The escape of a German convict from Suvarnabhumi airport has prompted officials to tighten security checks and improve surveillance systems for faster tracking of criminal suspects.
On Friday, Airports of Thailand chairman Sita Divari inspected the re-enactment of the escape of convicted robber Carlo Konstantin Kohl, who was on the loose in Bangkok for two weeks after evading two guards and fleeing from the airport.
Kohl, who was being extradited to Germany, was arrested near the German embassy in Bangkok on Friday.
Kohl, 25, who served a jail term in Australia for a string of robberies, made a stopover at Suvarnabhumi airport on May 15 on his way to Frankfurt. The German criminal spent 30 hours hiding in the airport before he found a way out on May 17. He gave his security escorts the slip after they allowed him to take a shower.
Authorities frustrated at being unable to find him while he was hiding at the airport found out on May 19 he had disconnected the electricity supply to a fire exit alarm before fleeing.
Sqn Ldr Sita blames a flaw in surveillance cameras for causing the delay in tracking down Kohl.
The cameras work separately, so investigators had to search for clues in each camera one by one, he said.
"If the airport had a better system in which data of all cameras is connected, we would probably have caught Kohl while he was hiding in the airport," Sqn Ldr Sita said.
Another major flaw is the finding that some airport staff members use a wad of paper to jam doors at some exits to stop them from closing.
This allowed people to easily walk through without having their identity cards checked by electronic devices.
The revamp of security measures will include better monitoring of more than 900 entrance and exit points at the airport.