PM Yingluck Demands Action To Ease Congestion At Suvarnabhumi Airport

[belg]

one idea : stop the waiste of toursit visa runners... let them pay 3000 - 5000 baht per 90 days, so not so much of these long stay tourists, that should get a more suitable visa, would have to leave every 3 months to get a stamp

[Moruya]

The best way to solve these ongoing airport problems would be to outsource to their ASEAN Singaporean partners

[BonzaLad]

A nice start for smoother, faster processing once landed, & already possible, as well as more than mildly encouraging to those of us who have invested time and money in the community, pay taxes and employ ample numbers of Thai citizens both locally and overseas would be to rather just be welcomed at all of those "Thai"...and (maybe?) Residents" marked immigration arrival desks instead of lining up sometimes 3 times a week, for some of us, along with the welcome but thundering slower lines of all those tourists!

[Dap]

cheaper to build another airport.

I agree, but certainly not here. Same corruption same problems.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Dap

[geriatrickid]

Yingluck said a committee would be formed to follow up on immediate and long-range plans closely to ease the crowding

I wonder if Yingluck's committee will mention that Yingluck's brother caused most of the serious runway problems we are seeing today, with his nepotistic and corrupt carelessness and grand-larceny.

Not really, but don't let the facts get in your way.

Why don't you start with the principal contractors. Wonderful Italian-Thai consortium with 2 major japanese construction firms. Those contractors controlled the construction and the site inspection.They were responsible for quality assurance. ITD is a public company, so you can go and look up the major shareholders.

Do you realize that there is a quasi monopoly on cement in Thailand? I suggest you read up on who controled the primary cement suppliers for the runways.

I am always amazed when people mouth off on the subject, but don't make an effort to see who was involved. And here's a tip: Public criticism of one involved party would land you in jail.

You know not of what you speak.

Are the contractors I identified incorrect?

Did the contractors not have their duties and obligations set out in the contract?

Who was the primary cement supplier ?

If I have it wrong, please explain, or is it just easier to make an unsubstantiated comment and run away?

[grahamhc]

cheaper to build another airport.

Plastering over the cracks of this bogbound airport is not the answer for the long term. Build a new one in a completely new location on solid ground and build it properly from day 1 with enough runways and passenger terminals et al. Try doing it without any fingers in the pie and see how much better it will be. After all; Bangkok will have sunk without trace in 50 years so why bother to try and save the airport?

The answer to BOTH questions is U-Tapao.

Wiki links: It is approximately 90 miles (140 km) southeast of Bangkok, near Sattahip on the Gulf of Siam. It is located south of route 3 (Thanon Sukhumvit) at km 189, about a 45 minute drive from Pattaya (Thailand's most popular beach resort)

"Although its runway can accommodate large aircraft, U-tapao's terminals are not designed to handle more than a few flights a day"..

The runway is already built (To US military standards). All they need is to build the terminals. They already have planned an extension to Motorway 7 which currently goes as far as Pattaya, and planning a high speed rail link from Bangkok to Rayong.

Phuket has its own airport, why not one for Pattaya, which is targeting the tourist growth in upmarket clientèle.

Edited July 17, 2012 by grahamhc

[moe666]

What congestion, arrived at the airport last week from PI maybe a 15 min. wait at immigration picked up bag and gone, I ignored the taxi touts which I recommed to those who seem to have a problem with them. Left for the states a few days later the flight was late from Taipei but donot know if it was that end or our end. Going thru immigration was a breeze about 15n min again. It took longer to walk to the gate from immigration than to get thru immigration.

The arrival was at 2330 and the departure was at 1530 so a wide difference of times.

[MyFriend You]

I really don't see what the whole article is about, I have flown over three hundred thousand miles in the last 10 years, landed in airports in over 30 countries, and at least 4 times a year, Bangkok, with the exception of Singapore, I clear customs, pick up my baggage and am headed downstairs for a City Cab in about an hour and a half -much faster any of the others - Bangkok is no muss, no fuss, great airport for business and tourist travelers - whats the real question here???? Congestion??? Sorry I don't see it.........I have been in countries that don't fly at night, or on Muslim holidays, or when the moon and sun aligns or whatever, I can land in Bangkok any time day or night, get into the city and into the hotel in a few hours from deplaning, rather than half a day or more...........try this in London, New York, San Francisco - or Sydney (who blackmailed me into buying a $150 Visa at the desk after waiting 14 hours for a flight to Fiji, because according to them, I overstayed my transit visa, it expired the night before while I was stuck in their airport ) - it was pissing down rain so the flight was delayed. No Thanks Ozzie I'll reroute thru Tokyo/Honolulu next time. Don't mind me, I like Bangkok's airport - try flying into Nairobi, Lahore, Ulaanbatar................and especially London.

[hellodolly]

looks to me like the construction of a 3rd runway should be the highest priority and this runway should be constructed properly as the current 2x runways are unreliable this would then allow for the proper repair or reconstruction of the current runways - a huge mess regardless

The only problem with more runway's is longer lines at Immigration and customs.

[Reasonableman]

looks to me like the construction of a 3rd runway should be the highest priority and this runway should be constructed properly as the current 2x runways are unreliable this would then allow for the proper repair or reconstruction of the current runways - a huge mess regardless

The only problem with more runway's is longer lines at Immigration and customs.

Also the inherent problems of building it on a swamp, the environmental impact on residents (never addressed afaik), the difficulties of ensuring transparency with construction quality and finances, the....... 8)

[Moruya]

I really don't see what the whole article is about, I have flown over three hundred thousand miles in the last 10 years, landed in airports in over 30 countries, and at least 4 times a year, Bangkok, with the exception of Singapore, I clear customs, pick up my baggage and am headed downstairs for a City Cab in about an hour and a half -much faster any of the others - Bangkok is no muss, no fuss, great airport for business and tourist travelers - whats the real question here???? Congestion??? Sorry I don't see it.........I have been in countries that don't fly at night, or on Muslim holidays, or when the moon and sun aligns or whatever, I can land in Bangkok any time day or night, get into the city and into the hotel in a few hours from deplaning, rather than half a day or more...........try this in London, New York, San Francisco - or Sydney (who blackmailed me into buying a $150 Visa at the desk after waiting 14 hours for a flight to Fiji, because according to them, I overstayed my transit visa, it expired the night before while I was stuck in their airport ) - it was pissing down rain so the flight was delayed. No Thanks Ozzie I'll reroute thru Tokyo/Honolulu next time. Don't mind me, I like Bangkok's airport - try flying into Nairobi, Lahore, Ulaanbatar................and especially London.

I fly 3 trips a month around Asia, Africa and Europe. Been doing so for 8 years with Bangkok as my base.

It would be wrong to try to place Bangkok in the same league as Nairobi or Lahore but it should certainly be comparable to Singapore, KL, Hong Kong.

There's no reason in this day and age why you can't clear a good airport in 45 minutes. I can do so in Algiers and Tunis, Dubai and Qatar.

90 minutes is what I expect in Lagos!

[webfact]

Transport Ministry to expand Suvarnabhumi Airport capacity

BANGKOK, 18 July 2012 (NNT) – The Prime Minister has instructed the Transport Ministry to move forward with the improvement and the expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport, which are hoped to be completed before 2017.

Transport Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has instructed the Transport Ministry to quickly fix all problems at Suvarnabhumi Airport and to enhance its capacity to accommodate more passengers.

In addition, the PM has urged continued progress of the Suvarnabhumi Airport development project – phase 2, which is to be completed within 70 months or before the year 2017, along with the construction of the third runway at the country’s main airport.

Mr. Charupong stated that, under the current conditions, Suvarnabhumi can handle only 55 flights per hour, instead of the 76 flights-per-hour target, due to noise pollution problems on the west runway that have lowered its capacity to only 20 percent. At the same time, the east runway is operating at 80 percent of its expected capacity because of the tarmac repair works.

The Transport Minister is confident that all repairs of the runway will be completed by the end of July. He said that the completion of the maintenance service will help solve the problems of flight delays, especially after low-cost airlines start moving to Donmuang Airport in October.

He added that PM Yingluck also asked the Transport Ministry to set up a new committee to oversee the development of Suvarnabhumi.

Meanwhile, Airports of Thailand (AOT) Company Chairman Air Chief Marshal Sumet Photimanee said that the planned construction of the third runway of Suvarnabhumi Airport is awaiting the Environmental Impact Assessment report.

According to the AOT Chairman, the new runway construction is estimated to cost 13.8 billion baht.

-- NNT 2012-07-18