ATW Daily News

Suvarnabhumi to resume 'full services' despite security, safety concerns

Friday December 5, 2008

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi will be "open for full services including check-in and immigration" today, Airports of Thailand said yesterday, but foreign governments and airlines warned that the airport may not be ready to resume operations safely.

After a one-week siege by antigovernment protesters shut down BKK (ATWOnline, Dec. 4), leaving more than 200,000 foreign passengers stranded in Bangkok and stalling international cargo transport, Thailand is eager to get the capital's main airport up and running.

But ambassadors to Thailand from the US, EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and South Korea sent a joint letter to Thai officials expressing concern about security at BKK and the nation's other airports. According to the Bangkok Post, ambassadors urged the government "to take all necessary measures" to ensure BKK and other airports are secure and to improve security.

The paper quoted airline officials who said they were "under enormous pressure" to restart operations at BKK "but our genuine security concerns are being ignored." Ambassadors and airlines expressed alarm that BKK was shut down by protesters who were mostly unarmed or carrying metal rods, and expressed concern that an organized, armed terrorist group could do a great deal of damage at the airport, according to the Post.

The paper reported that there "has been only cursory inspection at best of tower and information systems which were directly occupied and accessed by the protesters" and questioned AOT's assurances that equipment had not been tampered with and is safe for full operations. Nevertheless, a full schedule of flights is planned for today in an effort to return stranded passengers and restart Thailand's stalled tourism and cargo industries.

by Aaron Karp

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