Don Muang Airport has Re-Opened

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in THE NATION:

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It's Hello Again to Old Don Muang

 

Like old soldiers who refuse to die, the 93-year-old Don Muang Airport came back to life yesterday, welcoming passengers once again.

 

The airport will be officially reopened today.

 

After it was closed to commercial flights for six months, nine aircraft touched down at the old Bangkok International Airport to prepare for departures this morning.

 

Despite its new name of Don Muang International, Airports of Thailand (AOT) will only use it for domestic flights for the time being.

 

Orient Thai, Nok Air and some Thai Airways International domestic flights will use Don Muang from today.

 

On September 27 last year passengers, airport staff and others tearfully waved goodbye to the old airport and headed for the then shiny and new Suvarnabhumi Airport.

 

Sad and discouraged, Don Muang director Pinit Saraithong said at the time: "Never ever return to Don Muang. I will keep every entrance sealed."

 

Now that Don Muang has been revived and prepared to take about 20 per cent of flights into and out of Bangkok as a result of tarmac and other problems at Suvarnabhumi, Pinit, who retires this October, reportedly told Don Muang staff: "Don't ask how I feel. I just do what my bosses say."

 

Although engineers discovered groundwater under Suvarnabhumi runways was responsible for cracking, forcing the closing of some areas, AOT remains unsure how to drain it and repair damage.

 

Nantiya Tangwisutijit

 

The Nation

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And this:

 

Reopening of Bangkok's Don Muang Airport

 

BANGKOK, March 24 (TNA)

 

After a closure of nearly six months, passengers travelling within Thailand Saturday welcomed the reopening of former international airport Don Muang here with nine flights testing the airport by making a landing Saturday evening.

 

Final touches have been made on the first floor which houses the passenger arrival lounge while workers are busy decorating the second floor where restaurants and souvenir shops will again occupy the area.

 

One-Two-Go Airlines flying from the southern resort of Phuket will be the first budget commercial aircraft to touch Don Muang as it is scheduled to land at 6.10 pm followed by eight other flights operated by One-Two-Go and two other carriers, Orient Thai and Nok Air.

 

Starting Sunday, Thai Airways International, the national carrier, will join the three airlines in operating incoming and outgoing domestic flights from Don Muang, closed since September 28 following the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok's neighbouring province of Samut Prakan.

 

Transport authorities have said the reopening of Don Muang will help ease congestion at Suvarnabhumi Airport as its taxiways and main terminal undergo repairs. There are over 100 cracks in the runways and taxiways at the new airport which is intended to be Southeast Asia's commercial aviation hub.

 

The new Suvarnabhumi airport has been plagued by several problems and corruption allegations. (TNA)-E111

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And these, from the BANGKOK POST:

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Old Airport Gets a New Look

 

By Kamolwat Praprutitum

 

Airport administrators have left no stone unturned in their efforts to spruce up the facility. They have even put up an official sign declaring it "Don Mueang International Airport" - including the abrupt new "e".

 

As most domestic flights gradually headed back to the old Don Muang airport yesterday, they were greeted with familiar sights - except the signboard announcing "Don Mueang."

 

And the first question on the lips of almost everyone who passed through one of Asia's oldest airports was whether or not the "e" has been misplaced.

 

The airport director Pinit Saraithong earlier admitted he put the "e" there after consulting the language authority, the Royal Institute, known in their own transliteration as the Ratcha Bandits, although it is pronounced "Ratchaband".

 

The Institute and linguists assured him "Don Mueang" is closest to the correct Thai pronunciation of the district in which the airport is located and from which it has taken its name.

 

He went on to explain that he now has at his disposal all the necessary documentation available in case he is asked to justify the new spelling.

 

Which is precisely why the issue, perceived to be trivial by many, can go far beyond the question of phonological correctness.

 

The concern is not so much how the lips should purse when uttering the word "Don Mueang." It has more to do with what is going on in the decision-makers' head. There is a potential danger in the tendency for people with power to shoot themselves in the foot by creating problems where there should be none.

 

Don Muang versus Don Mueang is the case in point. The needless problem can be very distracting, especially when the path back to "Don Mueang" has already been strewn with brickbats from industry experts who are less than convinced the dual-airport policy will ever fulfil the country's ambition to become the region's aviation hub.

 

Besides, Don Muang is probably the spelling style most people are inclined to follow. To "de-popularise" the spelling so commonly adopted does not make economic sense as making changes to accommodate the "e" costs money.

 

And money is not something "Don Mueang" airport, now with only a fraction of the flight volume it used to enjoy to generate revenue, can afford to throw away these days.

 

The classic problem with English spellings of many Thai words is the lack of enforcement of an official style to ensure consistency. It is downright mind-boggling to come across Onnuj on one street sign only to run into Onnuch or Onnut on other.

 

A spelling enforcement notwithstanding, no efforts should be wasted fashioning the "e" in the word Don Muang when the airport management is expected to be swamped with hassles of reopening the old airport in the weeks if not months ahead.

 

The fact of the matter is that "Don Mueang" administrators have plenty of hurdles, in terms of management, logistical and technical challenges, to cross. They clearly do not need more.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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Minor Muddle over Transfers as Flights Return to Don Muang

 

Airlines Told to Look after Airport Transfers

 

By Amornrat Mahitthirook

 

Several tourists on board a Phuket-Don Muang flight were forced to hail a taxi to Suvarnabhumi airport for connecting flights out of the country. They were unaware that the flight would land at Don Muang, not Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

A French couple, interviewed by the Bangkok Post, said they were confused about the change. They were returning to France and had a plane to catch at 12.05am today.

 

The couple finally took a taxi to Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

However, passengers on later flights did not encounter such problems. Airport management told the airlines to provide transportation to passengers who had connecting flights at Suvarnabhumi.

 

Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um said yesterday he had told AoT acting president Kulya Pakakrong to ask the airlines to attend to the problem. AoT Plc staff said it was the airline's responsibility to provide transport to customers.

 

Bangkok Mass Transit Authority shuttle buses would be provided between Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi, starting today.

 

Some Thai passengers were not aware that domestic flights were moved back to the old airport. But Supan sae Tan, a businesswoman from Phuket, found it a nice surprise.

 

''I like it here. It is more convenient than Suvarnabhumi to get into town,'' she said.

 

Don Muang airport served 1,760 passengers on its first day of reopening yesterday _ five One-Two-Go flights, with 860 passengers, and six Nok Air flights with 900 passengers.

 

Don Muang and airline staff including airport director Pinit Saraithong were delighted to see passengers return.

 

Don Muang took more than 700 flights and over 100,000 passengers a day before Sept 29 last year. The airport will now serve around 140 flights a day.

 

''We are glad to be back. We know every square inch of the airport,'' said Pensiri Kosathinnakorn, who works at the check-in counter for Nok Air.

[Guest luvthai]

I wonder how long it will take them to move all flights back there. They say they won't but I feel they are moving toward that. You're libel to be seeing more and more flights diverted there as repair work is bring done on runways at the new airport.