King Power has 'more space than was allotted to it'

Nation February 6, 2007

An official investigating alleged contract violations by King Power has urged General Saprang Kalayanamitra to act against the duty-free operator.

In a special interview with Nation Group editor Thepchai Yong, General Pathompong Kesornsuk, chairman of a subcommittee investigating King Power, said it was clear that the company had violated its contract by changing a floor plan, setting up too many stalls and blocking the passage of passengers. Pathompong said he had reported his findings to Saprang, who is the chairman of the Airports of Thailand (AOT) board of directors, and said Saprang would have to act against King Power.

Following is an excerpt from the interview, which was aired on Channel 5:

The first thing passengers will see after the immigration area in Suvarnabhumi Airport is the "Churning of the Milky Ocean" sculpture. It looks nice, but was it designed to be like this?

When they proposed the contract, it should have been the Suphannahongsa royal barge. But it turned out this way. In fact, this area should be the walkway to the gate. It was wrongly designed.

Can passengers walk through this area now?

Not yet, because we have to overhaul the management to ensure convenience for the users. Originally, the left side was supposed to be the conveyor belt area. But they took it away and replaced it with duty-free shops. Now, the problem is that there are duty-free shops on both sides. The centre of the area is the commercial area and small bars. The traffic is congested. The problem is worse for physically impaired passengers.

The contract said an area of 5,000 square metres should be utilised. But we calculated that around 10,000 square metres have been used - 6,000 square metres more than the original agreement. Looking at the original blueprint, the shop area should be located on one side only. Who has given them the right to change the blueprint? We asked a lot of people and they said that a subcommittee endorsed the amendment. And Srisook Chandrangsu presided over the subcommittee.

Will this sculpture be changed?

According to the contract, if things didn't turn out according to the agreement, there are two options: to revoke or to ask for compensation. Some said they were willing to compensate. But we should not forget that maybe compensation is not permissible.

But they said the Airports Authority of Thailand was fully aware of the space utilisation.

That's what I told General Saprang, that he has to take care of the issue. How could the board agree with the agreement?

The committee of Khun Pathompong solidly found the irregularities.

We have found the irregularities from the document that we received. It breached the agreement when we looked at the area and measured it. It was difficult to walk from that point to the aircraft on time.

It takes time because it's quite a distance. It does not help people who travel overseas. This area should not have had anything. People should be able to walk through. But they opened the area and showed that there was a walkway with chains to close it. If the area is open, people may be able to walk through but the aisle is pretty narrow. There is no sign to tell people. To sum up, they thought of only the commercial benefits.

Beverage shops should not exist, should they?

They didn't exist in the blueprint. The thing is that after the company wins the bid, the amendment has to be approved by AOT. And who is the authorised person of that board? It was Srisook. He has to take the responsibility. The big board that was chaired by the previous prime minister should also be involved.

Now the sculpture is treated like a sanctified object?

To this point, they were trying to do many things to maintain it or to attract attention.

The truth of the story is that Murphy/Jahn didn't start to think about any airport concessions until very late in the game. None of the concepts that were floated at the end of Schematic Design are present as built. About two years of architectural work was done (on the roof) prior to really thinking about the concessions.

And, FWIW, the toilet situation was originally much worse.

The contract said an area of 5,000 square metres should be utilised. But we calculated that around 10,000 square metres have been used - 6,000 square metres more than the original agreement.

Some really good maths there!!! No wonder they are in such a mess.

And I don't suppose there was any form of incentive offered to allow this 50+% overusage?

Boycott King Power - buy at LHR

Boycott King Power - buy at JFK

Boycott King Power - buy at SYD

Boycott King Power - buy at SIN

Boycott King Power - buy at LAX

Boycott King Power - buy at CDG

Boycott King Power - buy at SFO

Boycott King Power - buy at KUL

Boycott King Power - buy at FRA

get my drift?!!

Why would anyone buy anything from any King Power "Duty Free" shop anyway. It is all overpriced in the first place (as is just about all "duty free" shops around the world. One time when I checked, a compact flash memory card was about twice the price at a King Power electronics kiosk at the ole Duang Muang airport than at outlets at an intown IT mall.

Around the world, most of the goods sold at airport "duty free" shops have very low to zero duties to begin with, i.e., clothes, food, electronic items, etc. The only items that most nations still tax heavily are tabacco and alcohol. If you need these items, it makes sense to purchase your legal limit at a "duty free" shop before your return to LOS.