Last week, a THAI executive had the mission mapped out even to the last truck. It will transport critical equipment that needs to stay back at Don Muang Airport until the last flight departs at dawn on September 28. But could he have overlooked one more important last minute trip - the detainees' wagon?
That's the cage on wheels assigned to transport the unfortunate individuals who turn up on Thai soil without a visa. Destined to be shipped out on the next convenient flight they languish in a very scruffy almost forgotten patch of real estate at Don Muang, well hidden from the gaze of other travellers.
Airlines are obliged to return them to the city where they boarded the flight to Thailand, but for some of the detainees that could mean a wait of up to three days.
If they are locked up, September 29, the next day they will gain a bonus sightseeing trip of the city that they hoped to visit and a chance to be the first detainees to scribble their names on the walls of the new facility at Suvarnabhumi.
I doubt if anyone has enjoyed a tour of the new airport's detainee centre, but if it is anything like the Immigration Division's long-stay quarters for unwanted aliens they might be in for a shock.
There are hints that the detainees will be even more cramped at Suvarnabhumi than at the old airport. Apparently, Airports of Thailand executives are still shaving off floor space here and there in a frantic attempt to satisfy its airline customers. In turn, airlines face the prospect that their offices will not be fitted out in time for the opening. It was described as a mad scramble, partly blamed on late leases issued by the AoT and airline head offices plainly not believing the airport's D-day call. A trip down the Internet's blog lane unveils an interesting view from some of the 4,000 passengers who joined the July 29 flights. Tap in "Suvarnabhumi airport blog" in the Google search and take your pick.
One blogger, a journalist working for the respected publication Flight International, dedicated his travelogue to the search for a toilet in concourses A and B. It warns the AoT of impending chaos as aging males and those who tipple too much ale for their good dash down the seemingly endless concourses to a find a suitable place to relieve themselves. You could be forgiven for not noticing the small signs pointing to the toilets, but not the long queue of males hopping from one foot to the other in sheer desperation.
For reasons not too difficult to fathom, designers skimped on toilet floor space giving the valuable square metres to essential shopping areas. Personally I blame the International Air Transport Association for this as its CEO spent almost decade preaching to airports to get into the shopping mall business to give member airlines a break on landing fees. Something had to go.
A far more interesting blog was supplied by a passenger who meticulously swept through the entire building recording every nook and cranny on video. He placed the various clips on his blog site with observations of a dedicated cameraman who obviously enjoyed identifying every detail down to the nuts and bolts that hold this airport together.
Of course, the footage had its tedious moments when he panned across the ceiling in slow motion providing a thorough pictorial of steel struts and dust covered glass panels.
One clip sported the headline "Shocking." Now just where had the blogger's video camera ended up this time? At first I thought he had sneaked up on a sex romp in the back stairs of the passenger terminal.
No, the cameraman had stepped through an open fire escape door and descended to the ramp, airside, where the One-Two-Go 747 was parked at a jet bridge. The camera panned the scene with some acceptable shots of tarmac, aircraft wheels and the mechanics supervising the jet bridge.
"I am not supposed to be here," he wrote in the caption. "I just walked from the passenger terminal to a parked aircraft and not a single person challenged me."
To ensure there was no mistake he strolled up to a gentleman wearing an AoT badge and asked him politely to take some shots of him standing near the aircraft. The executive obliged with a smile. They exchanged some small talk and the cameraman returned back up the stairs to the concourse.
We will not need an International Civil Aviation Organisation report to tell us what the blogger's video illustrates so plainly. If that was the best security the airport has on offer on a day when the prime minister was on a happy walkabout then it is back to the drawing board or the training lab. But I have noticed on many occasions that "farang" visitors can often stroll past security possibly because the guard is not sure if he should shout "hey you" or just trip the intruder up with is truncheon.
You actually guess what they are thinking. "Here comes a headache, look the other way."
Last week's foiled terrorist plot in the UK underscores yet again the almost impossible security task facing both airports and airlines. It comes at a time when the AoT management is already struggling to test Suvarnabhumi Airport's security systems and bring them up to at least Don Muang's standard by the opening deadline.
Not an impossible task, but certainly one that has not been made easier by the prime minister's insistence that the airport open before national elections take place.
Airlines already employ additional security at Don Muang Airport usually out-sourced to companies that are certified by the AoT. Apparently, only two companies have gained certification for Suvarnabhumi Airport, although there are several others that are bidding for airline contracts, hoping that they can gain certification before the deadline.
While basic security is provided by the AoT, individual airlines decide to hire their own to be on hand at the check-in counter, gate, and baggage transfer points and at the aircraft itself.
This additional cost adds to the overall bill to set up shop at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Landing fees will also increase from day one as well as passenger fee, up from Bt500 to 700.
AoT is tempting fate with these kind of increases at a time when it will certainly be asking passengers and airline customers to be patient during months of inevitable teething problems.
A more sensible and less greedy approach would have scheduled increases once all the problems were ironed out possibly by December. AoT is not very customer friendly and this is reflected in the constant barrage of negative media, no matter how sweetly AoT executives smile at press conferences.
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