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Buai
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There was a new international airport opened in Surabaya this year, not sure of it was entered into the competition though.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:11 pm on Nov. 27, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Quote: from sanook269 on 5:20 pm on Nov. 27, 2006
Bring back Don Muang!
Report from Bangkok Post dated Wednesday 29 November 2006 :-
Transport Ministry says no swift return to Don Muang
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The Transport Ministry is determined to operate Suvarnabhumi as Bangkok's only international airport and has dismissed a push by low-cost airlines to have Don Muang re-opened to them.
Key government agencies, including the Aviation Department, the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning and the National Economic and Social Development Board, held another round of talks yesterday to seek a common position on the future of Don Muang.
The talks were called after repeated requests from low-cost airlines that they be allowed to shift their operations back to Don Muang from Suvarnabhumi.
Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um insisted after the meeting that Suvarnabhumi would remain the capitals' single airport at least for the time being because a change after Suvarnabhumi's opening in late September would just cause more confusion.
He acknowledged the problems of low-cost airlines which had earlier complained about high aircraft parking fees and incomplete infrastructure at Suvarnabhumi.
He has promised to find solutions to their problems by the end of January, when the government and the no-frills airline operators will meet to discuss the problems.
The deputy minister has not ruled out a return of budget airlines to Don Muang airport in the long run.
''Suvarnabhumi airport was designed from the start to be the one and only international airport. It has just been opened. An early return [to Don Muang] would be quite weird. But if Suvarnabhumi is saturated in the future, a return will be possible. Today there is no clear reason for a U-turn,'' Mr Sansern said.
Don Muang is now used for chartered and special flights only while all regular commercial flights use Suvarnabhumi.
He suggested Don Muang be developed into an aircraft maintenance centre.
A source at the ministry said low-cost airlines had asked for the return to Don Muang because Suvarnabhumi's vast space did not facilitate the ground operations of their staff.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 8:59 am on Nov. 29, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Wednesday 29 November 2006 :-
Sort out Suvarnabhumi woes, Thai-Japan tourism body urges
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The Thai-Japan Tourism Association has urged the government to solve the problems at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport.
At a meeting with Tourism and Sports Minister Suvit Yodmani, representatives of the association – including large tour agencies – yesterday complained about the lack of space in the airport’s passenger-arrival area and a paucity of information for arriving visitors. The minister said the association had pointed out that the passenger-arrival area could not accommodate large tour groups.
There is also a lack of information on the quantity of alcohol and cigarettes passengers may bring into the country, and Japanese tourists are often detained by Thai police for bringing in too many cartons of cigarettes or bottles of liquor.
The association suggested that notices be more comprehensive and written in several languages.
Suvit said the lack of information had also been raised by tourists from other nations. Related partieswill be asked to look into the problem and provide better information to tourists.
Information at the ministry’s kiosk in the airport will be provided in several languages.
Suvit said the Japanese-tourist market was one of Thailand’s most important, with 1.2 million to 1.3 million visitors arriving every year.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:31 am on Nov. 29, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Thursday 30 November 2006 :-
Staff, passenger safety 'put at risk'
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Poor lighting and security lapses have apparently compromised the safety of staff and passengers at Suvarnabhumi airport. Thitirach Nongharnpitak, deputy commander of the Crime Suppression Division, said locations where cases of sexual harassment have been reported were not well-lit, making staff more vulnerable to attacks.
''This practice is different from other international airports which keep facilities well-lit to increase safety,'' he noted.
Pol Col Thitirach was speaking after leading a team of 10 CSD police on Tuesday night to inspect those spots at the new airport said to be unsafe.
Thai Airways International staff and passengers who stay around late at the airport have been intimidated by the prospect of sex crimes following a stream of sexual harassment complaints since the Sept 29 commercial opening.
Airport staff believe that construction workers are responsible as many parts of the airport remain under construction or are being refurbished.
Pol Col Thitirach said the late-night visit was to give police the chance to evaluate the safety situation precisely as the reported incidents took place at night.
He suggested that security guards be deployed in certain areas around the clock.
His team, greeted by THAI labour union acting president Somsak Srinuan, was shown the ladies' toilets on the fifth floor of the passenger terminal where a staff member reported Peeping Toms.
They also inspected concourse D and G where two female staff said they had been followed by suspicious-looking men.
The one-and-a-half hour inspection also exposed security lapses, said the deputy commander.
Outsiders could easily slip into restricted elevators despite rules that users must carry access cards issued by Airports of Thailand.
Moreover, the elevators have been defaced with obscene words, he said.
According to Pol Col Thitirach, plainclothes CSD police are following up on the allegations. He said his team has yet to question the staff over their claims.
Sexual harassment allegations have been spreading for weeks, but no formal complaints have been lodged with police.
CSD chief Pol Maj-Gen Vorasak Nopsitthiporn, however, had begun to investigate the allegations which had gripped the public's attention and cast a bad light on the country's image.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 11:53 pm on Nov. 29, 2006
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shamas
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Quote: from bkkz on 12:36 am on Nov. 14, 2006
I did use the "facilities" and they were Okay. All functional and clean, just not lots of them. While in ATL the bathroom I used had been flooded and there was absolutely NO evidance that anyone was working on clean up or the source of the problems.
Yes I do live to inspect the porciline thrones, man must have his private areas of inspiraration.
Shamas O'Dognasty
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:55 am on Dec. 2, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Monday 4 December 2006 :-
Air arrivals to Bangkok up nearly 16% through October 2006
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International arrivals by air at Bangkok, excluding Thai travellers, in the first 10 months of this year rose 15.97% year-on-year to 7.92 million, according to statistics compiled by the Immigration Bureau.
The top six countries of origin for visitors, in order, were Japan, China, South Korea, the UK, the US and Singapore.
The top three positions remained unchanged from last year. The UK remained the largest European market for visitors, with 540,401 arrivals, an increase of 7.96%.
Arrivals from Singapore fell by 4.36% over last year, perhaps as a result of fallout from the controversial sale of Shin Corp to the Singaporean company Temasek Holdings, which had prompted some anti-Singapore sentiment in Thailand.
Russia posted the largest increase of any country, with 99,247 arrivals in the same period, up 108% over the same period last year.
Southern unrest does not appear to have affected cross-border traffic with Malaysia, with arrivals rising 16.35%.
Thailand is becoming more popular not only with Europeans, but also with visitors from the Middle East. They are no longer keen to travel to the US or the UK in great numbers and feel more welcome in Asia.
The arrival figures from the Middle East rose 33.43%, with Saudi Arabia showing an increase of 86.47% and Egypt increasing 48.60%.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has projected overall foreign tourist arrivals will reach 13.5 million this year, against 11.52 million last year, which was down by 1.15% from the previous year.
The TAT expects foreign tourist arrivals in 2007 to increase to 14.8 million.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:52 pm on Dec. 3, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Wednesday 6 December 2006 :-
Commentary - Flaws at new airport need fixing
By Boonsong Kositchotethana
More than two months have passed since the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sept 28, and it is a pity that many of the facility's drawbacks don't seem to be getting fixed. Unresolved problems which have irked travellers and those whose work evolve around the airport have grown in such magnitude that many are disgusted at the idea of going through, or working at, the airport. Judging from the hundreds of letters to newspapers and websites almost every day lamenting the hassles, and the news stories and editorials in many media detailing the airport's deficiencies and scandals, clearly not enough is being done to improve Bangkok's new international airport.
My recent personal visit to Suvarnabhumi served to confirm that little has indeed been done to correct the flaws, which unfortunately have given the facility a bad name internationally, rather than being the ''pride of Thailand''. There have been statements made by Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen and the Airports of Thailand Plc's (AoT) new board chairman Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr about the need to urgently address the problems, but the public has not seen any real action being taken.
It is a shame that some very easy fixes _ like enlarging display fonts, posting plentiful correct direction signs in locations where people can clearly see them, and adding more foreign languages such as Mandarin to the signage _ have not been carried out, even though these problems were identified well before the airport's opening. Many of the airport's restrooms are a disgrace to the country (which recently hosted the World Toilet Expo and Forum), with flushes not working properly, broken water taps, the absence of toilet paper and dirty, wet floors.
That is so much easier to tackle than building over 200 additional toilets at the airport, which AoT president Chotisak Asapaviriya has vowed to do, in the wake of scathing criticism from passengers and the public over the insufficiency of toilets there. It will take a while before these new toilets will be in service.
Several spots at the terminal are littered with rubbish discarded by construction workers and others working at the airport, due to the lack of cleaning and garbage collection. The area in front of the terminal has become extremely dirty, with cigarette butts and discarded chewing gum on the pavements. A poor welcome to a country.
Very poor lighting and the expanses of unpainted concrete make the terminal look so drab, and make working conditions for immigration officers difficult _ little wonder it takes so long for them to process passports. Poor lighting has also contributed to the recent spate of complaints from female employees on night shifts about being sexually harassed by construction workers and security guards. Why can't the AoT quickly install more lights where they are needed, and paint the walls and ceiling white to mitigate the problems?
Air-conditioning is another problem-plagued area which needs immediate attention, as it has been hot and sweaty on the top floor of the terminal and along the main walkways between terminal arms.
The public continues to put up with the lack of comfort, as the chairs there are only steel-framed with no padding, and cold!
One can witness the premature breakdown of the terminal's facilities. Lifts get stuck and the revolving doors at the terminal's entrances do not operate properly.
What I have dwelt on so far are just some of the fixes which can be done quicker than the mountains of bigger improvements, like widening the egress for arriving passengers and constructing more restrooms _ if the AoT is really serious about correcting the flaws.
It is good news that the AoT's new chairman, Gen Saprang, has ordered all relevant contracts, fraught with alleged widespread corruption, to be examined and made available for public vetting.
But as important as netting the crooks, Gen Saprang should make the improvements at the airport a top priority, as well as making AoT management and other parties involved such as contractors, suppliers and designers accountable for the flaws at Suvarnabhumi.
Boonsong Kositchotethana is Deputy Assignment Editor (Business), Bangkok Post.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:42 am on Dec. 6, 2006
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Arramsey
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My first experience of SUVARNABHUMI.
Nearly 2 months after the new Airport ( Suvarnabhumi ) opened for operations, I finally made a trip outwards & inwards and here are my observations :-
OUTWARDS :- On 15th. Nov. ( Wednesday ) I had to leave for Jinghong, China travelling by Bangkok Airways flight leaving at 11.35 a.m.
I left my Apartment on Soi-23, Sukhumvit at 8.30 a.m and caught a taxi in the Soi who readily agreed to take me but said that there was a lot of traffic ( office rush ) at that time. I guided him down Soi 23 to Sukhumvit where we turned left towards the Sois of increasing numbers, turned into Soi 22, hit Rama IV & turned right, then right before Lotus and onto the Elevated TollWay and on to the Airport. We got there in 45 minutes and the meter stopped at B195 which together with the Toll of B15 + 40 was comparable to what I used to pay when going to Don Muang.
No problem finding a Trolley and the Exchange Counters and then on to check in. After that to the RE-ENTRY VISA booth and then through Immigration - all pretty smooth and hassle free.
A long, boring wait ( which cannot be blamed on the Airport ), bussed to the Aircraft - and then a 45 minute wait on the Tarmac - which could and should definitely be blamed on the Airport. If there are such hold-ups with the transferred Don Muang traffic - I dread the chaos when the planned and expected increase in traffic takes place !!
INWARDS :- Returned from China by Bangkok Airways on the 3rd. Dec. (Sunday ) and touched down at the scheduled time of 7.30 p.m. Everything was absolutely smooth : bussed to the Terminal building, a short walk to Immigration, no crowds at all and very pleasant staff, through in a few minutes, baggage came in the usual ( not long ) time - however I did see passengers at 2 Carousels waiting in exasperation as if they had been there for half the day.
Sailed through Customs, waded through the mass of Taxi touts populating the Arrivals area, went in the Elevator down one level and caught a pre-paid taxi just as they had at Don Muang ( there were tons of taxis available ). The meter stopped at B215 - this plus the B50 service charge and the Tolls of B55 were on par with Don Muang.
IN BRIEF :-
The whole complex is DEFINITELY more impressive than Don Muang - the approach itself and the view from a distance would qualify Suvarnabhumi as a World Class Airport.
The design is modern and exquisite - BUT this has been done before ( Hong-Kong, Kansai to name 2 ) and rather than trying to compete out of it's league, my feeling is that Bangkok would have made a more lasting impact if the Design had been more THAI - just like the Airport at D'Jakarta - which has beautiful traditional architecture and yet all the modern facilities.
The Toilets :- There were suffecient and clean, well kept Toilets in the Departure area - But I did have difficulty finding Toilets in the Arrival area - and this is a BIG problem, because after being cramped in an Air-Conditioned Plane for between 3 to 6 hours there is likely to be a rush of 165 to 345 passengers multiplied by maybe 10 or 12 planes arriving - all wanting to relieve themselves !!
The building is incomplete in many places, shoddily finished and already the maintenence is unable to retain the "NEWNESS".
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:35 am on Dec. 6, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Tuesday 12 December 2006 :-
AoT 'wants Don Muang reopened' : Budget airlines could use facilities at airport
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A study by Airports of Thailand (AoT) favours an immediate reopening of Don Muang airport to serve only non-connecting flights of low-cost airlines, in order to fully use the airport's facilities and save costs for the agency, according to sources familiar with the report.
The study for the AoT management concludes that Don Muang airport could serve point-to-point flights but adds that the return by airlines to the old airport should be voluntary.
Returning could delay the saturation and expansion of Suvarnabhumi airport, it adds.
The scheme could postpone the second-stage development of Suvarnabhumi from next year to 2010 and defer the third-stage expansion plan for seven years from 2008 to 2015. The structural expansion in both stages is expected to cost AoT more than 100 billion baht.
Don Muang now serves only chartered flights. All regular services were transferred to the new airport on Sept 28, 2006.
Suvarnabhumi now has two runways and it is already preparing for a third one.
But the study says the re-opening of Don Muang for regular flights could delay the completion of Suvarnabhumi's fourth runway from 2012 to 2018 and put off the saturation of Suvarnabhumi from 2024 to 2037. The postponed saturation will mean less congestion at the new airport, which was built to serve 45 million passengers a year in the first phase.
Don Muang accommodated up to 39 million a year before the operation was moved to Suvarnabhumi.
Facing higher operation costs at Suvarnabhumi, no-frills operators have pushed for the return of their airlines to Don Muang.
But the government's position now is to maintain the single airport for Bangkok. Both parties will hold talks next month.
The study says the use of Don Muang for regular flights will help AoT fully use its existing assets.
Besides, the company will not need to build a separate terminal for low-cost airlines at Suvarnabhumi, estimated at 1.4 billion baht, according to the report.
The use of Don Muang again should let AoT post an annual net profit of 4.8 billion baht between next year and 2020, according to the sources. Its liquidity problem will be minimised and it should have to borrow only 131 billion baht to maintain its cash flow during that period.
If AoT builds the separate terminal for low-cost airlines at Suvarnabhumi, it should have an annual net profit of 3.2 billion baht and need to borrow 188 billion baht to maintain its cash flow during the same period.
The immediate re-use of Don Muang airport will also reduce AoT's work to rehabilitate the old airport when Suvarnabhumi airport is saturated.
Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um said the result of the study would have to undergo careful consideration in order to prevent adverse impacts in the long run.
The Transport Ministry will hire a university to study it, he said, adding that he would pick the option that would maximise public interest.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 7:45 pm on Dec. 11, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Friday 15 December 2006 :-
Suvarnabhumi to start parking charges
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Parking fees at Suvarnabhumi airport will be collected starting tomorrow (Dec 16).
Fees will escalate at the airport, starting with a minimum parking charge of 25 baht for the first hour. After that, fees will be 50 baht for two hours, 80 baht for three, 110 baht for four hours, 145 baht for five hours, and 180 baht for six hours.
But the maximum fee for 24-hour parking will be 250 baht.
For motorcycles, parking for the first to sixth hour will be 10 baht per hour, with a maximum 24-hour charge of 70 baht.
Officials said there will be security officers stationed at all of the parking buildings to prevent theft.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:18 pm on Dec. 14, 2006
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