8:50:00 PM
English Portfolio #1:
This portfolio entry was written in response to two articles: the first found on ChannelNewsasia's online website click here and the other on the CNN Website click here .
Suvarnabhumi Airport: The Dream That Never Took Off.
---
After almost 2 hours, the spanking new Suvarnabhumi Airport came into view; a welcome sight for the passengers after seeing nothing but endless clouds. On landing, however, distress signals were being processed in every single of the passengers' brains, crew included. The mighty 747 shuddered with irregular spasms at it teetered precariously on the new runway. After minutes, which seemed like hours, of nervous anticipation, the passengers were finally released from the thrill ride that never seemed like ending. The torture was not yet over...
Bangkok's new airport, named Suvarnabhumi Airport, after a mythical South-East-Asian land, opened last September, only to face talks of closure, due to a wide variety of problems.
(above, left: revolutionary architecture of Suvarnabhumi, right: tallest control tower in the world at Suvarnabhumi)
Suvarnabhumi's architecture is revolutionary; the list of amenities endless. A 5 star airport hotel, duty free shops, high-tech check-in counters, etc. However, despite all these "touristy attractions", basic things such as toilets were severely neglected. Tourists described the toilets as "dingy grey" with a desperate need for a "de-stink" and the number of urinals were inadequate.
This is not the only problem. Poor space management means that the poor tourists in transit have no option but to be squashed mercilessly by the millions of others in the airport. A friend of mine who recently went to Bangkok described it as “an MRT train in the morning.”
(above:cracks in the runway)
Even the newly-build runways are posing problems to airport authorities. Mysterious cracks have appeared on the runways, right under the nose of "the world’s tallest control tower", posing major safety issues for incoming and outgoing air traffic.
The Thais are now facing many political problems as well. This airport was the "pet project" of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra. It has been mangled by corruption talk for ages, and to complicate things, the world is engaged in a huge conflict of opinions over whether to rank safety first and reopen the older and smaller Don Muang Airport, or to rank tourism first, and keep the giant Suvarnabhumi up and running.
As a frequent holidayer, I would definitely want to avoid Bangkok altogether, because if I can’t get to a place in one piece, forget it. Tourists share similar mindsets, putting their personal safety first, rather than to try a death defying stunt like entering Suvarnabhumi. Thailand depends heavily on the tourist industry for money, and this airport certainly puts them in financial jeopardy (bear in mind that the construction costs are not cheap in the first place.)
This incident teaches us a huge lesson on planning before we act. We should not do last minute work and then make a huge mess out of things, like the Airport Authorities did here. It applies in our school life, especially. It also teaches us to be upright and uncorrupt, as this will lead to problems down the road; in this case, Thaksin’s corruption caused massive delays, and flaws in planning.
... The gleaming white 747 looked so peaceful in such a time, of trouble, crisis and conflict. Would it ever take off again?
---
(exactly 500 words excluding image captions and title; word count starts from "After almost 2 hours...")
First image adapted from one found HERE . The one with the runway cracks is taken from HERE .
Labels: ep
