The visionary modernist architect Le Corbusier once said that
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the beauty of an airportis in the splendor of wide open spaces
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(Gordon [2008] 2004, 84). The passengerterminals at the airports in Bangkok and Yangon certainly fit this aesthetic ideal: theirceilings are high, their floors are smooth and their gates are clearly designated withRomanised alphanumerics. Bangkok
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s Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Yan-gon International Airport at Mingaladon constitute symbolic and logistical gateways forThailand and Myanmar (Burma), respectively. The splendour of these airports
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wideopen spaces notwithstanding, these symbols are tied to the terminals
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role as parts of complex machines, within
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a series of interdependent and cross-referenced systems