Thaksin Threatens To Blacklist Airport Contractors

[george]

Facing delays, Thai PM threatens to blacklist Bangkok airport contractors

BANGKOK: -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatened to blacklist contractors from future government projects if Bangkok's long-delayed new international airport is not finished within two months.

A similar threat was made last August, but this time Thaksin said he fears significant work delays may postpone the scheduled September 29 completion of construction of the scandal-plagued, 3.7-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi airport.

"I will hold a meeting (Thursday) at the site because after I visited last Sunday I witnessed significant delays, especially the road around the airport," Thaksin told reporters.

"I will tell contractors that if the work at the airport is not finished in time they will not work on other government projects," he warned.

"They should give very first priority to work at Suvarnabhumi airport."

The airport, planned more than 40 years ago, was first intended to open in 1990, then in 2000. It is now expected to open to regular air traffic in March 2006, missing this year's scheduled September opening.

Thaksin said the contractors facing blacklisting included medium-size and large companies. They could afford to delay work because the fines they faced were cheap, he said.

The premier rejected media suggestions that corruption allegations and a failed no-confidence motion against Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit over the purchase of bomb detector scanners may have delayed construction work.

"It is unlikely that has caused the delay," he said.

Last September Thaksin spent the night in a worker's hut at the airport in a bid to encourage contractors to complete the project on time.

Suvarnabhumi is designed to handle 45 million passengers a year, 50 percent more than the existing airport, and could eventually expand to 100 million.

Thailand is battling regional rivals Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong to become Asia's predominant air hub.

-- AFP 2005-07-28

[kidtongue]

Facing delays, Thai PM threatens to blacklist Bangkok airport contractors

BANGKOK: -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatened to blacklist contractors from future government projects if Bangkok's long-delayed new international airport is not finished within two months.

AThailand is battling regional rivals Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong to become Asia's predominant air hub.

-- AFP 2005-07-28

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All interesting if ineffectual. Improved facilities all over the country would be a big plus and yes the extra 2 hours air travel time hurts. Given China, the MoF/Thai Intl. would be better off semi-permanently lowering fares on the 17 hr direct flights and stepping up their frequency, leaving catgo to earn the profit.

[thaibebop]

Good, speed them up so they can make more mistakes!

[joe beets]

So all the well-connected wolves will don their new fleece and

Dear Leader Thaksin will don the mask of the great man of the people because

(Just between you, me, and the Bangkok Fencepost)

G-d Himself couldn't finish that albatross on time (and

Everyone knows it) but

Face will be saved and

We'll all be none the wiser,

Eh?

And -

If the election were held today, who d'ya think would win?

Happy ###### birthday.

jb

[Tiger7Moth]

-- AFP 2005-07-28

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<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I live in BKK and do very little traveling, so the new airport will not be a problem for me. But, for anyone flying into the new airport having BKK as the final destination (as opposed to Pattaya, and others) it will be a disaster. So, pray for continued delays.

My Thai wife's family lives just a short distance from the new airport and so I am familiar with the difficulty of travelling from there into "downtown" BKK. It is a long way and there is almost inevitably a great deal of traffic. Add more traffic due to the airport and development of the surrounding area and it will be a disaster.

The new airport is very interesting to me since I moved to BKK from Colorado in the United States where there was a very similar situation. The State of Colorado and the city of Denver had dreams of becoming the gateway to the Western United States. The old airport was located just a few miles from the center of Denver, maybe 3 miles or about 5K. A new airport was built about 15 miles from downtown and experienced multi billion $ cost overruns on the baggage handling system alone.

Of course (like the new BKK airport), this represented a great inconvenience for anyone flying into and out of this destination (Denver in the US, BKK here in Thailand). Add to that the need to arrive at the airport 2 hours before the flight for domestic travel and 3 hours for International travel, and you have a real nightmare.

The ironic part of this nightmare was that on the 5th anniversary of the new Denver airport, the passenger load had not exceeded the capacity of the old airport. So, billions of $ spent because of grandiose plans, great inconvenience caused, and for what? Well, no reasonable answer to this question that I can think of.

And, the new BKK airport will be much worse. At least the airport in Colorado was built in the East of Denver, away from the mountains and the population, so there was no traffic while driving the extra, unneeded miles. For the new BKK airport it will be rot dtit, maak maak. A real nightmare in the making!!!

More grandiose plans, more billions spent - will BKK become the gateway to SEA??

[penelope]

Facing delays, Thai PM threatens to blacklist Bangkok airport contractors

BANGKOK: -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatened to blacklist contractors from future government projects if Bangkok's long-delayed new international airport is not finished within two months.

A similar threat was made last August, but this time Thaksin said he fears significant work delays may postpone the scheduled September 29 completion of construction of the scandal-plagued, 3.7-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi airport.

"I will hold a meeting (Thursday) at the site because after I visited last Sunday I witnessed significant delays, especially the road around the airport," Thaksin told reporters.

"I will tell contractors that if the work at the airport is not finished in time they will not work on other government projects," he warned.

"They should give very first priority to work at Suvarnabhumi airport."

The airport, planned more than 40 years ago, was first intended to open in 1990, then in 2000. It is now expected to open to regular air traffic in March 2006, missing this year's scheduled September opening.

Thaksin said the contractors facing blacklisting included medium-size and large companies. They could afford to delay work because the fines they faced were cheap, he said.

The premier rejected media suggestions that corruption allegations and a failed no-confidence motion against Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit over the purchase of bomb detector scanners may have delayed construction work.

"It is unlikely that has caused the delay," he said.

Last September Thaksin spent the night in a worker's hut at the airport in a bid to encourage contractors to complete the project on time.

Suvarnabhumi is designed to handle 45 million passengers a year, 50 percent more than the existing airport, and could eventually expand to 100 million.

Thailand is battling regional rivals Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong to become Asia's predominant air hub.

-- AFP 2005-07-28

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Thats like saying you are banned from international athletics if you dont break 5 secs for the 100 metres. Absurd.

[Flysiam]

BANGKOK: -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatened to blacklist contractors from future government projects if Bangkok's long-delayed new international airport is not finished within two months.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Like Toxin will blacklist his own family and friends??? yeah right.

And...spending the night in a construction workers hut will light a fire under them to get them to work harder???? OH PLEASE! They probably spent their entire time wai'ing the Dear Great Leader and not a brick was laid.

They will open the airport 'on time' with a 'test flight' into the airport - what the test is to show and prove is beyond anyones understanding - other than to save face. Have to pretty dense not to be able to see through that one!

[PanzerJohn]

So I guess that means his sister is in charge now. So who's gonna order the bomb scanners and be in charge of the parking?Sounds like a recipe for disaster, they should keep it in the family/party.

[Sphere]

Last September Thaksin spent the night in a worker's hut at the airport in a bid to encourage contractors to complete the project on time.

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And the conclusion from that outing was "always take a toothbrush, flip flops and a chequered loincloth when you go camping".

[Buff-horns]

he seems to have forgotten about the numerous re-designs to accomodate the new super jumbo plane!

and the dodgy roof re-design ?

they can take as long as they like, i dont fancy the extra traffic jams on roads that are already struggling to take the load.

Industrial traffic from the south will have all the extra airport traffic added on . Its a nightmare scenario !!