Glass wall planned at Suvarnabhumi Airport to prevent suicide attempts

[oztaurus]

Typical example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

Now that tourists will be able to buy Thai Jasmine Rice at the airport, they will be sohappy that they will stop committing suicide and there will be no need for the glass wall.

[jmccarty]

Who committs suicide at Swampy ?

Is it an arriving passenger who sees his wife / gf and her family waiting expectantly and can't face the expense OR a departing passenger who has been completely ripped off by wife / gf and various others and can't face family and friends when he gets home ?

I'm sure TAT could make something of this.

It's separation anxiety that occurs with the average single male traveller with an even sorrier life back in their own country than when they are perched on a stool here!

[nisakiman]

It's so damaging to the reputation that no one had heard of these suicides?

1mn USD for some hardened glass walls. Right oh....

I read a million BAHT not $

Airports of Thailand has allocated a budget of Bt30 million to build a glass wall at Suvarnabhumi Airport to prevent suicide attempts.

30 million Baht is about $1m

[bigbamboo]

Oh come on! Suicide attempts?

Swampy isn't THAT bad.

[mrfill]

What about the bridges that conect the airport to the carpark? Are they going to put glass screens there too??

No, you will be free to jump there and can even smoke while jumping.

This is not inside the airport building so will not tarnish the image. Do please

remember to ensure you land on a designated landing area or you will be liable to a fine of Bt150

[Bagwan]

In 2009 an Irishman committed suicide at the air port. This is the only reported suicide I can find. One death in six years, This sounds more life the title of a Hemingway book, " For Whole the Bell Tole ", but it is not the bell in the church, it is the bell on the cash register.

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

John Donne 1572-1631

[Yunla]

It seems a bit over the top, no pun intended.

But I can see why they want to remove the possibility of this happening from the public view, this is the Land of Smiles, people save up money all year to bring their kids here for holidays and experience exotic colourful Thailand. Having public suicides at the airport is bad for this image, so I don't blame Suvarnabhumi for taking this step. But yes it is all about face. People can still go and overdose or /wrists in the WC room at the airport, that isn't a problem because it is not so public. It is very sad, and I hope that the airport will also have extra staff on hand to talk to people who look desperately unhappy. Somebody who is suicidally depressed or having a breakdown often stands out from the crowd, even in airports with stressed-out tired travellers.

[bkk_mike]

I'm not sure I believe they're doing it to prevent suicides - simply because there are so many other high spots to jump from. (the car park bridges are being enclosed, but you can still exit onto the roadway on the departure level and it's a long way down from there. - or there's no walls in the car park buildings, etc.

From 4th floor to 1st floor - wouldn't that - at least in some parts - be from international to domestic - so there's maybe more of an issue of "contraband" being thrown over the walls to a friend that doesn't have to clear customs on their domestic flight.

[Bung]

They have to take these measures to stop the bad spirits of suicide, er, ers causing problems like making aircraft skid off the runways etc.

It's a big plobhlem these spirits causing havoc around the place ...

Edited October 9, 2013 by Bung

[wooloomooloo]

But I can see why they want to remove the possibility of this happening from the public view...

Or worse - landing on some poor unfortunate.

It is very sad, and I hope that the airport will also have extra staff on hand to talk to people who look desperately unhappy. Somebody who is suicidally depressed or having a breakdown often stands out from the crowd, even in airports with stressed-out tired travellers.

Seems extreme to me. Airport staff aren't psychiatrists.

[NongKhaiKid]

Who committs suicide at Swampy ?

Is it an arriving passenger who sees his wife / gf and her family waiting expectantly and can't face the expense OR a departing passenger who has been completely ripped off by wife / gf and various others and can't face family and friends when he gets home ?

I'm sure TAT could make something of this.

On the front page of today's BKK Post is an article on this topic. It claims that since 2006, seven people have committed suicide by jumping from the upper floor walkways. The report went on to say most suicides were an outcome of foreigners having domestic disputes, not wanting to return to their homeland or run out of money; doesn't state where they got this info.

I had not seen the article before making my post and my tongue was most definitely in my cheek butseems i cought the ' officials ' reasons for most suicides.

One thing I didn't get was the idea that some who couldn't afford their air fare home went to Swampy to top themselves but why ? They must have known long before reaching the airport they were poor and penniless.

[GeorgeO]

5 minutes in that place and people start thinking about suicide. It is an extremely depressing, glum and boring tin shed. Bulldoze the place and build a modern inviting and friendly place.

Clearly, you must be thinking of another airport, as AOT recently announced that Swampy was to become "the best airport in ASEAN"....!!

Ah, but then, just maybe, your suggestion to bulldoze the place could well be part of that plan...!!

[Bokchoi]

Wouldn't it be cheaper and more aesthetically pleasing to string some decorative netting across the area? All this penning us in to save us from ourselves is getting a bit tiresome.

"Aesthetically pleasing" is not something TAT think about going by the partitions, stalls, diversions and much more hastily tacked on anywhere and everywhere. Suvarnaphumi Airport is lovely to look at from 10000 feet above. Touch ground and walk through the airport and one sees improvisations made with no sense of aesthetics or smart presentation. One can be forgiven for thinking it to be part of Chatuchak Market. The place is a maze & a mess.

Sad to see so many millions of dollars spent on what once held much promise & hope as a futuristic airport. It was not to be.

As for netting or glass or rope or whatever else being strung up to stop jumpers, I think this is not intended to "save us from ourselves" but rather to ensure that the depressed, the drunks & the farang diehards of Thailand do not spread themselves in a unholy mess, in a busy public transit area.

[FarangKino]

Who committs suicide at Swampy ?

Is it an arriving passenger who sees his wife / gf and her family waiting expectantly and can't face the expense OR a departing passenger who has been completely ripped off by wife / gf and various others and can't face family and friends when he gets home ?

I'm sure TAT could make something of this.

Does TAT count these suicides as 'departing tourists' or arriving 'permanent residents'?

[sprq]

Totally ludicrous, totally concerned with image. Suicides can always find somewhere to jump from at a place like Swampy. I think the real answer would be to put a collar on every airport user attached to a leash held by a guard. That would solve it.

[OldChinaHam]

"Most of those who have tried to take their lives have jumped from the fourth to the first floor near Gates 7-10, she said."

This is just impulse jumping. Not thinking before they leap.

It is a known fact that if we attach large mirrors on the walls of subways/undergrounds, opposite the platform, across the track,

This cuts down on the jumpers.

It gives the jumpers a chance to see themselves and realize what they are doing before they leap.

Most people regret jumping on the way down, when they realize what they have done.

I wonder if they just posted signs on the 4th floor, "Go To Another Building If Feeling Suicidal", whether or not this might work as well.

It is worth a try.

[Chao Lao Beach]

What about the bridges that conect the airport to the carpark? Are they going to put glass screens there too??

yes

[JoeThePoster]

What about the bridges that conect the airport to the carpark? Are they going to put glass screens there too??

yes

Da_mn, gotta jump from the parking lot now. Hate those long walks. Edited November 23, 2013 by JoeThePoster

[Prbkk]

The grave's a fine and private place

But none, I think, do there embrace...

In 2009 an Irishman committed suicide at the air port. This is the only reported suicide I can find. One death in six years, This sounds more life the title of a Hemingway book, " For Whole the Bell Tole ", but it is not the bell in the church, it is the bell on the cash register.

[/size]

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.[/size] [/size]

John Donne 1572-1631

[/size]