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The ones I spotted earlier this month are from AOT, campaigning - or pipe dreaming - for this flawed airport to be ranked among the world's top five. The long wait at the baggage claim area makes sure that all travellers see these signs, but most people probably realise their hilarity. This is especially true in light of the announcement a few months ago that the airport was ranked third by an Asian travellers' website, voted by thousands of people. In a more respectable poll, with millions of voters, it is actually ranked sixteenth.

Many of us who have been to the world's best airports - like Incheon in South Korea, Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong, or Changi in Singapore - know that ours cannot compare. They are far superior in terms of signage, clean and comfortable toilets for everyone (not just elite travellers), free wireless internet, sufficient number of sofas and relaxing chairs, and reasonably priced food and drinks, and the list goes on. In those airports, waiting and layover times seem shorter given the better amenities.

And then there's the issue of how to get from the airport to the city, and I'm not sure how much control AOT has over this. We still do not know when the Suvarnabhumi Airport link rail service will be open, so the main transportation option is still public taxi. However, the taxi stands have moved back and forth between two floors so often, and so confusingly, that many holiday and business travellers even decide to pay more for limousine services.

Once in a taxi from the airport, many travellers also have to debate and negotiate with the driver on whether or not to take their all-inclusive flat rate or to go by the meter. As far as I know, the first option is against the law, and yet it is suggested or even demanded by many drivers, and taken by many passengers. After more than 10 hours on flights from Europe and the US, this is not the kind of argument a first-time visitor wants to have with a local after arriving in a new country. And again, these annoying transportation problems rarely happen at the world's best airports - which all provide a wider variety of choices for travellers.

Let's admit it: the airport was flawed from the start. An international airport in a region's major hub, which services many millions of passengers, cannot feel this small and cramped. The runways have suffered cracks, there is no train service connecting to the city. If they really believe that a single terminal will work, instead of concentrating on PR, maybe the authorities should spend time finishing what should have been done years ago, and solving the problems our former governments left us.

The obsession with ranking seeps into other sectors, as well. For example, in higher education, even though no Thai universities are ranked high in any polls - all are still in the three digits - many seem proud enough to put the ranking on their Website, as if to brag that it's the best in the country. The competition here is so intense that some universities even pay a certain foreign ranking agency for a better grade. And so, that's how they earn their money - and we lose ours in exchange for pride and the right to show off.

Besides this, when you study the factors that each poll considers before coming up with the ranking, you'll find that there are two main ones that are not applicable to most universities in this country - international faculty members and international students. As far as I know, the problem is that most classes in this country are still conducted in Thai, and most students are Thai.

Considering the second factor, I now know why many of my well-to-do, yet below-average, students have been admitted to graduate programmes overseas, even though they would have been rejected by graduate programmes here.

And so, for a better ranking for my university, and to save on costs, I may resign from teaching and encourage some Thai students to quit along with me. In our place, they may hire professors from neighbouring countries - at a lower salary than those from Europe, Australia and the US - and admit foreign students from refugee camps. The problem everywhere in the world is tuition fees for foreign students - usually double that for locals, or more - so scholarships must be provided as well.

It's obvious from these two cases that we're aiming and fighting for what we can never achieve. This is somewhat like hiring a Canadian coach to train our bobsled team at Doi Inthanon so it can win our country's first gold medal in the Winter Olympics - which is quite the opposite to our first Summer Olympics gold medal in boxing, a sport that is deeply rooted in our cultural heritage.

In the end, it's apparent that our tax money is being spent in order to secure better rankings. Does a better ranking for an airport really mean more tourists, and more dollars? Is a better ranking for a university truly equivalent to a better education and career opportunity for my children? Taxpayers in many countries around the world already know that the answers are "no" and "no." It's like giving star ratings for film and theatre reviews - encouraged by editors and loathed by critics. And so, perhaps ranking is meant for those who don't have time to study the details. In this day and age, I strongly believe that technology has provided us with better access to more detail, and in less time, than before.