The Buzz At Bangkok Airport

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The buzz at Bangkok

The Thai capital is a more natural hub geographically for travellers going south to Australia or north to Indochina. But will it win the race?

BANGKOK: Ms Rosna Singjirakul's medium-size travel agency in the crowded Silom area gives a glimpse of how all routes to the countries in Indochina start in Bangkok.

Her agency, Atlantic World Travel, is strategically located on the ground floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and daily, half of the tourists who walk in want to nip across to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and even southern China for a quick visit.

Soon, India will be added to the list as New Delhi's new open skies policy has sparked talks of a direct flight between Bangkok and Jaipur in Rajasthan.

One of the approximately 10 million visitors who descend on Thailand each year is German backpacker Wolfgang, for whom Bangkok was an eye-opener.

Says the 22-year-old computer programmer: 'Sure, maybe it is not as good as Singapore or as pretty as KL, but I did not have to wait more at immigration than in Singapore. It was easy, very quick.'

The Munich native, who plans to spend the next month travelling in the region, adds: 'For connections, you have to go through Bangkok, it's the best way.'

This geographical advantage over Singapore is what the Thai government and airlines are counting on as the country prepares to open a new international airport in September 2005.

Suvarnabhumi airport will be able to handle 45 million passengers, a capacity that eyes the huge potential of the tourism and business traffic of its large hinterland.

Vietnam, for example, will be the world's fastest-growing air travel market, with the International Air Transport Association (Iata) forecasting its passenger traffic growing at 10.5 per cent annually in the next five years.

Bangkok is also better positioned along the Kangaroo route, with a slightly shorter and more direct flight path between Europe and Australia.

The distance between London and Sydney, for instance, is 17,090km via Bangkok compared to 17,176km via Singapore. This means savings in fuel and time.

In fact, the surge in traffic has started: Bangkok airport handled 3.2 million more passengers last year than Changi's 29 million.

However, airline professionals, from flight crew to airport managers, do not seem impressed by the numbers, saying they mask a couple of significant drawbacks: The airport's location and its high fees.

A Thai Airways captain tells The Straits Times: 'Changi is next to the sea while Bangkok is almost in the city.

'At Changi, a monorail runs between the two terminals and a direct train takes you to town. At Bangkok, if you land during rush hour it could take an hour to get into town.'

For Mr Warren Gerig, spokesman for the Board of Airline Representatives which represents 68 carriers, Bangkok's airport charges are a big worry.

'Unlike other countries, where there are around two or three charges, there are 14 separate charges from different branches of the government,' he said.

He also says the situation is aggravated by the low fares that airlines are forced to offer because of the benchmark set by state-owned Thai Airways. Mr Gerig, who is also United Airlines' general manager, says the airline has not been granted a fare increase for years.

A Department of Civil Aviation executive, who declines to be identified, says the government does not consider the airport's international charges inordinately high.

Bangkok charges a Boeing 737-400 a total of $4,086, according to Iata. It became more expensive than Singapore this year when Changi lowered its charges to $2,524, making it the second-cheapest airport in Asia after Kuala Lumpur. Bangkok is now No. 4, behind Jakarta.

But the edge may not last. The aviation official says an effort is under way to reduce the multiplicity of charges.

On top of that, the new airport will provide all kinds of facilities at a reasonable cost, the official says, adding: 'We're determined to make it one of the world's leading airports.'

Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has already set the tourism industry a target: Double the number of visitors to more than 20 million in the next six to seven years.

He has indicated that more airlines would be encouraged to start up, saying: 'We cannot accommo- date the increas- ed number of tourists if we only have Thai Airways International to serve them.'

His drive poses a big threat to Singapore, especially as Thailand eases its aviation policy to attract budget carriers.

Coupled with its legendary shopping facilities, made more attractive by its relatively lower prices, Thailand is like a thoroughbred galloping to be the winner in a high-stake race.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation estimates that for every US$100 (S$171) spent on air travel, the economy gains US$325, and 100 extra jobs in air transport produce 610 new jobs across the country.

--Agencies