So it seems we have a decision, although nobody familiar with the saga, or Thai politics, would dare to suggest that it’s final: Bangkok will continue to have two airports. The old Don Muang airport will continue in operation, and perhaps even be permitted to expand, alongside the new Suvarnabhumi International airport that was built to replace it. Despite the potential confusion this decision seems guaranteed to create, it more and more seems that operating two airports is something that’s going to happen. The fundamental stumbling block seems to be the cost of expanding Suvarnabhumi to serve more passengers, when there’s a "perfectly good" second airport available.

The one glimmer of hope I see in these reports is that there’s at least the realization that if there are going to be two airports serving Bangkok, they have to compete. That means setting up a company separate from the state-owned Airports Authority of Thailand (AOT) to run Don Muang.

For additional information see the stories in the Bangkok Post and Nation newspapers.