Big Fire Breaks Out At Suvarnabhumi Airport

[nikster]

The bloke who called the fire brigade couldn't pronounce the bleedin' name hense all the damage.

You have a point, they could have named it something that foreigners can pronounce and remember, since it's mostly foreigners using the airport.

It already has a name: Bangkok Airport. Easy. .... ignorance is bliss...

[redrus]

The bloke who called the fire brigade couldn't pronounce the bleedin' name hense all the damage.

You have a point, they could have named it something that foreigners can pronounce and remember, since it's mostly foreigners using the airport.

It already has a name: Bangkok Airport. Easy. .... ignorance is bliss...

Its even easier when you don't read the previous posts....

redrus

[Maejo Man]

Update:

Fire rages THAI restaurant at Suvarnabhumi Airport

The four injured people were reported to be workers who were repairing part of the cafeteria building and then jumped in panic from higher floors of the building when the fire broke out. They were rushed to nearby hospital.

--TNA 2006-01-18

...and they told me it was a new airport

Dammit - you beat me to it MaeJo

I just thought that one was priceless Gaz....."repairing" I nearly wept

[Rinrada]

Sa -Nam Bin-Krun-Teppppp.......easy....

and the other one wots named after a famous Spanish Bull fighter...........O Lay...

..

[edh]

Busy dancing traditional dances and eating Thai food in his province (or village) for the time being

The bloke who called the fire brigade couldn't pronounce the bleedin' name hense all the damage.

Tell Thaksin to monitor it using Google Earth. That should keep him occupied for a while...

[penzman]

A new excuse to delay the opening of the airport

I saw on tv last evening someone saying that now because of the fire, the airport would not open before schedule in March since July was the target!

[Artisan]

You have a point, they could have named it something that foreigners can pronounce and remember, since it's mostly foreigners using the airport.

Careful guys

The new airport was named by HM The King

I come from NZ and we have many Maori place names which are difficult for foreigners to pronounce but they have not been changed

Sue

one

a

poom

Not that difficult really

It's actually pronounced: Su - one - na - poom.

Oh dear. pedantry already. Why be so ostentatious?

[george]

Update:

One dead, three hurt in catering plant fire

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International's catering plant under construction at Suvarnabhumi airport caught fire while about 200-300 people were working there last night. One died in the blaze and three were injured. Chokchai Panyayong, THAI's vice-president supervising the airline's investments at Suvarnabhumi airport, could not confirm whether the fire would delay the opening schedule of the airport tentatively set for June.

Three workers were seriously injured after jumping from an upper floor to escape the flames. The fatality was Jessada Chanram, an air-conditioning mechanic.

Thick smoke billowed from the second floor of the four-storey building around 4.20pm. Three elevator technicians who worked on the second floor jumped off the building and injured themselves.

Woranont Termsap, 25, broke his legs, while elevator technician Wasant Bankhan injured his back. Another worker, Weerawat Meedee, 28, sustained broken arms and legs.

Twenty-fire engines were deployed to control the fire.

The 3.9-billion-baht catering plant is three kilometres from the airport terminal.

Deputy Transport Minister Chainant Charoensiri said the fire started as welding sparks set fire to insulating material. The blaze took a little over an hour to put out. Damage to the building would be examined today.

Anucha Mokawet, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said interior decoration workers caused welding sparks which set the insulating material ablaze. Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal quoted Mr Wasant as saying the lights went out as he and his colleagues were installing an elevator inside the building. Mr Pongsak said the building appeared to be slightly damaged.

Somchai Sawasdeepon, airport director, said the sprinkler system did not work because it was still being installed.

--Bangkok Post 2006-01-19

SUVARNABHUMI FIRE: Hundreds flee airport blaze

BANGKOK: -- One worker suffocates in lift, 3 injured jumping from burning building; govt still insists opening will not be delayed. Suvarnabhumi. Bangkok’s much-heralded new international airport bore a major mishap just a few months before its official opening yesterday when a fire broke out in its flight-catering building, leaving a construction worker dead and three others injured.

More than 300 construction workers in Suvarnabhumi Airport’s three-storey catering building ran for their lives when the blaze broke out on the first floor of the facility at about 4.40pm. Airport officials said three panicked workers suffered broken bones after jumping from the building to escape the fire.

Labourer Jessada Janraem was trapped in an elevator for an hour before rescuers could get to him. He was pronounced dead at Lad Krabang Hospital at about 8pm last night. Doctors said he died from of asphyxiation.

Transport Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal said damage from the fire could not be immediately estimated since the building was still filled with smoke and was still inaccessible even after the blaze was extinguished at about 6pm.

Pongsak, however, said he expected the damages would not be so severe that they would delay the official opening of the airport, scheduled for June this year.

“Extensive cleaning may be needed for the whole building before construction can resume,” he said. Airport officials said construction was 90 per cent complete before the fire.

Over a dozen fire engines were mobilised from Samut Prakan and outer Bangkok districts to fight the fire. Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the building from kilometres away.

Initial investigations found the fire was started by welding sparks that fell on the synthetic insulator of a ventilation duct in a cold-storage room on the first floor of the building, Pongsak said.

The flames quickly spread through ventilation ducts to the second and third floors since insulators fitted in the ducts were made of inflammable materials, he added.

Pongsak said the Bt6.6-billion catering facility has fire insurance and a thorough inspection will be needed to determine whether its main structure was affected by the blaze or not.

“We should be able to enter the building for inspection today and the results are expected within a week,” he said.

The minister said he had reported the incident to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was still on a field trip to the northeastern province of Roi Et.

Od Pumtha, who drives a bus for airport construction workers, said he saw black smoke gushing out of a window of the catering building while waiting to pick up passengers.

“People scrambled out of the building in panic, shouting ‘Fire! Fire!’ I saw one man jumping from the building,” he said.

Wasan Pantha, one of three workers who were injured after jumping from the burning building, said he and three other men were installing electrical wires in an elevator when smoke suddenly pored in.

“There was smoke everywhere. I had no choice but to jump from the nearest opening I could find,” he said.

--The Nation 2006-01-19

[sriracha john]

Woe and more woe for the new airport...

there ARE cracks in the runway (at least THIS time the government is admitting it) .... and the bomb scanners (the source of all that turmoil earlier) are not working.... and October IS, apparently the new scheduled opening..... "oh, woe is me"

Suvarnabhumi Airport's runway needs repairs

Published on Jan 18 , 2006

The main runway at Suvarnabhumi Airport needs repairs, and the bomb scanning system is not functioning properly, an official said Wednesday after inspectors visited the site.

Deputy Transport Minister Chainant Charoensiri said the software controlling the computerised bomb scanners in the baggage handling system at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport needed to be re-examined after tests revealed operating problems.

Chainant said that repairs required on the main terminal's runway were expected to take at least three months.

"Inspectors found that about 800 meters along the edge of the runway needs to be fixed," said Chainant, noting that builders had neglected to apply the proper sealant.

"The surface is not strong enough. It has already started to deteriorate."

Chainant said that "95 per cent" of the airport had been completed and he was still optimistic it would open on time.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said he wants the airport fully operational by October.

****************[Please credit your sources!]****************

[BPayette]

Now this is a scary thought. The insulation material is inflammbabe! So much damage (and chaos) from a "few sparks". I wonder what the rest of the airport is made of???

[Losangels]

Were there no fire exit? I certainly hope one was built.

Surprised that the cause of the fire was not because of a short-circuit as is often reported.

[davinciman]

The bloke who called the fire brigade couldn't pronounce the bleedin' name hense all the damage.

You have a point, they could have named it something that foreigners can pronounce and remember, since it's mostly foreigners using the airport.

Bit off topic but as a suggestion to Thaksin.......Microsoft has a product competing with Google Earth. Someone used it to locate Apple's HQ in Cupertino, CA. The site was a...........car park! Not us says Microsoft.....just an old photo! So maybe Thaksin could create a car park airport.

[teko]

You have a point, they could have named it something that foreigners can pronounce and remember, since it's mostly foreigners using the airport.

Careful guys

The new airport was named by HM The King

I come from NZ and we have many Maori place names which are difficult for foreigners to pronounce but they have not been changed

Sue

one

a

poom

Not that difficult really

Well done "flightless".

Was wondering how you pronounced the name of the joint.

[Jai Dee]

FIRE AT THAI AIRWAYS CATERING BUILDING RESULTED IN ONE DEATH AND 3 INJURIES

The fire that occured inside a catering building at Suvarnabhumi airport has been put under control, while one person has been killed and three injured.

Since 7.45 pm last night fire engines have put out the fire that broke out in the catering building used by Thai Airways. Due to the poor visibility in the building and thick smoke, the source of the fire could not be located during the fire fight. After the fire was controlled additional firefighters with rescue equipment were called in to retrieve people stuck in the building. At least 3 people were injured from jumping off the building to escape the fire. A man was trapped inside an elevator, and died en route to hospital due to prolonged lack of oxygen.

Transport Minister Phongsak Raktaphongphaisarn (พงษ์ศักดิ์ รักตพงษ์ไพศาล) said the incident happened as workers were making installations inside the building. Yesterday Mr. Phongsak said the airport opening schedule would be maintained.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 19 January 2006

[AsiaWolfie]

if they really do a proper investigation (which probably wont happen) they definitely will have to admit that the entire building can not be used for ANYTHING for years, as the fumes make it intoxicated for a very long period.....

on the other hand, those folks who are eager to get smoked salmon and smoked ham on their flights, should book THAI AIRWAYS tickets for the period after June 2549 as soon as possible....

[george]

Suvarnabhumi Airprot to open in June as scheduled

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi International Airport will open for commercial purposes in June 2006 as scheduled despite a fire at a flight catering building of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) inside the airport Wednesday evening.

Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal made the confirmation when he inspected the building after the fire.

"The fire won't affect the airport's commercial services scheduled to be launched in June 2006, as the damaged building is just a part of a business firm located inside the airport," he told journalists.

The minister said he had instructed officials of THAI and Airports of Thailand Public Co., Ltd. to inspect and assess overall damages caused by the fire, as well as conduct an official investigation on the cause of the fire.

The fire broke out on the first floor of the four-storey building, which is part of the national airline's operational center on an area of 54,400 square meters inside the airport.

An initial investigation found that the blaze, which caused one worker dead and three other injured, was sparked by a metal welding inside the building.

The dead worker was initially found injured inside an elevator after the fire broke out.

He was sent to Lat Krabang Hospital and was pronounced dead from suffocation Wednesday night.

The other three injured workers reportedly suffered from broken limbs, as they jumped in panic from higher floors of the building when the fire broke out at around 04:30 p.m.

All the four workers were repairing part of the building.

The fire was put out hours later, while rescue officials found no people left inside the building.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is on a poverty eradication mission in At Samart District of the country's northeastern province of Roi Et, told journalists that he believed Wednesday's fire would not affect the airport's commercial operations later this year, as the damaged THAI building is far away from passengers' terminals and other main structures of the airport.

The premier also sees it unnecessary to report the incident to the international community, as it is not a serious problem.

--TNA 2006-01-19

[AsiaWolfie]

"The premier also sees it unnecessary to report the incident to the international community, as it is not a serious problem. "

--TNA 2006-01-19

Well, then WE will do that reporting, Mr. TOXIN

[markokang]

SAMUT PRAKAN: -- A fire broke out at Thai Airways International (THAI) cafeteria services building inside Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport Wednesday evening, with Ten people reportedly injured initially.

The fire broke out on the first floor of the four-storey building, which is part of the national airline's operational center on an area of 54,400 square meters inside the airport.

The four injured people were reported to be workers who were repairing part of the cafeteria building and then jumped in panic from higher floors of the building when the fire broke out. They were rushed to nearby hospital.

An initial investigation found that the blaze was sparked by a metal welding inside the building.

Firefighters are putting out the fire, while rescue officials are seaching whether there is anyone stranded inside the building.

Reports on the latest development have not yet been available.

--TNA 2006-01-18

[Galong]

So what kind of a 'hub' will this create?

[Jai Dee]

FIRE HAS CAUSED 200 MILLION BAHT OF DAMAGE ON THAI AIRWAYS' CATERING PLANT

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited said that the fire has damage about 200 million baht of its catering plant at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The plant is currently under construction.

Following the discussion with concerned units, Chief of Committee of Thai Airways SOMJAINUK AENGTRAKOON (สมใจนึก เองตระกูล) referred to the fire and affirmed that the opening schedule of the airport set for June will not be delayed.

He, however, said that the damage assessment will be discussed again later, and the total cost of destruction will be informed within this week.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 19 January 2006

[sriracha john]

I believe we've seen the opening variously quoted now as June, July, October. Perhaps they can use September 29 (anniversary of the "soft" opening) as a compromise.

[Artisan]

I believe we've seen the opening variously quoted now as June, July, October. Perhaps they can use September 29 (anniversary of the "soft" opening) as a compromise.

Maybe we should look for the balloons and a pig on a spit outside when it does open eventually?

[Rinrada]

Not so much of a funny "situation subject"now when one of the guys working there has been killed...is-it.

I have just finished a co-ordinated investigation into a fire (block of flats -no casualties-£100k damages)and even a week afterwards the dank,rancid,carcinogenic smell just hangs around and the possibility of what could have been just aint worth thinking about.

On this occasion my sympathy goes out to the familiy of the little Thai guy who was probably on 190bt a day and just trying to make a living....

[ratcatcher]

Not so much of a funny "situation subject"now when one of the guys working there has been killed...is-it.

I have just finished a co-ordinated investigation into a fire (block of flats -no casualties-£100k damages)and even a week afterwards the dank,rancid,carcinogenic smell just hangs around and the possibility of what could have been just aint worth thinking about.

On this occasion my sympathy goes out to the familiy of the little Thai guy who was probably on 190bt a day and just trying to make a living....

I think this comment puts the whole thing in perspective.

This airport is being built in a hurry, not by politicians or Thaksin but by thousands of poorly paid laborers,mostly from Isaan just so that a few rich,greedy Thais will not lose anymore face. I too feel sorry for the family of the victim of the accident and also any others who have been injured or killed on this site in order to make a few people look good. I suspect corners were cut in the work area sothat sparks fell on a combustible surface?

I doubt they have any worker insurance and no doubt their families have or will be offered compensation in the amount that the P.M. would spend for an evening out for dinner.

Frankly I think the airport is going to be a very troubled place over the next year. Wait and see. This is only the tip of the iceberg of troubles to come.

[Jai Dee]

THAI AIRWAYS PUT THE INITIAL DAMAGE AT 20 MILLION BAHT.

Thai Airways International estimated the initial damage from the fire at its catering department at 20 million baht, while expressing confidence that the damaged building can be recovered before the commercial opening of the Suwannaphum International Airport.

Managing director of Thai Airways International Somjainuek Engtrakul (สมใจนึก เองตระกูล) said after a meeting with related agencies to inspect initial damage and formulate plans to recover the building that the fire broke out on the first floor of the production building, covering about 30 square meters. He said the damage has been estimated at 20 billion baht; however, he said the company will look at the damage in greater details again. He expected the detailed inspection to conclude within a week.

As for the recovery of the building, Mr. Somjainuek expressed confidence that the recovery can be finished before the airport opens for commercial flights. He said that the food will be cooked at the cater building at the Don Muang (ดอนเมือง) airport while other processes will be done at the Suwannaphum airport.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 20 January 2006

Personal comment: 20 million or 20 billion baht damage?

[robenroute]

Say: Soo-varn-a-BHOOM- e

Say this out loud a few times and you'll get it

But the travel agents and travelers in the rest of the world will never be able to pronounce it.

Now, I thought that the Thai language didn't have a "v", they do have a "w" though...

Soo-warn-a-BHOOM-e, then?

P.S. Same silly buggers who come up with traffic/road signs like "Vipavadee Road". How on earth can it be that, if the Thai language doesn't have a vucking (5-5-5) "v"? Well, I guess TIT, hey?

[AmeriThai]

A man was trapped inside an elevator, and died en route to hospital due to prolonged lack of oxygen

I'm not sure if the victim was working on the elevator or trying to escape the smoke and blaze. The last place anyone would want to be during a fire is in an elevator. Elevator shafts act like a chimney for smoke. If the power fails there's no safe way out. Simple safety training and awareness for any employee of any company should be mandatory. Injuries and death like this seems senseless and are often avoidable.

[SMS]

Say: Soo-varn-a-BHOOM- e

Say this out loud a few times and you'll get it

But the travel agents and travelers in the rest of the world will never be able to pronounce it.

Now, I thought that the Thai language didn't have a "v", they do have a "w" though...

Soo-warn-a-BHOOM-e, then?

P.S. Same silly buggers who come up with traffic/road signs like "Vipavadee Road". How on earth can it be that, if the Thai language doesn't have a vucking (5-5-5) "v"? Well, I guess TIT, hey?

Soo-warn-a-BHOOM-e is the original sanskrit name meaning golden land (pronounce suwarn-bhumi).

i think the thais pronounce it something like suwana-phum

[Richard W]

P.S. Same silly buggers who come up with traffic/road signs like "Vipavadee Road". How on earth can it be that, if the Thai language doesn't have a vucking (5-5-5) "v"? Well, I guess TIT, hey?

If you really want an answer, I suggest you ask at the Thai Language section and ask politely.

[Jai Dee]

MR. PONGSAK AFFIRMS THAT THE DAMAGE OF THAI AIRWAYS' CATERING PLANT WILL BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW

Transport Minister PONGSAK RAKTAPONGPAISAL (พงษ์ศักดิ์ รักตพงศ์ไพศาล) affirmed that the cause of fire at the Thai Airways’ catering plant in Suvarnabhumi Airport last Wednesday will be announced tomorrow.

Although Mr. PONGSAK has not been officially reported about the damage of Thai Airways’ catering plant, he has been aware that the Thai Airways Public Company Limited might overhaul its entire cold storage. The restoration period may also take up to four months. However, it has to wait for further investigation and inspection from its engineers and police who are projected to send the brief report to the company by tomorrow. Police will also provide this report to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who also acts as the Chief of the Policy Committee to develop the Suvarnabhumi Airport.

He asserted that the new airport's opening date in June will not be postponed. Moreover, the company plans to temporarily use its catering’ plant at the Bangkok International Airport instead of the demolished plant during the restoration period.

Source: Thaisnews.com ประจำวันจันทร์ที่ 23 มกราคม 2549