A lack of transparency inherent in the organisation's culture raises serious questions about reassuring investors and the public over AOT's corporate governance.

In discussions with The Nation, several board members pointed to a pattern of routinely having their information requests fall on deaf ears or being told the information is not available. They are forced to either do without or seek their own sources within the AOT to help them better understand what's going on.

"I can't even get the blueprints I requested," says Tortrakul Yomnak, an AOT board member who chairs the committee investigating the problem of cracks and ruts in the airport's runways and taxiways. "The fact that I have tanks [the military junta] as backup is of no help. They [AOT officials] are not afraid. There's too much vested interest within the organisation."

Yodyiam Teptaranon, representing the Association of Siamese Architects on AOT's board, tells a similar story. He has not heard anything yet on a request he made two weeks ago for copies of contracts AOT made with engineering and architectural firms.

"I've stopped expecting them [AOT] to be transparent. Everybody on the board shares similar experiences. It's normal that there are thieves in an organisation. We just have to work to change this, we have to set ourselves up as examples by standing in the sun [to show we have nothing to hide]," Yodyiam said.

Tortrakul has often stressed in front of the media that AOT would from now on operate transparently, but away from the camera he revealed the difficulty in accessing information needed to identify Suvarnabhumi's engineering problems.

"Being a board member of AOT is like being a blind person [always in the dark]," Tortrakul said.

Former senator and recently appointed AOT board member Chirmsak Pinthong told The Nation he had to tread lightly when approaching people inside the AOT for information.

"I'm a new member and I have to take time to study who's protecting whose interests. I feel like I'm stepping into the twilight zone," he said.

The problem of transparency at AOT does not surprise outside professionals who are trying to help solve the problems at Suvarnabhumi.

"Of course, people in that organisation won't give up important information. They have too much at stake," said Krai Tangsanga, vice president of the Engineering Association of Thailand. "While it's true that some people loyal to the 'old powers' were removed from leading roles in the organisation, many still remain to guard critical information at the expense of the public interest."

Chaisak Angkasuwan, who plays a dual role as an AOT board member and director of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), admits experiencing similar problems in his capacity as DCA chief responsible for airport regulations.

For example, before the opening of the airport last year, the DCA's repeated requests to the AOT for technical data to support the pavement classification number to indicate the strength of Suvarnabhumi's runways fell on deaf ears, Chaisak recalled.

However, Chaisak apologised for AOT officials, saying that some of the information, "might have been lost or officials feel reluctant to disclose it for risk of being accused of siding with a particular interest".

Corporate governance advocates point out that AOT board members themselves may suffer the consequence of the organisation's failure to operate transparently. Sarinee Achavanuntakul, who lectures on international corporate governance at Thammasat University's Faculty of Economics, said in principle shareholders and investors must have confidence that board members are sufficiently informed to make decisions.

"It's not a healthy situation," she said. "The board of directors are the first to be liable in case a plane crashes or something else goes wrong. The code of practice of the SET [Stock Exchange of Thailand] also stresses corporate transparency. If SET regulators learn about this problem, they can also send a warning notification because this goes against the principle of good corporate governance."

Nantiya Tangwisutijit

The Nation