First - the name. Suvarnabhumi means "The Golden Land" and it has a Sanskrit base. But as the following site points out - http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Suvarnabhumi.htm, there is an interesting history to it. The region known today as "South-East Asia" (South of China and East of India) - region including Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia has always had a strong influence of Indian culture. One visit to these countries make this very apparent. And this is no coincidence. I was amazed to read that there is a mention of "Swarnadvipa" in Ramayana (that Sughriv sent some of his soldiers to the Yawadvip in search of Sita). Whats Yawadvip - thats where Java comes from; dvip = island, yawa = barley corn. It was even more interesting to read that the Chinese call it the "Kin-Lin" and guess what Kin means; gold.
I'm cosily ensonced in the airport lounge here, but one of the things that really struck me was the sculpture as soon as you get out of immigration departure formalities is a 30m wide, 5.5m high sculpture of the "Churning of the Milk Ocean".. Yes - we are talking about Samudramanthan. Check out some pictures..
Amazing eh? The sculpture was built for $1.1M by Suvarnabhumi master concessionaire King Power (courtesy: http://www.moodiereport.com/Martin/?p=57). Pictures can't capture the grandeur and the beauty of the sculpture. Its one of the most wonderful depiction of Samudramanthan that i've ever come across.
The airport itself is a grand venture - the pride of Bangkok. It was completed and opened for air traffic last September 2006 and it took about $4 Billion to complete. The airport has faced many delays and constantly comes under local scrutiny since it is built on a swamp. There have been complains of cracks in the runways,
inability to handle exteremities. But the vital statistics of the airport are impressive: two parallel runways to cope with simultaneous arrivals and departures (most airports have only one), over 120 parking bays and 5 of them capable of handling the A380 and an ability to accommodate 76 aircraft movements in an hour and 45M passengers annually.
Serirat Prasutanond - the mastermind behind the airport was sacked when the military coup dethroned the PM who took personal interest in completing the airport. Serirat believes Suvarnabhumi could become one of the top 10 airports of the world. Only time will tell!
Bangkok is a lovely place. Lively streets, yummy food (both restaurant and street food), very courteous people and lots of greenery. The green reminds you of Singapore but the street life reminds you of India. Can't get better than that !.. It was hot and humid - a full fledged sauna - but these are not the months to enjoy Bangkok. November apparently is the most pleasant month. The place where we were staying - Sukhumvit, another example of the Sanskrit influence - is a big shopping district and hence 'twas a little more lively here. Pity I couldn't spend much time outside. Definitely one of the places I'd like to come back to.
