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| Remembering... Don Muang of old |
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Published on September 19, 2006 - Former passengers begin posting their photos, memories of Bangkok’s long-time airport on the Net
The ageing Bangkok International Airport at Don Muang receives its last commercial flights next week.
But, its memories will live on in the minds of millions of passengers who took off and landed there in recent decades.
Former passengers are sharing memories of air travel to and from Don Muang in the ether.
Many have posted photographs of the old days at Don Muang on websites. And several hundred have added their thoughts in prose and farewell messages.
It is hard to let go of the airport that linked Thailand with the rest of the world for more than 92 years.
Don Muang Airport was officially opened in March 1914, during the reign of King Rama VI and served as a base for the Royal Thai Army’s air division.
At the time the field was a grass strip and was accessible from Bangkok by train only. There was no road.
Dr Sawat Pratoomraj, a former Chulalongkorn University lecturer, now 79, remembers his first trip to the airport back in 1951. He had been invited on a 30-minute flight over the field. The only way to get there was via Phaholyothin.
“The road ran parallel to the railway. Unlike today, Phaholyothin was narrow,” he explained.
Commercial activity did not begin until 1924, when the Royal Dutch Airline (KLM) organised the first commercial flight.
In later years Sawat took flights to the Philippines in 1958 and to Hawaii in 1963. He found Don Muang almost unchanged.
“There was still only one runway and the terminal was very small,” he recalled.
The airport was still relatively slow by international standards but the terminal was a hive of activity. For every passenger departing Bangkok, as many as 100 friends and family would turn out to see them off.
Sawat has fond memories of relatives and neighbours from Tha Maka district in Kanchanaburi renting six vans to travel to the airport to wish him bon voyage. |
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History |
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Don Muang airfield was the base for the Royal Thai Army aviation department from its outset.
Don Muang Airport was officially opened in 1914 during the reign of King Rama VI. It was Thailand’s second airport, the first being Sa Pathum airfield, part of the Sa Pathum racetrack.
Belgian pilot Charles Van Den Born put on a flying demonstration at Royal Bangkok Sports Club in 1911 – eight years after the Wright brothers invented the airplane.
Thailand sent three officers to France to train as pilots. They returned with four Breguet biplanes and four Nieuport monoplanes. The Royal Thai Air Force was born. In January 1914, these planes put on a demonstration at the sports club. The Kingdom had entered the aviation age.
Thailand’s involvement in flight increased over the years and by the 1920s, commercial air travel had become extensive. Bruguet biplanes and “limousine planes” carried passengers, mail and cargo, connecting Bangkok with several remote provincial cities.
In 1927, Thailand designed and built its own aircraft, a Boripatra biplane, at a factory near Bangkok. It was during this period that Don Muang became established as one of the best-equipped airports in Asia.
During the Vietnam War that ended in 1975, the Royal Thai Air Force Base at Don Muang was used by the United States Air Force.
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“Most people wanted to come and see the airport and have their photos taken there,” he said. “They were very excited.”
Noted historian Charnvit Kasetsiri has vivid memories of his first trip to Don Muang in 1950. He went to see off classmates who were heading to a football match in Kuala Lumpur.
Have YOUR say |
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‘Sawasdee Suvarnabhumi’, a special section on nationmultimedia.com, has received a stream of comments from readers on the new international airport in the “Your Say, Your Yell” forum. Below are edited versions of some of the remarks. Readers are invited to send in more.
Long Time Farang:
A baggage system that doesn’t work, not enough toilets, not enough seating areas, a taxi queuing area as bad as Don Muang. We had the chance to emulate Changi Airport, but it appears Suvarnabhumi will be an embarrassment to us. Thailand deserves better. It is a shame it will not get it.
California Ray:
Departure tax will rise from Bt500 to Bt700 baht. Surcharge for cabs will be Bt100 over the meter amount plus almost twice the distance to Bangkok as Don Muang (but then again, it is closer to Pattaya!) The US dollar is worth 10 per cent less than earlier this year. Hotel rates are up. My favourite bars close at 1am. Time for me to look elsewhere for a vacation destination!
Balakrishnan:
Hi, I am a frequent traveller to Thailand and often transit through Bangkok to get elsewhere. The existing airport at Don Muang is operating beyond maximum capacity. It was only a matter of time before the old airport had to give way to a new one. However, it’s also a matter of adjustment for the public and passengers alike. I hope public buses plying from various points from the city carry signs in English at public transport centres at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Information on public bus routes and the BTS Skytrain would be useful. Since Thailand is the No 1 travel destination in Asia, I hope inconveniences, especially transport, will be minimised for all of us. Best wishes, Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Ian English, Guernsey, UK:
Congratulations, Thailand, on your new airport. I am due to travel through in November and look forward to seeing it for myself. I must admit I am a little worried about transport links into downtown Bangkok. I hope it does not take the shine off a glorious construction achievement. Anyway, well done, and I hope people try to stay positive about it.
Mew:
What’s an airport if it has no taxi stand? I feel shy as a Thai to tell my overseas friends that our airport has no taxi stand and that we have to travel something like 3 kilometres to catch a cab (from nowhere). This is a big joke.
Pepito:
Some works are still on going and despite this the airport will still open... even with comments of experts that the new airport should be opened at a later time to ensure reliability of all the systems. What is the “hurry” for, if [they are] not 100 per cent certain to operate? What about the staff involved and other organisations, as well as international airlines that are being rushed?
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He recalls the airport terminal as a single-story building, but still more than enough for all passengers and their friends and relatives.
Passengers were each given a floral garland and an airline handbag. But, before they boarded most were swathed in garlands purchased by hoards of well-wishers – in spite of the hefty price tags.
Some of the messages posted on websites remembering Don Muang noted those prices.
“At the time, it was Bt2 for a bowl of noodles and just Bt1.20 for a litre of petrol. But, we were willing to pay nearly Bt100 to buy those garlands.”
Meanwhile, Charnvit remembers the cactus – a popular spot for photographs with passengers. “Everyone took photos with the cactus. I have one,” he said.
In 1965, Don Muang was still a tourist attraction. People wanted to see it, he recalls, adding as many as 100 family and neighbours from his hometown at Ban Pong district in Ratchaburi came to farewell him on a trip to study in the United States.
Some passengers even missed their flights because they were enjoying the airport and too engrossed in recording the event on film.
Today, we have the Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road linking the airport with downtown Bangkok. Overhead is the Uttaraphimuk elevated tollway, offering a more rapid option for getting into the city and connecting with the capital’s expressway network.
These convenient routes to and from Don Muang are much different from 1965, when Charnvit flew to the States.
Phaholyothin was still the only route to the airport. The historian remembers the rain trees along the roadside.
To Charnvit, the Don Muang of those days could be compared with today’s Nakhon Phanom Airport.
But, time passes and the old images of Don Muang Airport have been replaced by the new.
Passengers today may never have known that among the services available in the past was a barber’s shop in the passenger lounge.
The old duty free shop that opened in 1973 was nothing compared to today’s massive retail space.
From an isolated grass airfield in the 1950s, Bangkok International Airport has grown to be one of the world’s busiest airports.
Just last year more than 80 airlines landed at Don Muang and more than 38 million passengers, 160,000 flights and 700,000 tonnes of cargo went through the airport.
The official opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 28 will mark the last chapter at Don Muang.
Suvarnabhumi may be the new pride of Thailand with its great looks and modern technology.
But, the old airport at Don Muang that linked the Kingdom with the globe for nearly a century will never be forgotten.
Subhatra Bhumiprabhas
The Nation
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