Cracks on the runway, corruption claims and now safety issues -- Bangkok's new airport has suffered blow after blow since its swanky opening, but analysts said the public hammering could be a ploy to discredit the ousted prime minister.
Suvarnabhumi Airport, built at a cost of US$3 billion, appears an easy target for Thaksin Shinawatra's critics, especially as he made the project a personal crusade, once camping at the building site in a show of support.
Taking on a project that had been in the pipeline for 40 years, he raced to open the airport before many experts believed it was ready.
When the new hub finally opened to much fanfare on last Sept. 28, the twice-elected premier had been toppled by the military in a bloodless coup just over a week earlier.
Since then there has been a catalogue of complaints, culminating last week with news the transport ministry was considering whether to move flights back to creaking old Don Muang airport because of around 100 cracks on runways and taxiways.
"Since Thaksin had pushed the airport very strongly ... it would be very nice for the military regime to say `see, that was all just public relations.'" said Michael Nelson, politics lecturer at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"It would be a nice thing to show the world that in fact, behind the scenes, it was all cronyism and corruption," he added.
Military leaders have justified their takeover by saying democracy was being undermined by widespread corruption during Thaksin's five years in office, but they have yet to uncover any hard evidence of graft.
"They want to discredit him as much as they can, even if they can't nail him for anything concrete," Nelson said.
The problem was compounded when the Thai aviation authority declined to renew an international safety certificate for Suvarnabhumi.
Political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, also of Chulalongkorn, agreed that focussing on the problems would embarrass Thaksin, now living in exile.
"This was Thaksin's pet project, his showcase project," he said. "It has blown up in his face."
But Thitinan said the problems appeared to be genuine.
"No one denies there are serious construction problems ... I don't think the military is digging it up just to discredit Thaksin," he said.
The opening was repeatedly delayed because of construction problems and graft allegations, most notably involving the purchase of 26 bomb-detecting scanners from the US.
Complaints have ranged from grumbles about inadequate toilet facilities to worries that air stewardesses were being sexually harassed by builders.
Then last Tuesday, the transport ministry said it was considering at least partially shutting down the airport because of the cracks, which it blamed on problems with design and construction.
The airport's woes have soiled what many had hoped would become a beaming symbol of modern Thailand.
"The airport is a highly political project and the rush to open it has damaged what we hoped to become the image of the country," said Kiat Sitthee-amorn of the opposition Democrat Party.
Supong Limtanakul, an economics professor at Bangkok University who is part of the junta-appointed committee investigating the runway cracks, said their probe would uncover what really happened.
"We have found that many materials used in the construction of Suvarnabhumi were sub-standard and that caused the runway cracks," Supong said.
"There are grounds to prove corruption at Suvarnabhumi, not just allegations with political motives," he added.
His committee has about two weeks to report to the junta and the transport ministry, which will then decide the fate of the project.
Thitinan said the move to investigate the problems was part of a broader push by the junta to show its teeth after accusations it was being too soft on Thaksin's policies.
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