Topong Kulkhanchit, regional development officer for Disabled People International, said he received a phone call yesterday from the engineer, some two weeks after the junta-appointed government reprimanded the Airport Organisation of Thailand (AOT) for providing inadequate toilets for passengers at the new state-of-the-art airport.

"If they don't do it properly this time, they will be ruined. The airport management are really lousy," Topong told The Nation yesterday.

While the number of extra toilets provided for disabled people will be up for discussion, Topong said the much-touted new airport has failed miserably when it comes to providing equal access for the physically challenged.

Topong pointed out that elevators have practically no Braille signs to help the blind navigate, many signs have sharp edges which are a hazard to the visually impaired, and interior colour schemes are mostly monotone, making it difficult for a person with poor eyesight to navigate. The stand-alone air conditioners also unnecessarily obstruct blind people and there are many other ground and overhead obstacles.

"They don't care about us. Perhaps at the lower level [the AOT] do care - but not the executives," said Topong, who is suing the AOT and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, along with a few others, at the Administrative Court for failing to provide necessary access to the disabled as required by law.

Topong, himself dependent on a wheelchair, said some ramps at the departure terminal hall are very slippery and dangerous for the elderly and pregnant women.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation