Ah bon cela n'a rien à voir?.jpg)
A special security team at Suvarnabhumi airport has arrested 750 unlicensed taxi and limousine drivers and 405 illegal tour guides in the space of just one month, officials say.
The security team, made up of police, airport security guards and land transport officials, began a crackdown on illegal activities at the airport on July 31 after a flood of complaints from tourists. Airport director Niran Thiranartsin yesterday said illegal taxis were initially targetted, but tour guides operating without permission were included from Aug 9.
Despite the huge number of arrests, a Bangkok Post investigative report on Sunday showed many more illegal operators were continuing to plague the airport.
Mr Niran said the situation remained serious despite the initial success of the security team in tackling the problem.
Illegal operators still needed to be targetted and "we have to keep on seriously enforcing the security measures", he said.
Any leniency now would only cause a setback to Airports of Thailand Plc's renewed attempt to clean up the airport by weeding out illegal operators and corrupt officials.
AoT president Serirat Prasutanond said earlier the gangs which ran the illegal operations had indicated to him in a phone call that they would flood back in once the crackdown lost steam.
The maximum fine that could be imposed on the illegal operators was 1,000 baht. Mr Niran said many of those arrested were repeat offenders and it was necessary to produce factual information to increase the penalties against them.
Besides the special security team, assigned to patrol the airport around the clock, a new airport unit has been set up to deal directly with illegal taxis and tour guides and to support the team's work, Mr Niran said.
The airport was also installing 50 more security cameras in the arrivals hall and in front of the passenger area on the second floor, he said.
But one area where it was difficult to conduct surveillance was around the baggage carousel where porters with clearance passes who work for the airlines could approach passengers to help them with their luggage.
Mr Niran said many of the porters were like "outsourced" workers for the gangs and it was difficult to expose them.
The AoT has been forced to tighten its security measures at the trouble-plagued airport as the gangs had almost free rein there for three years.
However, an AoT source said despite tougher measures, including the planned transfer of staff suspected of being involved in the illegal operations, the gangs would not be easily contained.
"These gangs still do their business as usual," he said.
The AoT needed more cooperation from airport staff at the operating level. But many were found to lack morale and appeared uninterested in the problem because it was supposed to be the responsibility of the special security team, he said.
.jpg)
Despite a housing market contraction in the first half of the year, condominiums near BTS and MRT routes continued to sell better than those in other areas, according to a recent survey.
The best condo sales rates were in Lat Phrao and mid-Sukhumvit (between Phra Khanong and Onnuj), near MRT and BTS stations, with average sales rate of 79% and 78% respectively.
The average sales rate in the overall market was 64% - or 46,137 out of 71,581 units offered at 173 active sites in August 2009 - according to the property developer and consultant Aquarius Estate Co Ltd.
"The key success factor for best-selling projects was location within 500 metres' walking distance to BTS and MRT stations," said Yongyutt Chaipromprasith, the company's chief executive.
He said the condominium market in the first quarter was sluggish but improved in the second quarter, highlighting the rising sales volume of grade B properties.
The company classifies condominiums in terms of prices and materials - higher than 120,000 baht per square metre for grade A; 90,000 to 120,000 baht for grade B+; 60,000 to 90,000 baht for grade B; and 30,000 to 60,000 baht for grade C.
In the first eight months of the year, 38 new condominiums were launched with a total of 12,864 units, 5,450 units of which, or 42%, were sold. Average prices in the surveyed zones were 84,500 baht per sq m.
The company surveyed nine zones: Phaya Thai-Ratchathewi, Rama IV-Yaowarat, Ratchadamri, prime Sukhumvit (Chidlom-Ekamai), mid-Sukhumvit, outer Sukhumvit (Onnuj-Udom Suk), Phahon Yothin, Thon Buri and Rama IX.
The average price per square metre rose by 28% from 2007 to 2008, climbing from 57,600 to 74,000 baht. However, the price dropped to 70,000 baht per in the first eight months of 2009 as most of the supply was grade C.
"New condominium development has moved to locations near mass transit," he said. Newly launched projects near transit routes this year accounted for 55% of the market, up from 39% in 2007 and 32% in 2008.
The survey found that many developers were using eased payment terms as a strategy to speed up buyers' decisions. Some developers faced problems like tighter project finance by banks, environmental impact assessments and other regulations related to construction.
Between January and May this year, housing market ratios changed slightly from all of 2008. The proportion of newly registered detached houses rose from 34% to 39% but the condominium ratio declined from 48% to 44%. Townhouses and shophouses were little changed, from 15% to 16% , and duplex houses dropped from 3% to 1%.
.jpg)
.jpg)
