Any decision to close down even part of the new Suvarnabhumi Airport, which cost $3-billion to build, would mean forcing air traffic back into the capital's creaking old hub.

Bannavit Kengrien, deputy permanent secretary of the defense ministry, said a team of investigators had until the end of the month to assess the problem.

"If the investigations find that the cracks are too serious for the runway to be used, we will recommend the closure of Suvarnabhumi for the sake of the passengers," said Bannavit.

Transport Minister Thira Haocharoen said that cracks on one of two runways at Suvarnabhumi may have been caused by problems with design and construction, or possibly poor maintenance.

The military-backed government agreed at its cabinet meeting Tuesday to set up an independent committee to find the cause, he told reporters.

"We will try to seek solutions to fix the problem at Suvarnabhumi permanently, while addressing safety concerns and maximising use of the new airport," Thira said.

"Suvarnabhumi might be partially closed to fix the problems. If it cannot handle normal use, we might have to move back to Don Muang," he added.

Cracks in the 'golden land'

Don Muang, which is decades old, has been used only for charter and military flights since all commercial flights were moved to Suvarnabhumi following its much-heralded opening on September 28.

Thailand had hoped to turn Suvarnabhumi, whose name means "golden land" in Thai, into Southeast Asia's largest aviation hub with a capacity to serve 45 million passengers a year.

But almost four months after opening, the new airport still has lingering problems including inadequate bathrooms and seating areas, complaints of lack of cleanliness, and safety concerns for female flight attendants who have complained of sexual harassment by construction workers at the site.

Reports about cracks in the runways began appearing even before the airport opened.

In 2005, the government of then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra filed a criminal defamation suit against the Bangkok Post newspaper for reporting on cracks large enough "to sink the nose wheel of an aircraft".

The cracks causing concern now are a few centimeters deep and less than a meter wide and are believed to have been caused by the weight of airplanes waiting to take off, according to Thai media.

Somchai Sawasdeepon, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, told AFP that authorities had found two cracks on the east runway of the dual-runway airport, while there were about 23 cracks on taxi-ways.

"The size of the cracks is not so serious and we have tried to lower the use of those cracked area," Somchai said.

"But we have not ignored the problem, and we are trying to fix them as soon as possible," he added.

AFP