Service Still Insufficient, Sightseers Clog Suvarn

[george]

Service still insufficient, sightseers clog Suvarnabhumi

BANGKOK: -- Minor problems continued to occur at Suvarnabhumi airport Sunday, four days after the airport's commercially opening, with soldiers called in to help carry passenger baggage while a large number of sightseers have turned up, causing congestion and inconvenience at the single-terminal airport.

An operations centre, informally dubbed 'the war room,' has been set up on the seventh floor of the passenger building and 25 soldiers were drafted to help move baggage, while Thai Airports Ground Service Co. Ltd. (TAGS) has dispatched another 150 baggage-transport carts to help speed up the work, said Airports of Thailand president Chotisak Asapaviriya.

He said work flexibility has been achieved at only 70% and the remaining problem of 30% is resulted from staff members who have become very tired.

Although the airport has been opened for four days as of Sunday, as many as 100,000 people are turning up daily for pleasure visits, while the number of passengers is estimated at 80,000 - 90,000 persons, Mr. Chotisak said, adding that the number of cleaners and rubbish collectors must be increased.

Many toilets in the domestic passenger terminal have become clogged, he said, while the roof of the car park is not expected to be complete for about one month, he said.

Many black-plated taxis were seen waiting for customers on the first and second floors of the passenger building yesterday, Mr. Chotisak said. Police have been asked to order taxi drivers not to park their vehicles in the area, he said.

Mr. Chotisak said officials will be assigned to monitor expected heavy rainfall Sunday night, but indicated there should not be a problem as the new airport can absorb as much as three million cubic metres of water.

The Meteorological Department earlier warned that Typhoon Xangsane, which earlier devastated the Philippines, would enter Vietnam and Thailand Sunday. The storm was expected to trigger another round of heavy rainfall, especially in northeastern provinces.

Meanwhile, a senior Thai Airways International executive said Sunday that work at the airport have become smoother, although more casual visitors are congesting the airport, especially during the weekend.

These admirers are causing inconvenience for passengers checking in. The executive asked people to refrain from visiting the airport for the time being in order to make for smoother service.

--TNA 2006-10-01

[londonthai]

they should charge some 20 baht those pesky sightseers. Hope they will cram into Puthamonton park on weekends again

[george]

Thai official pleads with sightseers to stop visiting Bangkok's new airport

BANGKOK: -- Litter is piling up in the bathrooms at Bangkok's sleek new international airport. There aren't enough toilets and there's too much picnicking going on. The root of the problem? Too many sightseers.

On top of the 80,000-90,000 travelers passing through Suvarnabhumi Airport each day, more than 100,000 Thais are visiting and snapping souvenir pictures at the new airport, which opened Thursday, said Chotisak Asapaviriya, president of Airports of Thailand.

"So many people are coming for sightseeing, and we're pleading with them to stop. There are too many," Chotisak said. "There aren't enough bathrooms. People are complaining that there's litter all over the bathrooms. They're eating here and there, parking their cars in a mess."

He said the sightseers were coming in droves, in pickup trucks, bringing packed lunches to eat at Suvarnabhumi as they take pictures inside the modern, airy building.

As a result, Suvarnabhumi — built to hold 45 million passengers per year — has been inundated with people who have no travel plans at all.

"I don't want to chase them out because this is public property, and we're all excited about it, but it has made it difficult to work," Chotisak said in a telephone interview.

Airports of Thailand had welcomed visitors to Suvarnabhumi prior to its opening so that travelers could figure out where it was and not get lost en route to the facility once it opened. But Chotisak said the visiting period was now over.

"Please don't come visit and take pictures," he said. "We built this (airport) to accommodate travelers."

"We invited (visitors) so that they could familiarize themselves with the new airport, but now it's no longer familiarization — it has become a picnic."

--AP 2006-10-02

[astral]

People are complaining that there's litter all over the bathrooms. They're eating here and there, parking their cars in a mess."

Eating and parking their cars in the toilet?

Surely not.

He said the sightseers were coming in droves, in pickup trucks, bringing packed lunches to eat at Suvarnabhumi as they take pictures inside the modern, airy building.

It is probably cool as well.

Before we were married my wife would take the kids to the local shopping mall to cool off.

[The Skipper]

100,000 sightseers a day?

That's bull.

Just an excuse for incompetence.

Do you really believe the people in high positions were put there for their skills?

[steakpudding]

People are complaining that there's litter all over the bathrooms. They're eating here and there, parking their cars in a mess."

Eating and parking their cars in the toilet?

Surely not.

He said the sightseers were coming in droves, in pickup trucks, bringing packed lunches to eat at Suvarnabhumi as they take pictures inside the modern, airy building.

It is probably cool as well.

Before we were married my wife would take the kids to the local shopping mall to cool off.

I disagree there. I flew from the new airport on Sunday and it was everything BUT cool

[Johpa]

100,000 sightseers a day?

That's bull.

Just an excuse for incompetence.

Do you really believe the people in high positions were put there for their skills?

Not quite as much "bull" as the earlier story in the papers about a Thai family driving to the new airport to see an airplane for the first time.

[fxm88]

Thai official pleads with sightseers to stop visiting Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Litter is piling up in the bathrooms, there aren't enough toilets and there's too much picnicking going on. The root of the problem? Too many sightseers.

"So many people are coming for sightseeing, and we're pleading with them to stop. There are too many," Chotisak said. "There aren't enough bathrooms. People are complaining that there's litter all over the bathrooms. They're eating here and there, parking their cars in a mess."

"Please don't come visit and take pictures," he said.

--AP 2006-10-02

they should charge some 20 baht those pesky sightseers. Hope they will cram into Puthamonton park on weekends again

Oh, c'mon, it's only 3 baht at Hualampong!

[Thaipwriter]

the new airport can absorb as much as three million cubic metres of water.

Thats right, they made it out of sponge you know.

Edited October 3, 2006 by Thaipwriter

[zink]

Currently we have 100000 sightseers and 80000-90000 passengers, about 180000-190000 people in total per day.

The airport has the capacity for serving 45 million passengers per year or about 123000 per day. However this is just an average number, naturally number of passengers will be higher during the peak season. Let's assume that during the busy peak season number of passengers will be 25% above average, thus there would be about 154000 passengers per day (when the airport will be running at full capacity). If we assume that there will also be about 35000 other people (sightseers, those who are waiting for friends/relatives, etc.) we will have 190000 people per day. Exactly the same number that is causing huge problems now...

Clearly, this problem will not go away by itself.

[backflip]

"Clearly, this problem will not go away by itself."

Of course it will. When the airport experience is not new, the sightseers will go away.

[zink]

"Clearly, this problem will not go away by itself."

Of course it will. When the airport experience is not new, the sightseers will go away.

Read my post again, even though the number of sightseers will decrease, overall amount of people will still be the same during high season because the number of passengers will significantly increase.

[leisurely]

I was there this morning dropping a friend off. I didn't think it was crowded at all, plenty of space to walk around and have coffee. I did see a party of school children who were clearly not flying anywhere, they were the only crowd.

On a different note, I did find out that the trolleys are not designed to go over the bridges to the car park, the grooves in the flooring covering the bridges get caught in the wheels which are designed to be able to grip the moving ramps .

Another observation, I didn't have to pay to park . I asked the woman how long that would continue for but she didn't know. I fail to see why they have four women sitting outside the box that will be used to collect parking fees . Still, TIT

[Soju]

100,000 sightseers a day?

That's bull.

Just an excuse for incompetence.

Do you really believe the people in high positions were put there for their skills?

I can assure you that the report is accurate. I was there myself and if anything that was likely a conservative estimate of the visitors. I saw huge numbers of families there, without any luggage whatsoever. There were many more visitors than there were passengers.

[h5n1]

i bet that many are coming just to sort out the logistics of the airport, something that has been wholly lacking regarding information.

maybe it is sightsee-ers - shocked first at no taxis, awed at lack of bus services, clueless as to how to get in/out, amazed at the needless size, dumbfounded at the lack of seating and toilets. stunned at the incompetence and queues. IT WILL ALWAYS BE F-ED UP > ITS THAILAND and it will never be singapore.

[Soju]

Currently we have 100000 sightseers and 80000-90000 passengers, about 180000-190000 people in total per day.

The airport has the capacity for serving 45 million passengers per year or about 123000 per day. However this is just an average number, naturally number of passengers will be higher during the peak season. Let's assume that during the busy peak season number of passengers will be 25% above average, thus there would be about 154000 passengers per day (when the airport will be running at full capacity). If we assume that there will also be about 35000 other people (sightseers, those who are waiting for friends/relatives, etc.) we will have 190000 people per day. Exactly the same number that is causing huge problems now...

Clearly, this problem will not go away by itself.

What you failed to account for is that the visitors didn't just come and look around for an hour and go home. They stayed there all day, and they were concentrated in just the public areas landside. Typical passengers are in and out of the public areas landside in a relatively short time. I'd guess less than one hour on average. If the average visitor stayed for five hours, but the average passenger only stayed for one hour, then each visitor is worth five passengers. So using this presumption, 100,000 visitors would be the equivalent of 500,000 passengers, which is clearly over capacity. So yes, this problem will go away in time as the newness of the airport wears off.

[Soju]

I was there this morning dropping a friend off. I didn't think it was crowded at all, plenty of space to walk around and have coffee. I did see a party of school children who were clearly not flying anywhere, they were the only crowd.

On a different note, I did find out that the trolleys are not designed to go over the bridges to the car park, the grooves in the flooring covering the bridges get caught in the wheels which are designed to be able to grip the moving ramps .

Another observation, I didn't have to pay to park . I asked the woman how long that would continue for but she didn't know. I fail to see why they have four women sitting outside the box that will be used to collect parking fees . Still, TIT

I'd bet that come this weekend though that the numbers will pick up again. Most people work or go to school during the week and don't have time to visit the airport except on the weekend. I'll be there again this Sunday so will give a report of what I see then.