Suvarnabhumi Airport will be adding eight body scanners to their immigration security check points in coming months, according to AoT senior executive vice-president and acting president Nirandra Theeranartsin.
Sadly though, not only will these things back-up the already horrendously slow Thai immigration service at Suvarnabhumi but, as frequent exposure to x-rays causes radiation, they could also be a health hazard. Depending on how often you travel, and how often you go through them.
Germany, which is far more advanced than Thailand in both science and education, has already decided body scanners will not be installed in German airports as they are not effective.
They cause false alarms almost 50% of the time, and are not effective in stopping terrorists. Germany also considers them a possible health hazard, particularly for frequent flyers.
In fact, Rafi Sela, an Israeli airport security expert who helped design security at Ben Gurion International Airport, has said: “I don’t know why everybody is running to buy these expensive and useless machines. I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747… That’s why we haven’t put them in our airport.”
Then again, in Thailand it is rarely about security but often about making money for someone with the right connections. It is often the only reason organizations in Thailand ever purchase equipment like this.