The Evolution of Thai Airports

3rd Dec 2010

I want to take you on a small personal journey through Phuket International Airport and Suvanarbhumi Airport in Bangkok because if you compare both airports now compared to even one year ago, the changes have been remarkable.

Both airports have had their share of criticism over the years, some of it justified, some of it because of self-inflicted wounds, particularly in the case of Suvarnarbhumi, and some of it unjustified but difficult for the airport authorities to immediately rectify problems, real or perceived.

But the simple fact is that both airports have substantially improved their services, approach to customer services, facilities and, yes, even the taxi services, again, particularly at Suvarnabhumi, have improved out of sight.

I do not know who is personally responsible for these improvements, but it is appropriate that the Airports Authority of Thailand [AOT] a much maligned organization, should take a bow for implementing some welcome improvements.

I used to travel a great deal, but not so much now. In the early days it was from Bangkok to places around Asia and the rest of the world. When Suvarnabhumi first opened, far too prematurely for political reasons, four years ago, it was a mess.

The arrivals hall was like one gigantic rugby scrum with scam artists, hotel representatives and just people waiting to greet friends and relatives all vying for space just outside the sliding doors as passengers emerged from the baggage collection area, which, in itself was prone to delays and breakdowns.

In those days if you wanted to get a public taxi there were no signs to point you in the right direction but there were plenty, including inside the baggage hall, pointing you to expensive limousine services owned by ' goodness knows who' but it was not hard to guess.

If you were departing ice cold seats to sit on awaited the economy class passenger, most people had enormously long walks to the gates and signage was often badly hand written notices on pieces of cardboard. The shops inside the terminal were all very high end, expensive and not doing much business. The walkways to gates were narrow as the shops intruded into the public concourse area.

Overall, the experience was not great. This could be easily put down to teething problems with the wrong people in the wrong administrative places for the wrong reasons. Oh, yes, there were scams all over the place. They have not completely disappeared, but there appears to have been more concerted efforts in recent times to crack down on them.

Fast forward to 2010. Signage is now professional and you know exactly where the taxis are. They have morphed from being a few bored looking people sitting on chairs taking your order to a properly organized system with numerous orderly lines. Getting a taxi takes a fraction of what it used to. Signage is vastly improved.

The walks to the gates have not changed, but the security system has definitely changed for the better. Now you go through this for international flights at the start of your airside journey. It is much more thorough than it used to be, with belts and shoes often taken off. This is reassuring. The transit area is also much better organized.

And then to Phuket Airport. If you are leaving both the domestic and the international terminals now have vastly improved eating and drinking facilities. The domestic terminal has a much improved look about it to handle the increasing numbers. One small downside if you are on a low cost carrier is the need to walk to what is essentially another terminal and then back again to immigration, but this is all about time management.

Immigration, long the subject of intense criticism by many travelers for the long queues, is also better, with more booths both outbound and inbound. Lines seem to be shorter or, at least, to move faster.

At the international terminal there is now a much improved array of shops and restaurants compared to before. They still charge airport prices, which in some cases are outrageous just because they have you captured, but at least the coffee and ambiance is much improved.

And it is set to get better. The AOT has a 5 billion baht master plan to upgrade Phuket Airport to a standard where it can match the increasing number of passengers [ almost f million in 2009, which is a remarkable throughput for such a small airport ]

It is not all perfect. The taxi touts are still active, but even they seem to have been told to back off and not assail passengers as they emerge to start their dream holidays. The parking fee went from 50 baht to 200 baht per day overnight. But, hey, it seemed to have worked as getting a park when you arrive is easier. More car parks are planned.

Airports are notoriously difficult and complex facilities to run, with huge numbers of people with different needs congregating in a confined space. The art of keeping them occupied while waiting for their journeys revolves around variety and service.

While Phuket International Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport still have a long way to go to match many other airports around the world, it is heartening to see positive progress on upgrading them both to a standard that will make Thailand proud to welcome more than 13 million visitors a year, and rising.

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