The Association of Siamese Architects (ASA) is to hand a letter of protest to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha over the Airports of Thailand’s (AOT) plan to build a 42-billion baht second passenger terminal at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
Earlier, the ASA and related professional organizations held a panel discussion on the AOT’s controversial second passenger terminal plan. At the end of the discussion, they issued a joint statement opposing the project and determined to submit their protest to the Prime Minister.
The joint statement said the AOT had not followed the cabinet resolution of 2010 for the AOT to plan, design and implement the expansion of the existing passenger terminal to cope with the anticipated increase in passenger numbers.
Instead, AOT chose a to build a second passenger terminal, which the ASA and professional organizations deem unnecessary, with the overly costly plan’s emphasis on commercial space instead of space for passengers.
The second terminal would complicate management by requiring three driverless rail systems and, when the project is fully completed, increasing traffic congestion on the motorway at the northern corner of the airport, the ASA pointed out in their statement.
Also, the second terminal will have, at most, 14 aircraft parking bays close to the terminal building, making expansion impossible, said the ASA, adding that the change of plan from expansion of the existing terminal to building a new terminal has delayed the airport’s development, resulting in congestion at the existing terminal.
ASA president Mr. Ajaphol Dusitnanond said that the protest letter is intended to urge the Prime Minister to order the Ministry of Transport to stick to its original plan to expand the current terminal.
He assured that neither the ASA, nor the professional organizations have any vested interest whatsoever in either the terminal expansion project or the building of a new terminal.
