Thai agrees to reopen old Bankok airport

The Thai government agreed Tuesday to reopen Bangkok's old Don Muang airport for international and domestic flights amid growing problems at the scandal-ridden new Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The move, which still needs final approval, means that international flights would be divided between the two airports.

"We need to time to make repairs and improvements at Suvarnabhumi airport, because of the many flaws," Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

A government-appointed committee will submit a detailed plan for reopening Don Muang to the Cabinet in two weeks, after which Don Muang could be reopened in 45 days, said Transport Minister Thira Hao-Charoen.

The sleek and modern Suvarnabhumi airport, which opened to great fanfare in September, was built to transform the Thai capital into Southeast Asia's leading air hub. Instead, the facility has become a national embarrassment with widely publicized problems that include cracks on the taxiways, a shortage of toilets, dozens of design flaws and a long list of corruption allegations.

The Transport Ministry said last week it would seek Cabinet approval to reopen Don Muang for some domestic flights, to ease congestion at Suvarnabhumi so repairs could be made.

It was not immediately clear why the government decided Tuesday that some international flights also should move to Don Muang, a move that critics have said would be confusing to tourists and could cause logistical problems of shuttling between the two because of Bangkok's legendary traffic jams.

Don Muang is located north of Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi is east of the capital.