A primary-school student was driven to quit school after his parents had had enough of the ear-deafening noise caused by 14 flights an hour arriving at and departing from Suvarnabhumi Airport, affecting the boy's health and concentration.

The father of Natthanon Veeraphitkasem, a Prathom-2 student at Sathit Bang Na School in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district, submitted a resignation letter to the school headmistress last month, saying, "The noise of the aircraft is unbearably loud."

"We predict more students will leave the school by the end of the year, as some parents are now considering the move," said Nadrudee Chitrangsan, an assistant to the school headmistress.

Sathit Bang Na is located near Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the 1,086 students, including kindergarten and primary- and secondary-school students, are being driven to distraction, because none of the 54 classrooms are soundproof.

"The school environment has been designed as a 'resort school' in which the classrooms are in a natural environment, so none of them has air-conditioners, either," she said.

Nadrudee said that each time a plane flew over the school, the noise was so loud that teachers had to stop their work until it faded away.

She said statistics collected by school staff reveal that every day there are about 170 flights directly over the school between 6am and 6pm, or 14 flights an hour.

"Every morning, there's an assembly where the students practise meditation, but how can they concentrate when they're interrupted by 14 planes an hour?" said Nadrudee.

The school has twice sent let-ters of complaint - and enclosed the student's resignation letter to the airport's director - but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the roar of aircraft has also affected Wat Bang Chalong Nai School, also close to the airport. On Tuesday, tiles on the school roof fell off from the vibrations.

Headmaster Direk Ruenrueng said students and teachers have had to bear the noise pollution since the airport opened, but now they must also deal with falling roof tiles.

"Fortunately, the incident occurred after class that day, but no one can guarantee it won't hurt a student someday," said Direk.

The 73-year-old school has about 1,700 kindergarten and primary-school students and 72 teachers. Although none of the students has left, teachers and parents are worried about their health.

The airport promised to construct shields to protect students from falling tiles.

Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen and officials from related organisations yesterday met with about 300 residents of Bangkok's Lat Krabang district and Samut Prakan's Tambon Bang Chalong who are suffering from the noise of aircraft landing at and taking off from Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The meeting took place at Wat Bang Chalong Nai. When the minister arrived, he went into the building to listen to the roar of the passing aircraft. Afterwards, he said, "I can understand your feelings. Going upstairs for only a moment, I heard a plane every minute or two. However, we want to tell you we won't ignore you, and we want to solve the problem."

Phet-uma Samphaoporn took her seven-month-old son to the meeting and asked the minister urgently to consider the problem. She said she owned 30 pet dogs that howled each time a plane flew over, thus doubling the noise.

"My son can't sleep until 2am and then is woken up again at 4am, while I have to go to work at 5am," she said.

Pool Muernsart, deputy chief of the Bang Chalong Tambon Administrative Organisation, suggested the ministry conduct research on the effects of the noise pollution on children's health in the area.

"Many different groups have come here to collect information. I hope this one led by the minister will be the last and that it can bring about a proper solution to the problem."

Chatrarat Kaewmorakot,

Somroutai Sapsomboon

The Nation