NEW AIRPORT READY FOR TAKE-OFF?

Anyone planning a trip to Bangkok in the near future can be forgiven if they are a little confused as to which airport they will be arriving at. On September 28, the US$3.8 billion Suvarnabhumi Airport is scheduled to open, although whether it will or not is still a matter of great debate in the media right now. Last week a group of five leading low-cost carriers pleaded with the government to delay the opening as they felt the airport is simply not ready to cope. The airport was originally planned to open in September last year. This was put back to last month, and then again until September, but Thailand's caretaker prime minister Taksin Shinawatra has pledged his reputation on it being ready. (He's losing popularity anyway so it's depatable whether his popularity could suffer much more).
The airport, which is pronounced Su-wan-na-poom, means Golden Land and the name was chosen by His Majesty the King of Thailand. It is actually built on the site of a former cobra swamp, and when it opens it will boast the tallest contol tower (132m) and largest single building (563,000 sq. metres) in the world. Its location is some 25km east of the city itself.
One of the major problems is that the infrastructure simply doesn't appear to be ready. Articles in the newspapers point to the fact that most people don't even know how to get to the airport. There will be little in the way of public transport links - a new high-speed rail link is still some two years away from completion.
I have family scheduled to arrive in the first week of October. My money is on them landing at the 'old' Don Muang airport but I am watching developments closely.