It has tended to become more so as time passed, and government authorities cannot take it any longer with the multifaceted problems and the increasing difficulty in finding solutions.

The pride of Thailand, as it was once touted by the Thaksin administration, has become a great shame and, as ongoing investigations expose widespread wrongdoing, a testimony to massive corruption unprecedented in the country's history.

The international airport, in addition to airline and commercial services, was also meant to serve for years as an inexhaustible gold mine for Thaksin's political and business cronies, had he managed to hold on to power and not have his tenure terminated by a military coup.

To a certain extent, Thaksin and his cronies must have thanked their stars for not being around to bear the brunt of the mess resulting from poor design, cheap materials, shoddy layout and sloppy construction work.

One thing not many people could understand is why the entire roof is covered by a transparent sheet instead of tiles to deflect the heat, taking into account that we are located near the equator and have strong sunshine almost every day.

The airconditioning system is inadequate. People feel stuffy due to the balmy air. Dubai airport uses similar material but obviously of superior quality, and its the cooling system functions better even in the desert heat.

There was bad news last week, when the board of the country's airport authority, Airports of Thailand (AOT), decided to shift domestic air services back to Don Muang because Suvarnabhumi was already getting congested. This was by no means shocking because the problem had long been forewarned but ignored by the Thaksin administration.

The trial opening of Suvarnabhumi on September 28 was just like the opening of a can of worms, with reports of passenger discomfort, poor use of space for airport services and the duty-free area receiving very generous treatment under a contract with the government.

Problems such as construction defects and cracks on the airport tarmac, the limited toilet facilities and other inconveniences are becoming unbearably embarrassing. There has been a joke circulating that Suvarnabhumi is not an airport but actually a department store with air services. This claim is not far off the mark.

There were security problems with female employees being molested and harassed by workmen in airport zones not kept under proper surveillance despite the contract worth Bt5 billion covering 10 years.

In a nutshell, the quality of the airport is not worth the Bt140 billion spent on its construction, a substantial part of which went into the pockets of politicians and their partners in crime. It is a "mother of all corruption and mischief-making" project that we have to live with from now on.

Serious flaws in structural designs are the main problem. In an odd reversal, passengers prefer to take a bus ride from the aircraft to the terminal instead of a long and gruelling walk to the immigration counters and baggage claim.

Among the losers is Thai International Airways (THAI), which has had to accept a smaller operating area and role in the new airport. At Don Muang, the airline had almost the whole of Terminal 1 for its own use, together with the large chunk of the domestic terminal.

At Suvarnabhumi, THAI has had to settle for an area not in keeping with its status as a national flag carrier. This could be due to poor judgement on the part of the government authorities or the airport management, or other dubious motives.

All is not lost for Thai International. The airline can seek permission to relocate all of its operations, international and domestic, to Don Muang so that it can reclaim its own hub and terminals to provide more efficient service. It can leave Nok Air, its low-cost airline, at Suvarnabhumi to provide domestic connections for other foreign airlines.

The THAI management may have to make a study of the cost and benefits, plus the upside potential and downside risks, of moving to Don Muang. At the very least, the airline would have the entire airport to itself and prevent the multibillion-baht facilities that remain from decaying due to disuse, which would be a waste of resources.

Though the AOT board has decided to shift all domestic and low-cost air services to Don Muang on March 15, there is still time for reconsideration - that is if Thai International wants to reclaim its pride as the national flag carrier.

Sopon Onkgara