Tragedy struck at Don Mueang Airport this week when a woman bound for Nakhon Si Thammarat ended up in a Bangkok hospital instead after her leg became caught in a moving walkway at the capital's low-cost carrier hub -- forcing an emergency amputation by rescue workers in full view of a shocked domestic terminal.
While the 57-year-old survived the harrowing ordeal, it remains to be seen whether the airport's reputation will.
The incident is doubly embarrassing because first, it happened at Don Mueang Airport, the main gateway to the rest of the country. Second, the walkway had just been inspected on June 21, thus raising doubts about the quality of the maintenance carried out on the airport's supporting infrastructure.
It is not the first time that accidents have taken place at Don Mueang Airport's walkway or even the escalator.
On June 19, a boy's feet were caught in a slot in the airport escalator, which needed 11 stitches to repair, and on July 30, 2019, a passenger complained of the walkway sucking in his sandal.
Over the past few years, the airport -- which was once known as Southeast Asia's largest airport, before urban sprawl dictated its slow demise -- has been rocked by a string of negative headlines.
In April last year, the roof of the airport's new service hall for tour groups collapsed after a thunderstorm. The incident was all everyone could talk about for a week -- after all, Thailand had just started to re-open its borders and the nation's tourism chiefs had said multiple times that the kingdom is ready to welcome tourists back.
The picture of the collapsed hall's roof went viral on social media, but the fury died down after a scapegoat was found.
AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn blamed overloaded gutters for the collapse, saying the amount of rain which fell on the hall's roof that day "greatly exceeded" the gutter's structural capacity.
Fortunately, no lives were lost in the incidents. Unfortunately, however, these incidents beg the question, how many of us are risking our lives just by stepping on public property every day?
Under the past few governments, Thailand has seen an impressive array of flashy infrastructure appear seemingly out of thin air. Without a doubt, the nation is a pro when it comes to building with lightning speed.
But everyone knows that maintenance is hardly our strong point, as evidenced by the sad state of much public structure and many utilities. They show signs of wear, despite their relatively young age.
While some, like the State Railway of Thailand's older sleeper carriages, are turning into an eyesore, others -- like pavements, public buses and utility cables across Greater Bangkok -- are quickly becoming hazards which warrant actual concern.
How many of these must fail before the government and other stakeholders realise it is time that the nation as a whole takes better care of our public facilities?
Anyone who has played a racquet sport will know that no matter how good a player is, the quality of a match will only be as good as the worst player on court.
Similarly, it doesn't matter how much progress Thailand has made in modernising its infrastructure -- the nation's reputation will ultimately be judged by the worst things that happen to them.
Case in point? Regardless of the excellent job the Department of Rural Roads has done in many of the country's remote areas, the nation's roads will always be better known for being a deathtrap filled with drunk drivers.
And turning this reputation around will take years of effort -- an effort which would be undone by the slightest mishap by a careless individual.
Maintenance is no joke and given the increasingly more complicated nature of the systems we have to work with just to get through the day, it is imperative that everyone take the matter seriously.
This is not to say that shoddy maintenance played a role in the recent incident in Don Mueang Airport; after all, accidents do happen despite our best effort to prevent them. However, strict checks can minimise the risk of the slightest malfunction turning into a major incident.
It is easy to shrug off a missing bolt or opt for a quick service instead of proper repairs, but it is important to note that 520 people aboard JAL123 perished when the Boeing 747 they were travelling in was brought down by a combination of the two.
It is time Thailand takes a stand against this lackadaisical approach towards maintenance. For this mindset to change, authorities must be consistent in enforcing safety standards.
Whether it is a public bus running with its engine cover propped up to prevent overheating, or overflowing gutters above a public concourse, the issue remains the same -- if it poses a threat to public safety, then it must be addressed with the utmost level of care.
