Worldhum alerts us to some rather interesting news out of Thailand. Even though the coup there has disrupted the political climate a bit, the Thais were nonetheless able to open a new airport. And not just any airport, but the largest airport in Southeast Asia…no small feat, that.
I’ve traveled to Thailand a number of time over the years and I can tell you with assurance that the old Bangkok airport was heinous. I have a picture of it on my own Website here. The new airport (pictured here) appears to be a gleaming modernist structure resembling rolling waves…no wait, a centipede…or, um, a snake that just ate a bunch of ping pong balls…aw, heck, I don’t know. But I DO know that the country was in need of a new airport and it’s nice to see they got one.
The new Suvarnabhumi Airport was built on an area known as “Cobra Swamp,” a positive omen if ever there was one, and it officially opened its doors Thursday, more than four decades after the project originated (hey, better late than never). As Worldhum points out, the International Herald Tribune, has a piece saying that the airport can handle some 45 million passengers a year, and will “surpass Hong Kong as a regional air hub.” Maybe, but I doubt it.