Bangkok airport moves 'unlucky' demon statues

The statues at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport will move from the arrivals area to the check-in zone at a cost of around 1.7 million baht (51,000 dollars), said Airports of Thailand (AOT) president Serirat Prasutanond.

"AOT has decided to move the statues to the check-in concourse to give passengers and other people a chance to appreciate the statues' beauty," he said in a statement.

But according to the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper, airport director Niran Thiranartsin admitted the decision had partly resulted from complaints from airport staff.

"The shopkeepers are blaming the 'demon statues' for the problems they have faced at the airport, which was seized late last year by demonstrators and supporters of the People's Alliance of Democracy" (PAD), the paper said.

"The guardian spirit statues will be shifted from the inner zone of the passenger terminal to the check-in area to 'improve morale' of people working at the airport," the report added.