Bangkok's Airport Of Smiles In Crisis

[webfact]

Bangkok's Airport of Smiles in Crisis

Written by Our Correspondent

Substandard construction, inadequate design, cause delays, frustrate millions

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which opened only six years ago on what amounted to a swamp, is approaching a crisis stage with overcrowding and increasingly impaired runways, travelers and officials say.

Designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Architects of Chicago, the airport was in trouble the day it opened, 25 km east of Bangkok, and has rarely been out of trouble. Its construction was widely believed to have been riddled with corruption and mismanagement. The terminal had to be reconfigured shortly after it opened, with offices having to be closed so the space could be converted into toilets. The facility was designed with a capacity of 45 million passengers when it was opened in September 2006, a year late at that point. It now handles 51 million passengers a year as Thailand’s tourism industry booms.

Although most airports have teething troubles, Suvarnabhumi has become a near legend for frustrated travelers. Some passengers were forced to wait up to four hours for their baggage to appear on the day it was inaugurated. Cracks began to appear in taxiways and runways almost before it opened and have continued regularly. Aviation and tourism executives have warned repeatedly that the government and the corruption-riddled Airports of Thailand, which administers the facility, must work to maintain safety standards.

The west runway closed for repairs 209 times in 2011 and has been closed 55 times since the beginning of 2012. The eastern one has been closed 66 times, mostly to repair existing cracks. The east runway is now expected to remain closed until Aug. 9 while repairs are made, with aircraft backing up overhead in holding patterns for up to an hour and more as they wait to land. In June, Cathay Pacific warned that there could be delays because of the runway would be closed for months of repairs. [more...]

Full story: http://www.asiasenti...4687&Itemid=437

-- Asia Sentinel 2012-07-14

[Notstupid30]

Sum num na mak mak ...

[pauljones]

The Bangkok Post reported that 3 mafias have divided up the airport.

My guess?

The Army.

The Police.

Relatives of the invisible hand.

[Moruya]

The Bangkok Post reported that 3 mafias have divided up the airport.

My guess?

The Army.

The Police.

Relatives of the invisible hand.

red shirts.

[KKvampire]

The Culture Of Thailand epitomized by the country's first port of call

[jaltsc]

"Designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Architects of Chicago, the airport was in trouble the day it opened,"

Somehow I don't think the original designs called for substandard materials. Nor was there a section in the designs titled: "Shortcuts no one should notice".

[moe666]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassel. In the end all you can use to measure the airports preformance is your own experience.

[BKS22]

This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how I'm flying in on a new 590 ton Airbus A380 in 45 days.

Per Thai standard and regulation will it take a major disaster at Suvarnabhumi before these issues get addressed?

[OzMick]

The Bangkok Post reported that 3 mafias have divided up the airport.

My guess?

The Army.

The Police.

Relatives of the invisible hand.

Who is collecting the parking fees? None of the above, in fact a PTP MP red shirt and his "mates" with no explanation as to how this situation has come about.

[asiawatcher]

"Its construction was widely believed to have been riddled with corruption and mismanagement... "

You don't say... nah, not possible!

[nikster]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassle. In the end all you can use to measure the airports performance is your own experience.

Yeah lets see how it impacts you... All the things they say about the airport are true of course but at the end of the day passengers care mostly about the experience. I frequently fly between SFO from San Franciscos relatively new international terminal to BKK. BKK compares favorably: Less wait for luggage, MUCH less wait for immigration, MUCH friendlier immigration officials, better services re food and shopping on departure. In Fact BKK wins over SFO in pretty much any category you choose to look at.

Better than Swampy are Changi, Incheon, maybe HKIA. But all these are internatioal airports that are known to be near the top of the list. BKK is not the best airport in the world - they had the chance to do that, but screwed up thanks to all the problems mentioned in the article, mainly corruption of course. But BKK isn't the worst either.

And its the only airport I have ever arrived on in an international flight where I went from the airplane into a taxi in 15 Minutes. I know its not always that fast but it can be....

Edited July 14, 2012 by Scott
formatting

[jalansanitwong]

51 million tourists per year ??? 139,700 /day just the 700 is 5 plane loads.

where are they all staying ?

the average plane has about 150 passengers... do the maths

Amazingingly popular Thailand according to TAT.

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed.

[Notstupid30]

51 million tourists per year ??? 139,700 /day just the 700 is 5 plane loads.

where are they all staying ?

the average plane has about 150 passengers... do the maths

Amazingingly popular Thailand according to TAT.

what aload of BS Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport pax up 15%, cargo up 2% in Jun-2012

Thailand's Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport passenger numbers up 15% - traffic highlights for Jun-2012:

Passenger numbers: 4.0 million, +15.2% year-on-year;

Domestic: 915,427, +32.4%;

International: 3.1 million,+11.0%;

Cargo volume: 115,420 tonnes, +1.6%

Domestic: 3942 tonnes, -3.8%;

International: 111,478 tonnes, +1.8%;

Aircraft movements: 24,801, +10.3%;

Domestic: 6730, +23.5%;

International: 18,071, +6.1%.

Source http://centreforaviation.com/news/bangkok-suvarnabhumi-airport-pax-up-15-cargo-up-2-in-jun-2012-164611

[trainman34014]

This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how I'm flying in on a new 590 ton Airbus A380 in 45 days.

Per Thai standard and regulation will it take a major disaster at Suvarnabhumi before these issues get addressed?

Yes; but you know that the disaster will not be their fault, it will be the fault of those stupid Farang that designed the place.

[LuckyLew]

What is the problem here?

No planes have crash landed

and no planes have crashed on takeoff

[BKS22]

What is the problem here?

No planes have crash landed

and no planes have crashed on takeoff

tic tic tic tic......

[bangkokrick]

I came through the airport 2 days ago and was pleasantly surprised. I passed through immigration in around 10 minutes and had my baggage in hand around 30 minutes after the plane had touched down. There have been big improvements in the immigration area, so credit where credit's due.

[Notstupid30]

This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how I'm flying in on a new 590 ton Airbus A380 in 45 days.

Per Thai standard and regulation will it take a major disaster at Suvarnabhumi before these issues get addressed?

Yes; but you know that the disaster will not be their fault, it will be the fault of those stupid Farang that designed the place.

It’s not the designers fault and you should see the design profile.. ? I would say it's the people who did the construction work on the site... And that was Italian / Thai Development also should have a read at this Italian-Thai seeks investors to replace Max Myanmar in Dawei .. They are having a laugh at $50 billion Dawei project no surprise the people pull out … By the way these days Thais are known for cutting corners in construction work..

Italian-Thai seeks investors to replace Max Myanmar in Dawei

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/06/us-myanmar-dawei-italianthai-idUSBRE86506C20120706

Helmut Jahn the designers of suvarnabhumi airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Jahn

[Phatcharanan]

Have to agree with the above post. I flew in from Qatar 6 days ago.....................slight 10 minute delay in landing but through immigration and out of the airport within 40 minutes of landing. I don't think thats too shabby.

[Moruya]

Have to agree with the above post. I flew in from Qatar 6 days ago.....................slight 10 minute delay in landing but through immigration and out of the airport within 40 minutes of landing. I don't think thats too shabby.

40 mins is fine.

Despite the headline, no smiles there.

[Pseudolus]

I don't think the article is really about Joe Public's experience of the airport. All of use have had good and bad experiences there and most other airports so little point saying "I was there and it was OK for me". It's about the fact that it is falling apart and this is happening because;

1. It should never have been built on a quagmire in the first place, but if it had to be, significant investment in shoring it up needed to happen, which in the event was paid for but not delivered;
   
2. Substandard materials and construction practices were employed to feather the nest of a group of people;
   
3. Any attempts to fix the problems will be subject still to the aforementioned practices and basically like putting a 5 baht sticking plaster on a severed leg. One day it will break with catastrophic results.
   

I don't think anything will actually happen though; the people responsible for (read. profited most from) it will be banking on the fact that another one will need to be built, and Toot Toot here comes the gravy train again.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how I'm flying in on a new 590 ton Airbus A380 in 45 days.

Per Thai standard and regulation will it take a major disaster at Suvarnabhumi before these issues get addressed?

Scores of people died in the Santika nightclub fire, and many more were injured, due to corruption and lack of enforcing safety measures. Did anything really change or improve after that?

BTW, I don't think I want to know what happens if a landing jumbo jet has one of its landing gear hit a sink hole that's developed along the runway...

Edited July 14, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[fareastguy]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassle. In the end all you can use to measure the airports performance is your own experience.

Yeah lets see how it impacts you... All the things they say about the airport are true of course but at the end of the day passengers care mostly about the experience. I frequently fly between SFO from San Franciscos relatively new international terminal to BKK. BKK compares favorably: Less wait for luggage, MUCH less wait for immigration, MUCH friendlier immigration officials, better services re food and shopping on departure. In Fact BKK wins over SFO in pretty much any category you choose to look at.

Better than Swampy are Changi, Incheon, maybe HKIA. But all these are internatioal airports that are known to be near the top of the list. BKK is not the best airport in the world - they had the chance to do that, but screwed up thanks to all the problems mentioned in the article, mainly corruption of course. But BKK isn't the worst either.

And its the only airport I have ever arrived on in an international flight where I went from the airplane into a taxi in 15 Minutes. I know its not always that fast but it can be..

That may well be true on a good day, but when things go wrong on a bad day you can do the airplane into an ambulance in a lot less than that

Edited July 14, 2012 by metisdead
: Do not modify quoted posts, altering font color is altering the quoted post.

[IMA_FARANG]

Does anyone else remember the early "lack of toilets" and "lack of seating" problems?

When there was only ONE male and ONE female toliet area for ALL passengers waiting in the check-in area?

And when there was only one seating area for your Thai family and friends to wait while you cheked in for your international flight?

I've seen my family wait for over two hours while I slowly shuffled toward the check-in booths in a queue for more than two hours just to check my one single bag.

I remember those days,

I remember too the Thai airport official....but unfortunately I can't recall his name now....who when asked about the lack of seating said,

"We don't want passengers to sit in this airport....we want them to be in the shops buying things instead of just sitting and waiting".

For once, perhaps unintentionally, he spoke the real truth about that airport.

That airport was designed and intended from the very beginning as an expensive shopping mall, not as an airport first. Selling expensive items to tourists was it's primary concern.

The profit, and the corruption and kickbacks were in the business of "arranging" the best locations for wealthy shop owners who coild and would pay for preferred shop locations.

That's where the money was...and that was the primary interest of airport officials who had the authority to "arrange" things.

The shops generated money for them....toilets, seating, and also safe and well-constructed runways DIDN'T make money for them.

That fact, right there, is at the heart of the problems with the airport today.

Edited July 14, 2012 by IMA_FARANG

[Babcock]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassle. In the end all you can use to measure the airports performance is your own experience.

Yeah lets see how it impacts you... All the things they say about the airport are true of course but at the end of the day passengers care mostly about the experience. I frequently fly between SFO from San Franciscos relatively new international terminal to BKK. BKK compares favorably: Less wait for luggage, MUCH less wait for immigration, MUCH friendlier immigration officials, better services re food and shopping on departure. In Fact BKK wins over SFO in pretty much any category you choose to look at.

Better than Swampy are Changi, Incheon, maybe HKIA. But all these are internatioal airports that are known to be near the top of the list. BKK is not the best airport in the world - they had the chance to do that, but screwed up thanks to all the problems mentioned in the article, mainly corruption of course. But BKK isn't the worst either.

And its the only airport I have ever arrived on in an international flight where I went from the airplane into a taxi in 15 Minutes. I know its not always that fast but it can be....

It took me about 25 minutes to go through from heathrow the other week however I had a premier pass.

The queue for immigration in the 1st hall were horrendous.

First time ever I came out for a taxi and was first in queue.

Get rid of king power.

Get rid of the taxi, tat touts (all still there!)

The facility is mismanaged and the corruption is nothing to do with "reds" but Hiso mafias.

Poor materials used in construction?

No evidence yet found and it was thoroughly checked out when was it 2007/2008.

Check out Wikipedia if you don't believe.

Truth is the 2nd terminal was due to have been completed by now and construction on second runway underway but oh yes we had a coup and the main focus of attention was "get mr T!" and nought happened just a steady slide into incompetence and corruption repeated in all the tourist resorts.

Look at Phuket now. Murder resort of Asia.

[Semper]

What is the problem here?

No planes have crash landed

and no planes have crashed on takeoff

Yet.....

[Credo]

I don't particularly enjoy being in any airport. I would rather be at my destination, which isn't the airport. That said, I don't mind Swampy. The first few times I was there, I did mind the lack of toilets. Once inside the departure area, it's quite nice. Before the departure area it's just too noisy.

I do get nervous about all the problems, such as radar not working and runway problems. There just seems to be too many things that go wrong there.

[joecos]

What you say is all well & good, but the question that needs answering; Are the runways safe.......

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassle. In the end all you can use to measure the airports performance is your own experience.

Yeah lets see how it impacts you... All the things they say about the airport are true of course but at the end of the day passengers care mostly about the experience. I frequently fly between SFO from San Franciscos relatively new international terminal to BKK. BKK compares favorably: Less wait for luggage, MUCH less wait for immigration, MUCH friendlier immigration officials, better services re food and shopping on departure. In Fact BKK wins over SFO in pretty much any category you choose to look at.

Better than Swampy are Changi, Incheon, maybe HKIA. But all these are internatioal airports that are known to be near the top of the list. BKK is not the best airport in the world - they had the chance to do that, but screwed up thanks to all the problems mentioned in the article, mainly corruption of course. But BKK isn't the worst either.

And its the only airport I have ever arrived on in an international flight where I went from the airplane into a taxi in 15 Minutes. I know its not always that fast but it can be....

[rucus7]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassle. In the end all you can use to measure the airports performance is your own experience.

Yeah lets see how it impacts you... All the things they say about the airport are true of course but at the end of the day passengers care mostly about the experience. I frequently fly between SFO from San Franciscos relatively new international terminal to BKK. BKK compares favorably: Less wait for luggage, MUCH less wait for immigration, MUCH friendlier immigration officials, better services re food and shopping on departure. In Fact BKK wins over SFO in pretty much any category you choose to look at.

Better than Swampy are Changi, Incheon, maybe HKIA. But all these are internatioal airports that are known to be near the top of the list. BKK is not the best airport in the world - they had the chance to do that, but screwed up thanks to all the problems mentioned in the article, mainly corruption of course. But BKK isn't the worst either.

And its the only airport I have ever arrived on in an international flight where I went from the airplane into a taxi in 15 Minutes. I know its not always that fast but it can be....

I have used SFO since 1966 and also lived many years in the Bay Area. I agree with your observation re: immigration and luggage retrieval. In my recollection SFO is at least partially built on land fill. There have been none of these runway issues that I recall. Creature comforts you mentioned are far out weighted by hazardous runway conditions. The potential for a runway failure, resulting in a disaster is beginning to sound real.