THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: The Airports of Thailand (AoT) is contemplating the introduction of next generation full-body scanners in wake of the attempt on Christmas Day to blow up a Delta Airlines Airbus A330 on approach to Detroit.

AOT officials admit that security screening at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport may not be strict enough to prevent a similar device being secreted aboard aircraft departing Thailand and are considering investing hundreds of millions of baht to install the new generation detectors.

Already in use at several US airports and being introduced at European airports such as Schiphol in the Netherlands, and Heathrow in the UK, the “virtual strip search” nature of the devices is resulting in concerns over passenger privacy globally.

Suvarnabhumi Airport director Niran Thiranartsin said the subject of the scanners will be raised at a board meeting next Wednesday, though “we’re more concerned about public opinion on privacy than the high costs involved”. At the end of the day we can’t be stingy about security.”

Mr Niran implied that any dramatic increase in security spending at Suvarnabhumi AIrport, such as installing the full-body scanners – which use radio frequency rather than more harmful x-rays, may need to be passed on to travelers through higher passenger service charges.

As part of the AoTs review he said the company that provides 2,000 of the 2,500 security personnel at Suvarnabhumi Airport will install a full-body scanner at the airport on January 25 to test its effectiveness.

Mr Nihan said security had already been increased at the airport following the US incident, with one out of 10 outbound passengers now subject to full screening, up from one out of 15 prior to last Christmas.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for December 7, 2010