Thai PM rejects calls to close new airport for repairs

The Straits Times, February 10, 2007


BANGKOK - Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont rejected calls to close Bangkok's troubled new international airport for repairs after a series of problems since its grand opening in September.

The army-backed premier said shutting the airport, intended as a gleaming symbol of modern Thailand, would further damage the country's image.

'We will try our best not to erode foreign confidence and I personally think that we should not shut down the whole airport,' General Surayud told reporters on Saturday.

He was responding to a suggestion from a senior member of the junta-appointed Parliament, the National Legislative Assembly, to close the facility for up to a year.

The army-backed government stunned the aviation industry this week by announcing it would re-open Bangkok's old Don Muang airport for international flights while hitches are ironed out at the sparkling Suvarnabhumi air hub.

Suvarnabhumi, named 'Golden Land' in Thai, opened in September with ambitions to become South-east Asia's top aviation hub. But it has become mired in problems, including more than 100 cracks on runways and taxiways, corruption claims, inadequate toilets and complaints about hygiene standards.

The re-opening of Don Muang has received a mixed response from airlines, while the labour union at the kingdom's flag-carrier Thai Airways International threatened to stage protests unless the government backs down on the proposal. They argued that splitting air traffic between the nearly century-old Don Muang and the new Suvarnabhumi Airport could cost Thailand its dream of becoming the region's aviation centre.

Gen Surayud said the government was considering several options and would make a final decision on Feb 14. But he said a shut-down was unlikely.

Assessing the true extent of the damage at Suvarnabhumi has proved difficult, as outside analysts warn that the government may be inflating its claims in a political bid to discredit the regime of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Suvarnabhumi was one of Mr Thaksin's pet projects. The premier, deposed by the military in September, made the airport a personal crusade and once camped at the building site in a show of support. -- AFP