PHUKET: Keeping Suvarnabhumi International Airport dry will be the Thai Government's major objective as floodwaters swirl closer to central Bangkok and Thailand's novice leaders admit parts of the capital may go under.
If the capital's major airport - built on swampland - was to be submerged, hundreds of thousands of international tourists would be stranded in Thailand, and hundreds of thousands of others would be forced to cancel holidays.
It is probably the most important part of Bangkok to be kept dry, at all costs.
Emergency work over the past 10 days has increased the earthen barrier surrounding the airport's 23.5 kilometre perimeter from three metres to 3.5 metres, a Suvarnabhumi spokesperson told Phuketwan today.
The floods frontline is further north of the airport, at Lad Krabang canal, where efforts were being made today to divert the deluge away from Suvarnabhumi.
Yet confidence in the ability of the authorities to stem the watery onslaught sank lower today after the Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, admitted that parts of Bangkok were likely to be flooded.
"We cannot block the water forever,'' she told a media conference. ''The longer we block the water the higher it gets. We need areas that water can be drained through so the water can flow out to the sea.''
The sense of an unwinnable battle against nature was becoming more evident in Bangkok as schools closed and panic buying became the norm in supermarkets.
Despite the lessening of self-belief in the government and among observers, tourists were coming and going effortlessly in large numbers at Suvarnabhumi today.
''Numbers are normal,'' said Toompetch Boonyaridh, Vice President, Corporate Communication Office, Airports of Thailand. ''Flights are still arriving and departing and there have been no cancellations.''
Khun Toompetch said that the three-metre earthen fortification surrounding the low-lying airport had been increased to 3.5 metres in work that began on October 10, but that authorities were hopeful any floodwaters could be diverted some distance from the airport's perimeter.
The airport was on 24-hour alert and contingency plans were in place. There was no hint so far that water would threaten Suvarnabhumi, she said.
Tourists were still arriving in numbers, especially from China and Japan, she said. They were aware that Ayudthaya and some attractions had been submerged, but new arrivals also knew that central Bangkok, Phuket and other key tourist destinations had so far been unaffected.
Suvarnabhumi averaged 120,000 passengers* a day in September and 130,000 a day were coming so far in October, she said - with 100,000 of those international visitors.
That figure was up 13 percent on the same period last year and so far the floods had not slowed tourist arrivals. No flights had been cancelled for November, she said.
Phuket , 1200 kilometres to the south, has suffered heavy rain but no flooding.
However, while Phuket airport was used to allow passengers to come and go to and from Thailand when Suvarnabhumi was occupied by political protesters in 2008, that option no longer exists.
Phuket airport has exceeded its maximum capacity in arrivals and departures and would be stressed to absorb more flights.
*Arrivals and departures.
Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Sandbagged: Flight Diversions Become a PossibilityIf the capital's major airport - built on swampland - was to be submerged, hundreds of thousands of international tourists would be stranded in Thailand, and hundreds of thousands of others would be forced to cancel holidays.
It is probably the most important part of Bangkok to be kept dry, at all costs.
Emergency work over the past 10 days has increased the earthen barrier surrounding the airport's 23.5 kilometre perimeter from three metres to 3.5 metres, a Suvarnabhumi spokesperson told Phuketwan today.
The floods frontline is further north of the airport, at Lad Krabang canal, where efforts were being made today to divert the deluge away from Suvarnabhumi.
Yet confidence in the ability of the authorities to stem the watery onslaught sank lower today after the Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, admitted that parts of Bangkok were likely to be flooded.
"We cannot block the water forever,'' she told a media conference. ''The longer we block the water the higher it gets. We need areas that water can be drained through so the water can flow out to the sea.''
The sense of an unwinnable battle against nature was becoming more evident in Bangkok as schools closed and panic buying became the norm in supermarkets.
Despite the lessening of self-belief in the government and among observers, tourists were coming and going effortlessly in large numbers at Suvarnabhumi today.
''Numbers are normal,'' said Toompetch Boonyaridh, Vice President, Corporate Communication Office, Airports of Thailand. ''Flights are still arriving and departing and there have been no cancellations.''
Khun Toompetch said that the three-metre earthen fortification surrounding the low-lying airport had been increased to 3.5 metres in work that began on October 10, but that authorities were hopeful any floodwaters could be diverted some distance from the airport's perimeter.
The airport was on 24-hour alert and contingency plans were in place. There was no hint so far that water would threaten Suvarnabhumi, she said.
Tourists were still arriving in numbers, especially from China and Japan, she said. They were aware that Ayudthaya and some attractions had been submerged, but new arrivals also knew that central Bangkok, Phuket and other key tourist destinations had so far been unaffected.
Suvarnabhumi averaged 120,000 passengers* a day in September and 130,000 a day were coming so far in October, she said - with 100,000 of those international visitors.
That figure was up 13 percent on the same period last year and so far the floods had not slowed tourist arrivals. No flights had been cancelled for November, she said.
Phuket , 1200 kilometres to the south, has suffered heavy rain but no flooding.
However, while Phuket airport was used to allow passengers to come and go to and from Thailand when Suvarnabhumi was occupied by political protesters in 2008, that option no longer exists.
Phuket airport has exceeded its maximum capacity in arrivals and departures and would be stressed to absorb more flights.
*Arrivals and departures.
Latest Bangkok is besieged by floodwater with seven new areas under threat and provision being made for flights to land at other airports if sandbags fail to save Suvarnabhumi.
Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Sandbagged: Flight Diversions Become a Possibility
Your numbers of arrivals are complete fabrication. More like 50K-60K per day based on daily tweets from AOT. Here is latest
@@narongchaiAOT - 19/10/11 BKK movements ; Passenger arr 59,603 dep 59,669 ; Aitcraft arr 421 dep 422 ; Freight arr 1,862 tons dep 1,966 tons
Posted by larry on October 20, 2011 15:54
Editor Comment:
It could be the numbers we have been given were for arrivals AND departures. We'll check, thanks. Would that be a ''complete fabrication,'' or an obvious and understandable error?