Bangkok's new airport, Suvarnabhumi, is a ghastly step backwards from the dumpy but friendly Don Muang.

The building looks like it was designed by an evil robot; it's a rare example of actively hostile architecture. The long metallic tunnels remind me of the insides of spaceship engines, seating and bathrooms are in short supply, and getting to your gate always seems to require a pointlessly long walk past dozens of unused gates. The airport internet system doesn't work. The signboard typography, oddly for a country with more fonts per capita than anywhere else on earth, is grotesque and amateurish, as if someone laser-printed all signs from the 1988 version of Microsoft Word. The promised Skytrain to the airport is years away, and the last I heard, safety concerns may shut the entire place down for a while.

All in all, a symbolic parting gift to the people of Thailand from disgraced former PM Thaksin. Meanwhile, his family continues to rake in the revenues from all the airport concessions and service contracts.

I'm never so happy to be back in Kuala Lumpur's warmly designed airport, with its beautiful hardwood ceilings and perfectly-functional everything, than after a trip through Suvarnabhumi.