pathetic that in this day and age the train from Khon Kaen to Bangkok takes longer than the bus - its like living in the 1940's.

[BlackJack]

well my friend G is an engineer and he says that Thai people are the most optimistic people he has ever met and it shows now that the airport is falling down.

There is nothing wrong with being optimistic and dreaming that you can build such a construction on a swamp as tunnels have been built under the sea and harbours around the world.

However this dream needs to be backed up by qualified people from around the globe that have the experience and can assist the Thais to realise their dream.

Unfortunately, this seems not to be the case. I see it everyday here where Thais see something and say yes i can do that. They start the job and it never gets finished.

The first problem being -

rule number 1 - Whats in it for me

rule number 2 - My wifes brother in laws second cousin tiled their out house and so he can tile the airport

rule number 3 - Somchai is the boss and so dont make waves - just sit back, shut up and take the money

rule number 4 - I realise i cant do the job for this money as i had to hire my wifes second cousin that knows what hes doing and so i need more money to complete the job

rule number 5 - listen we have been paid for 18 months and made good money so lets call it quits and do a runner

rule number 6 - dont worry as they will never take us to court and if they do we can just pay a little extra to get out of it

rule number 7 - its not our money so stop worrying

PLease Thailand outsource all your major constructions from now on as now you have to double construct, double handle, double pay.

[cdnvic]

What they need to do is bring in engineering consultants from outside Thailand who have no need to save face or anything else that's incompatible with engineering, and get a true picture of what needs to be done to prevent the new airport from becoming an even bigger white elephant.

Edited January 31, 2007 by cdnvic

[OlRedEyes]

When's the closing date for tendering for the required longtail boat services to ferry passengers from the plane to the terminal?

[Dupont]

“There is so much bad news about this airport and so much that needs to be fixed,” said Yodiam Teptaranon, a board member of Airports of Thailand (AOT), which is irresponsible for the site. “Everything seems to be happening all at once. It makes everyone concerned as there seems to be no way to cover it all up.”

So its back to a Vietnam war era johnny foereigner air force base!

The only way out is to convert the new terminal into a prison and put everybody involved inside. From the politicians, the scum who bought up the land to re-sell it, the contractors and the workmen themselves. Then start a judicial process where the public vote on a reality TV show for which inmate deserves to be let out. Perhaps on an hour.

This scenario is more likely to happan than any other proposal I have heard of to fix or atone for the situation.

[mbkudu]

What they need to do is bring in engineering consultants from outside Thailand who have no need to save face or anything else that's incompatible with engineering, and get a true picture of what needs to be done to prevent the new airport from becoming an even bigger white elephant.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard that the engineers were a Japanese consortium?

[Plus]

PLease Thailand outsource all your major constructions from now on as now you have to double construct, double handle, double pay.

They can outsource ALL the country, beginning with the government.

Thaksin was defintetely onto something whith his mega-projects, pity they scaled it down and made their own decisions on what is best for the country.

[illy]

Looking forward to arrive back at the Don later this year - i know where the railway station is and the local buses go from - much more convenient for bkk centre...

Bit serious if 20% of the piers cant be used (11 of 51)

Amazing u-turnland !

i too will look fwd to going back to don mueng. i have arrived in don muang 28 times in two years and the new airport twice. the don was quicker and more pleasant every time and you actually find places to sit!!!

and it wont sink!!!

[danmtl]

The first problem being -

rule number 1 - Whats in it for me

rule number 2 - My wifes brother in laws second cousin tiled their out house and so he can tile the airport

rule number 3 - Somchai is the boss and so dont make waves - just sit back, shut up and take the money

rule number 4 - I realise i cant do the job for this money as i had to hire my wifes second cousin that knows what hes doing and so i need more money to complete the job

rule number 5 - listen we have been paid for 18 months and made good money so lets call it quits and do a runner

rule number 6 - dont worry as they will never take us to court and if they do we can just pay a little extra to get out of it

rule number 7 - its not our money so stop worrying

PLease Thailand outsource all your major constructions from now on as now you have to double construct, double handle, double pay.

Blackjack you got it right..thai peoples are stubborn by nature and refuse help from the west the Japanes firm told them not to build there but if it is not the Thai way there is now way possible and of course the Army the Air Force made a lot of money out of it since they own the land at the first place so LET START investigating them first.

Close the dam Airport reopen Don Muang and fix it with help from Western company and Real firms whom can handle such a job.

Thailand as a country is sinking laready let's not make it worst

[Scott]

I doubt the basic problem lies with the level of engineering. I think it lies with corruption. So very many people on the take and expecting their part and so much money that had to paid out, that means less materials than is required and it means cheaper/substandard materials.

You mix this with the tendency in the country toward mediocrity to begin with and you have a set up for a real problem.

[tjo o tjim]

When they first started construction of the terminal I was surprised that they were already pouring the runways. The original plan was for 20m piles of dirt to be on the runways for five years to load the soil, but that doesn't seem to have happened.

The foundations are designed with piles, but if I remember correctly they are shallow piles rather than deep piles. I thought that was supposed to be good enough for a swamp.

From what I gather, the biggest problem is that the site hasn't been de-watered sufficiently, due to the downstream drainage not being completed.

[TukTukDriver]

Sumet Jumsai, one of Thailand’s top architects, however, insists that the airport would have collapsed — corruption or not. Fifteen years ago he had fought against its location on a swamp. “Nature is now taking its toll in this swamp, and I feel everyone has got it wrong in the ongoing investigation,” he said. “The bottom line is that with or without corruption the runways and any structure not on piles will be subject to differential settlement and cracks.”

You do not need to be a brain surgeon to realise that concrete and steel do not float very well.

The longest floating bridge in the world is in Seattle, USA. It's made of concrete and steel. All it takes is a big air pocket inside the concrete.

[tiger tanaka]

In regards to big construction here, how about the Skytrain? Did Siemens build the whole thing? Wasn't Thai Italian involved? Overall, the sky train system seems okay, but there may be problems also.. don't know

What companies were involved with the major construction of the airport? Who made the big decisions? Certainly wasn't Bechtel it looks like, haha..

[kmart]

Rather fitting that they are deferring air traffic to U-tapao airport in Sattahip. It was designed for the biggest bombers in the world at the time. (B52) Its probably the longest and best-built airstrip in Asia, constructed for the "secret" blanket-bombing campaigns in Laos and Vietnam, that won Kissenger the Nobel Peace Prize.

I think squadrons of B52s should be taking off from there again to bomb Suvannabhumi back into the marsh personally. Another testament to the huge squandering of money, time, human and natural resources that is style-over-substance, mega-project-mad Thailand. "We have to do everything twice" could be the TAT's new slogan?

[Jai Dee]

Timing of Don Muang Airport domestic reopening critical for Songkran

Renovation of the 90-year-old Bangkok Airport at Don Muang to ready it for its re-launch is proceeding at full speed and airport officials are confident the facility would be re-opened in 45 days for non-connecting domestic flights.

Transport Minister Thira Haocharoen on Tuesday expressed hope to see the recently-decommissioned Don Muang International Airport reopen for domestic flights prior to the Songkran (Thai New Year) festival so that it could serve a large number of inbound and outbound passengers.

Airport manager Flight Lieutenant Pinit Saraithong affirmed that Don Muang can be ready in time for the Songkran (Thai New Year) rush, but the plan needs to be approved first by the cabinet, which may consider the plan on February 6.

Lieutenant Pinit said the repair work would concentrate on the west runway where sections are being resurfaced, which will take some 45 days. This year Thai New Year begins Friday April 13 and extends through Monday April 16.

But Admiral Thira said that as the plan is not yet finalised, it is not certain how long renovations will require and whether the proposed deadline can be met. He conceded the ministry needed to wait for the cabinet's decision on the transfer first. Should the cabinet disapprove of the transfer, the plan must be adjusted.

The new scheme must state clearly who is responsible for the task and how it would be carried out, Adm. Thira said, and that the airport must give utmost importance to safety concerns. Whether the transfer would take place before the Songkran Festival remains uncertain.

Minister Thira said he had assigned the Civil Aviation Department to meet with state agencies concerned to work out details of transferring some local flights back to Don Muang airport.

Lt. Pinit said other service infrastructure including airport shops, restaurants, passenger terminals, taxis and other transport links would be ready within a month. Total renovation budget stood at Bt33 million.

He accompanied reporters inspecting progress at Don Muang on Tuesday.

The old airport was decommissioned as Bangkok's primary airport in September when Suvarnabhumi was opened.

But cracks in the new airport's runways and taxiways prompted the Transport Ministry to recommend Monday to reopen Don Muang airport temporarily for domestic flights with no international connections to ease the burden on the new airport.

According to Lt. Pinit, Terminal 1 at Don Muang will be the main terminal servicing chartered flights. He expects about 5 million passengers to pass through Don Muang airport this year.

Source: TNA - 31 January 2007

[sriracha john]

SUVARNABHUMI CRISIS

Corruption 'could stem back to Thaksin'

Bannawit blames ex-PM for airport's problems but lawyer refutes claims

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is pressing hard on alleged corruption at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Admiral Bannawit Kengrien, chairman of the NLA's special committee for Suvarnabhumi issues, yesterday said that alleged corruption involving all projects could potentially be traced back to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Following the committee's meeting yesterday, Bannawit said the meeting had exchanged information with Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Pholabutr and found that many parts matched.

This was particularly true of information relating to the baggage trolleys, the cooling system and the limousine concession.

The committee is reading all the building contracts in a bid to find out which contractors were responsible and to see which officials checked and accepted the works, a key move to bring wrongdoers to punishment, Bannawit said.

As seen from the information on corruption in all projects, it all could be traced back to the former PM, he added.

"The airport is like a birth-defected child and the person who brought this child to life is having a happy life abroad. We are here to seek punishment for wrongdoers and to improve the airport to be accepted by other countries," he said.

With the authority given to him, Bannawit said he could bring culprits to justice in three months.

Tharet Punnasri, who chaired a sub-panel probing cleanliness and the environment in the airport, reported to the meeting that many automatic fire exits were malfunctioning and would not open until the electricity was cut off.

Metal fire-exit doors could become hot and harmful in cases of fire and many air purifiers and air blowers in smoking rooms were not wired and did not work, possibly due to contractors making haste to complete the work, he said.

The terminal's 400-hertz PC cooling system was also problematic, as some sections of the roof were found to have high heat, which could be a problem in summer, Tharet said. The sub-panel would invite Airport of Thailand (AOT) technical officials to fix the problems, he added.

General Pathompong Kesornsuk, chairman of a sub-panel investigating the AOT-King Power contract, said the duty-free giant's bidding paper for commercial activities in the terminal stated towards the end that, besides the prices quoted, it was willing to pay in advance an additional payment worth Bt2 billion to AOT.

Earlier, King Power executive Wichai Raksriaksorn had said the Bt2 billion paid to AOT was an advance payment due to King Power's financial liquidity.

Pathompong questioned if this Bt2 billion paid in advance was because the company feared they wouldn't get the deal and said that, if it was really as Wichai claimed, the AOT must come out to explain where this money went.

He also said that King Power had used much larger spaces than stated in the contract. For example, it used 37,600 square metres for an area for commercial activities when the contract only allowed 20,000.

Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported that Thaksin's lawyer Noppadol Pattama insisted that Thaksin had not overlooked safety concerns in the building of Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The interim government has blamed the ousted premier for a litany of problems, including some 100 cracks that have emerged in runways and taxiways.

Noppadol said: "I don't believe the former PM would have speeded up construction without basing the decision on the possibility for sound construction. He speeded up construction by asking officials to work quickly. That does not mean the construction ignored the rules of engineering."

Thaksin supported the military government's efforts to investigate the cause of the cracks to find the people responsible, the lawyer said, but the contractors, engineers and construction firms who did the work should be blamed if any of the work was substandard.

"The previous government and the PM will take responsibility for policy matters, but if a water pipe leaks and the former PM is supposed to take the blame, that is too much," Noppadol added.

The cracks at Suvarnabhumi have led the Transport Ministry to propose moving some domestic flights back to Don Muang Airport.

The Nation

[BlackJack]

In summary

"How embarrassing"

[Canadianvisitor]

if this wasn't Thailand, I'd say unbelievable.

John

This happens in more than just Thailand.

The infrastructure to build an airport is unbelievable.

Politicians are corrupt everywhere, I work near them.

It hurts and saddens me that this has happened in Thailand.

My hope is that some parts are usable and some parts are used

in the anti-corruption campaign due out next election.

[PeaceBlondie]

Please, let's not rush Don Muang back into re-commissioned status before it's ready.

Please, let's not keep Swamp-a-boom-boom open one more day, before disaster strikes.

Just cancel all Bangkok flights. Make them walk from Kuala Lamphur, or take the overnight train from Butterworth. Let them float down the Mekong and ride the bus from Chiang Rai province. Cancel Songkran - think how many lives you'd save! Tourists don't need to visit Thailand. Just close all the Bangkok airports and let them ride the train from Chiang Mai. Ooops, I live near that CMai airport....they can take the bus from Khon Kaen.

[topfield]

Cobra Swamp is reclaiming Bangkok's showpiece airport

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok’s showpiece international airport, opened last year, appears to be sinking into the swamp on which it was built. The city’s old airport will have to be reopened and some flights diverted there.

The $4 billion (£205 million) Suvarnabhumi airport was opened with great fanfare by Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister, shortly before he was ousted by a military coup last year. It boasts the world’s largest hangar and tallest control tower.

More than 100 cracks have appeared in runways, taxiways and the apron. Thailand’s temporary Government is conducting an investigation into its construction at a site formerly known as Cobra Swamp. Hurried repairs are being made after flights had to be diverted to a former US B52 bomber base at U-Tapao, near the holiday resort of Pattaya.

As alarm grew about the airport, designed to handle 45 million passengers a year, Thir Haocharoen, the Transport Minister, was seeking Cabinet approval to reopen the Don Muang airport for domestic flights. Eleven of the 51 piers for unloading aircraft are un-usable because of the cracks. Throughout the 40 years since the new airport was first planned, there have been allegations of corruption and shoddy work. When it opened there were unworkable lifts, a shortage of lavatories, a leaky roof and large areas of unfinished construction.

“There is so much bad news about this airport and so much that needs to be fixed,” said Yodiam Teptaranon, a board member of Airports of Thailand (AOT), which is responsible for the site. “Everything seems to be happening all at once. It makes everyone concerned.”

The news comes at a time when Thailand is struggling to maintain its tourist industry, which was damaged by last year’s events and concern about the military coup.

There are 61 problems and design flaws that need to be corrected at an estimated cost of 1.5 billion baht (£22 million), according to a study for AOT, which estimated that the work would take six months.

A weekend poll in Thailand found that 48 per cent of people suspected that corruption was the main cause behind the airport’s problems. And 16.5 per cent said that they felt unsafe using it. Alongkorn Pollabutr, the Democrat Party deputy leader, called at the weekend for an investigation into subsidence under the main passenger and cargo terminal.

Sumet Jumsai, one of Thailand’s top architects, however, insists that the airport would have collapsed — corruption or not. Fifteen years ago he had fought against its location on a swamp. “Nature is now taking its toll in this swamp, and I feel everyone has got it wrong in the ongoing investigation,” he said. “The bottom line is that with or without corruption the runways and any structure not on piles will be subject to differential settlement and cracks.”

The temporary Government put in place by the junta and led by General Surayud Chulanont says that it will report its findings on the runways in two weeks.

Sinking feeling

Building work on the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, begun in 1904, was delayed 30 years as the marble facade sank into soft soil. It still sinks a few centimetres a year.

Shanghai’s massive construction boom was slowed in 2003 when authorities discovered that parts of the city were sinking one-and-a-half centimetres a year because of the sheer weight of skyscrapers.

Source: Andrew Drummond, Times Online UK, Agencies

Ooops, Andrew.my goodness haven't seen you for 20 years in Bangkok: you got the sterling cost of Suwannapoom wrong by a factor of ten ! 4 billion dollars is just over 2 billion pounds not 205M !

[goodguy]

How about cutting pile holes in the runway, sinking new piles, proper ones, bracing them to the existing runway, and completely re-surfacing the whole thing.?

[Joon]

555555555555555555555555555555555555555

Was that you ha-ha-ha-ing?.....

..... or was it a cobra hi5555ing?!

[deminister]

The democratic party is a disgrace. They have delivered two time the prime minister. Under their rule, the construction of the airport has started. Under their rule, the first batches of school were burned down. And mister Suthep the than minister of Transport, was flying half way around the world in a private yet of his friends of (D) TAC. Nowadays it seems like the democratss have the moral high ground. Probably it is no more than a smoke curtain, to put people on the wrong leg. If the repairs are only 22 million Pound, it is very little. I doubt that any major airport that has opened in the last 25 years needed lesss repairs than this amount. The government and the Junta do not seem to grasp the basics of economics. Instead of trumping up very minor design glitches. 40 million dollar is very little after all, they should quietly repair these short comings. By trying to frame a former government, they become the joke of the entire world. Everybody is laughing about those incompetent Thai people, while they did actually a great job. I would say to the junta and their demcocratic ass kissers, grow up. Put Thailand before your own agenda.

[Likenitstill]

How about cutting pile holes in the runway, sinking new piles, proper ones, bracing them to the existing runway, and completely re-surfacing the whole thing.?

Yep that was my first thought too!! Reverse supported pad and also easy enough to install a setlement adjuster on each pile.

[Mai Krap]

Say it aint so, dirty ill planned bathrooms at the new airport?

This from Seattle Times

Cracks, leaks, corruption: Thailand's new airport has a rough start

By JOCELYN GECKER

The Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand — The taxiways are cracked, the terminal has leaks and some airlines even wonder whether it's safe to fly into Thailand's new international airport.

Bangkok's sleek and modern Suvarnabhumi Airport, which opened to great fanfare in September, was supposed to transform the Thai capital into Southeast Asia's leading air hub. Instead it has become a national embarrassment and a monument to the alleged corruption of a prime minister deposed in a coup five months ago.

"There is so much bad news about this airport — and so much that needs to be fixed," said Yodiam Teptaranon, a board member of Airports of Thailand, or AOT, the national airport authority. "Everything seems to be happening all at once. It makes everyone concerned."

On Monday, Transport Minister Thira Haocharoen recommended reopening Bangkok's older, smaller Don Muang airport to domestic-bound flights to ease congestion at Suvarnabhumi at least while the new airport undergoes repairs. The government is expected to approve the move next week.

Don Muang was shuttered to make way for the new Suvarnabhumi, which bills itself as the world's biggest single terminal airport. Its name means "Golden Land," and it is the gateway for millions of tourists lured to Thailand every year by the country's splendid white sand beaches and historic sites..

While authorities insist the problems at Suvarnabhumi pose no safety threat, the timing couldn't be worse for Thailand. The country is still struggling to recover from months of anti-government protests that culminated in the military coup and deadly bombings in Bangkok on New Year's Eve.

The AOT board has found 61 glitches, problems and design flaws that need to be repaired at an estimated cost of $45 million. The airport authority hopes to fix the problems within six months and sees no need to close the airport during repairs.

But Thira, the transport minister, admitted last week that "some airlines have concerns" about the airport's safety.

The most urgent problem is cracks on the tarmac. Airport authorities have said more than 100 fissures have been detected in taxiways leading to Suvarnabhumi's two runways. As a result, planes are unable to use 11 out of 51 air bridges for boarding aircraft, causing inconvenience to passengers who are shuttled by bus to and from their planes.

Then there's a shortage of toilets. Passengers have complained so much about dirty bathrooms, authorities plan to spend $1.2 million to build 200 new toilets through the giant terminal.

advertising

Bathrooms are also being redesigned for the handicapped, whose needs were widely overlooked, AOT's Yodiam said.

Problems with the baggage-handling system and computerized check-in services have led to lost luggage and long lines for passengers.

Signs in many areas are confusing or nonexistent. The air conditioning and revolving doors don't always work, and over the weekend a pipe burst in an upper-level bathroom, causing leaks that damaged luggage on a lower level.

Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation decided Friday to hold off on renewing the airport's international safety certificate, known as its Aerodrome Certificate. The airport can continue to operate without the license — Don Muang airport never had one — but the announcement was another setback for the airport.

Some said Suvarnabhumi was doomed from the start. The airport was built on a wetlands, known as "Cobra Swamp," a name deemed by some as inauspicious. Indeed the cracks are believed to stem from underground water seeping through the asphalt and cement.

More than 40 years in the making, the airport was dogged by corruption allegations throughout its planning and building.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose administration handed out most of the airport's building contracts, is widely accused of crafting policies to enrich himself and his cronies.

He was ousted in a coup just days before Suvarnabhumi opened Sept. 28 and replaced by a military-installed government that has opened several corruption investigations into the airport.

"You're beginning to see the evidence of Thaksin's wrongdoing in this," Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram told a gathering of foreign journalists Monday.

Newspapers columnists have filled their pages with renewed accusations that Thaksin rushed the airport through despite warnings that it wasn't ready for business.

[Dupont]

The democratic party is a disgrace. They have delivered two time the prime minister. Under their rule, the construction of the airport has started. Under their rule, the first batches of school were burned down. And mister Suthep the than minister of Transport, was flying half way around the world in a private yet of his friends of (D) TAC. Nowadays it seems like the democratss have the moral high ground. Probably it is no more than a smoke curtain, to put people on the wrong leg. If the repairs are only 22 million Pound, it is very little. I doubt that any major airport that has opened in the last 25 years needed lesss repairs than this amount. The government and the Junta do not seem to grasp the basics of economics. Instead of trumping up very minor design glitches. 40 million dollar is very little after all, they should quietly repair these short comings. By trying to frame a former government, they become the joke of the entire world. Everybody is laughing about those incompetent Thai people, while they did actually a great job. I would say to the junta and their demcocratic ass kissers, grow up. Put Thailand before your own agenda.

Gotta agree. Old Thaxsin was virtually a last minute guest to this particular trough.

[PhilHarries]

Timing of Don Muang Airport domestic reopening critical for Songkran

Transport Minister Thira Haocharoen on Tuesday expressed hope to see the recently-decommissioned Don Muang International Airport reopen for domestic flights prior to the Songkran (Thai New Year) festival so that it could serve a large number of inbound and outbound passengers.

Lt. Pinit said other service infrastructure including airport shops, restaurants, passenger terminals, taxis and other transport links would be ready within a month. Total renovation budget stood at Bt33 million.

Source: TNA - 31 January 2007

Inbound? DM is being reopened for domestic flights only. How many people fly from the provinces to Bangkok for Songkran? I thought the biggest migration was people getting out of Bangkok for the holiday and most of those used the roads or rails. They'll need to ensure speedy transfers of any incoming passengers requiring transfers from Suvarnabhumi to Don Muang, remebering that when they booked their tickets they would have allowed transfer times based on same airport.

As for the infrastructure, never mind the bluddy shops etc how about making sure the two airport's air traffic control systems talk to each other. And make sure that there are enough qualified air traffic controllers available to cover both operations safely.

[dwwin]

Please, let's not rush Don Muang back into re-commissioned status before it's ready.

Please, let's not keep Swamp-a-boom-boom open one more day, before disaster strikes.

Just cancel all Bangkok flights. Make them walk from Kuala Lamphur, or take the overnight train from Butterworth. Let them float down the Mekong and ride the bus from Chiang Rai province. Cancel Songkran - think how many lives you'd save! Tourists don't need to visit Thailand. Just close all the Bangkok airports and let them ride the train from Chiang Mai. Ooops, I live near that CMai airport....they can take the bus from Khon Kaen.

Nothing to worry about. If they keep enforcing the Toxin induced anti-foreigner laws there won't be too much traffic in the Cobra Swamp.

Somehow that airswamp is like the aircraft carrier. Completely unnecessary and will cost us until the end of days.

Somebody please tell me that I've been dreaming when I read that some things out there are not built on pilings.