Huge airport sculpture to be moved for fire safety reasons

The Churning of the Milk Ocean sculpture will be moved from its location inside Suvarnabhumi passenger terminal under a plan to improve safety at the airport. The huge sculpture, about 30 metres wide and 5.5m high, blocks evacuation routes to be used in the event of fire, said Surajit Surapolchai, vice-president of the Airports of Thailand (AoT) in charge of operations and information technology. He said the removal of the sculpture should clear the way for passengers should they need to evacuate the area. The 48-million-baht sculpture, donated by the King Power Group, is sited behind the immigration desks in the passenger departure lounge. There are also shops in the area. The statue had to be moved out of the airport terminal, said Surajit. Mongkol Wisutthijai of the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) and chairman of a committee inspecting the airport's fire safety system, said Thai ornamental structures block air vents, and either the air vents or the structures have to be moved elsewhere. Talks will be held with the AoT, King Power and Thai Airways International, which also needs to modify some of the areas it occupies, to improve fire safety. AoT president Chana U-sathaporn said the fixing of problems relating to passenger safety should not take long. The most urgent problem lies with the fire alarms, which should take about a month to fix. A report prepared by the EIT concluded that the fire safety system at Suvarnabhumi airport was substandard. The are not enough manually operated fire alarm switches. Safety standards require one

Listing of safety deficiencies continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/25Jan2008_news10.php

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For anyone unsure, this is the statue in question:

what a waste of money....again !

Is it in any way related to the "conflict between AOT and King Power ?

Could I have them put this in my room?

I have enough room here on the farm and it one upmanship from garden gnomes and spirit houses.

I have enough room here on the farm and it one upmanship from garden gnomes and spirit houses.

It is a beautiful piece of art work. Many passengers strike a post for pictures taking.

But I'm glad to hear it's being moved. Afterall, safety should come first.

48 million thb 'gift' from King Power?

I have a feeling there were quite a few more 'gifts' givin out for the King Power group to get a monopoly on the retail space.

48-million-baht sculpture

millions spent on a safety hazard made of gaudy paint, gypsum and concrete .....so what else's new at swampy?