Page 2 of 2 Cracks appear in Thai
aviation-hub hopes By David Fullbrook
efficient transit services will
begin by next year. In comparison, express trains
to Kuala Lumpur from the airport began four years
after the facility first opened, and Singapore's
slow, indirect, local rail service opened in 2001,
decades after the airport first went into service.
Rush job Yet even a massively
overhauled and rebuilt Suvarnabhumi will likely
lack the speed, ease and choice currently on offer
at Hong
Kong
or Singapore - meaning Thailand will probably
never achieve its initial hub ambitions, aviation
experts say. Many - though not all - of the
airport's problems would probably have been
rectified if the airport's opening had been
postponed until the facility was finished. Early
last year, then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra
ordered that the airport be opened without fail on
September 28, discounting advice from aviation
experts and international airlines to delay for
six to 12 months.
"We and a number of
airlines commented that we were concerned there
was not enough testing and planning prior to
opening," said Herdman.
Worse, there are
indications of a possible cover-up. Thaksin's
government filed massive defamation suits against
the Bangkok Post when it first reported that
cracks were emerging in the new runways in August
2005. Rather than standing by the story, Post
executives acquiesced to government pressure and
fired the reporter and editor responsible for
reporting the story.
Thaksin was ousted in
a September 19 coup on charges of corruption,
including alleged graft related to Suvarnabhumi's
construction, and the new military-appointed
interim government is now left holding the bag of
his government's mismanagement. If the local Thai
dailies have it right, many of the problems now
besetting the new airport stem from corruption on
a grand scale even by Thailand's standards.
Government investigators, on orders from the
military junta, are now probing dozens of
contracts for construction and services, and
initial findings are expected in the next few
weeks.
Among those contracts under review
is a 10-year security contract won by Loxley, a
telecommunications firm with strong business
connections to the Shin Corp, formerly
majority-owned by Thaksin's family, despite
lacking any relevant experience in the security
business. After re-examining the procurement and
pricing of 26 luggage CTX explosives scanners
purchased from General Electric, the Asset
Examination Committee said in December that both
Thaksin and Suriya Jungrungruangkit, the former
transport minister, were guilty of corruption.
(Earlier probes led by Thaksin and US authorities
failed to turn up strong evidence of price
collusion.)
Another big case hanging over
the airport is related to Kingpower
International's exclusive rights to as much retail
and restaurant space inside the airport as it
desires. The company has jacked up prices on food
and drinks in the airport at least 25% higher than
prime downtown locations, leading to customer
complaints. Leading international airports such as
Heathrow and Singapore guarantee that prices match
city rates.
Oddly, airports authority
officials now claim that after review, the
Kingpower contract remains unsigned. Yet they seem
unable or unwilling to clear Kingpower - which has
recently unveiled a massive new corporate
headquarters near Bangkok's Victory Monument -
from its monopoly on retail space even with an
unsigned contract.
In October, authority
president Chotisak Asapaviriya told reporters he
did not know how much space Kingpower had been
allotted. He abruptly resigned his post last
Thursday, citing stress and ill health. That same
day the ax fell on two of his colleagues for
failing to sort out the airport's spiraling
problems. General Saprang Kalayanamitr, vice
chairman of the junta and widely tipped to become
the next army commander, has promised to sack
anybody else who fails to keep in step with
ongoing government probes.
Critics already
say the generals' overarching presence is unlikely
to reveal an impartial picture of the airport's
shortcomings and will be heavily influenced by the
still-unfolding conflict between the junta and
Thaksin, who has recently commenced ridiculing the
junta in interviews with various international
media outlets from self-imposed exile. The junta
fears his return could stir unrest, as the former
premier is believed still to command strong
support among the rural masses, as well as
loyalties inside the government bureaucracy,
members of which the junta has accused of dragging
their heels on airport-related probes.
"Problems are normal for any new airport.
In our case it's made more complex because
everybody wants to run down the former prime
minister," said Sumet, the architect.
Meanwhile, the junta is still struggling
to pin down allegations of corruption, including
those related to Suvarnabhumi, against Thaksin and
his former political associates. And as the ruling
junta, the Council for National Security, has
vowed and so far stood by its initial promise to
step aside and allow for new democratic elections
this year, time is running short for the junta to
prove its initial corruption allegations against
Thaksin, which in part justified their coup. Those
ongoing efforts will keep the politics of
corruption looming over the airport's problems and
solutions for some months to come.
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