Opinion: Security systems go at Phuket International Airport

PHUKET: Ongoing infrastructure improvements at the newly-expanded Phuket International Airport (HKT) have resulted in some long delays for passengers arriving at peak hours. One area, however, where systems were fully in place at the time of launch is Airport security.

The Phuket Gazette commends Airports of Thailand (AoT) and their subcontractors for their dedicated work to get security staff at the venue up to speed in manning the new full body scanners and related technologies. We hope that other departments can soon follow suit so that it will be ‘all systems are go’ for our peak season for tourism, which starts next month.

In the meantime, we ask that passengers heed official requests for patience while other measures take effect.

Reminding readers of how quickly we take new technology for granted has become a recurring theme in this space in recent years.

Safe and affordable air travel certainly ranks highly among the modern marvels we not only fail to fully appreciate, but are also remarkably quick to complain about.

If all goes according to plan and we travel ten time zones with no unexpected delays, we still tend to give ourselves a mental pat on the back for having endured such a ‘grueling ordeal’.

Of course, not every journey goes as smoothly as we might wish. As we stew in our own juices waiting for our turn to be processed by overworked officials, it is easy to fall prey to the forces of frustration.

At Phuket Airport, in particular, such feelings of dissatisfaction tend to be made even worse by the prospect of having to engage in futile negotiations with greedy taxi drivers for a reasonable fare to one’s final destination.

It is at times like these that travellers might be better served by reflecting on all of the under-appreciated benefits of modern air travel than by fixating so squarely on its shortcomings.

From a broader perspective, even deploying the most state-of-the-art technology at Phuket Airport can only go so far in protecting us from terrorism and other current-day threats.

In the end, these devices can only be as effective as the security personnel who operate them, which is why we, as passengers, should appreciate the training they’ve been given as well as any seemingly special requests they may make of us.