Airport terminal violates building controls

By Amornrat Mahitthirook
Wanchai Wimuktayon, managing director of ACT Consultants Co, part of the designer consortium MJTA, admitted that the Suvarnabhumi airport terminal violated the Building Control Act of 1979 but that the flaws were not serious, and could be fixed.

The passenger terminal of Suvarnabhumi airport breaches the building control law but its defects, including a number of substandard fire escapes, are not serious and can be resolved, according to its designer, the Murphy Jahn/TAMS/ACT (MJTA) consortium.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Wanchai said given its size and the law, the terminal in theory must have at least 10,000 toilets but this is not practical.

The terminal must also have a fire exit every 60 metres and should have airlift fire escapes given its height. But these are also impracticable, he added.

Mr Wanchai suggested the Transport Ministry issue a special announcement to exclude the passenger terminal from the law in these areas.

Pichaya Chantranuwat, general manager of Fusion Consultants Co that has done a safety report on the Suvarnabhumi terminal for Airports of Thailand Plc, said that more than 10 fire escapes at the airport were substandard. Some fire exits were 90-100 metres apart, which is too far according to the law. However, the problem could be solved.

He was concerned about some fire exits being locked for security reasons. The AoT should make opening instructions available to the public in case of emergency, he said.

He agreed with Mr Wanchai in terms of allowing special building control leniency for the airport terminal. Otherwise, the building would remain illegal forever, he said.

Chatchai Pamornsutr, a senior engineer of MJTA, confirmed that the passenger terminal of Suvarnabhumi airport had been designed to cope with fires. Designs of such facilities as the automatic hydrants and smoke control systems were made with public safety in mind.

Moreover, there are as many as 200 fire exits that can evacuate people between three and 10 minutes, better than evacuation standard in other buildings.

He also dismissed fears about electrical control cabinets that might get overheated and catch fire because they were installed just under the terminal's glass roof.

He said the cabinets could withstand temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius and current temperatures peaked at 50 degrees. In case of emergency, the cabinets would shut down automatically to prevent short circuits.

Mr Chatchai admitted that access to the cabinets was still difficult and it would be solved.

In another development, Don Muang airport director Pinit Saraithong said only domestic services of Thai Airways International, Nok Air and One-To-Go Airlines had confirmed they would return to Don Muang on March 25. PB Air will not follow because it connects with international flights at Suvarnabhumi.

The Don Muang airport director held talks with domestic airlines yesterday and also confirmed that there will be some 160 flights, or 20,000 passengers, using Don Muang daily. They will be served at the old domestic terminal while the first international terminal will continue to cater to chartered flights.

The final figure is way off the calculation made by AoT last Wednesday. The airport agency said that only 77 flights would fly in and out of Don Muang