PDP11

Typical Thai response to immediately tumble to large infrastructure projects like a third runway when the gap is that BKK was never designed as a transit hub in the first place (it was designed as an origination / destination airport only). Further, the anchor carrier Thai International seems uninterested in being a transit carrier … they focus on bringing people to / from Bangkok and that’s it. Assuming TG wants this to happen (they’ll have to start behaving like Singapore, Cathay, JAL / ANA, KLM, Turkish, Emirates, and other serious transit traffic carriers), the core design inside BKK will have to change. Serious thought on how you efficiently hold and move people gate to gate while separating those originating / terminating in Thailand. Look at transit at, say, Schiphol (AMS) to see this done well. Heck, BKK can’t even manage moving people efficiently from international to domestic. Look at airports like Vancouver (YVR) to see how you do that well … avoiding the delays of requiring a new security screen while simultaneously separating the flow of transit / terminating passengers through separate immigration/ customs flows. I think BKK could get this done if they would just focus on emulating what makes the world’s best transit airports work well (hint: it’s not runway capacity).

I used to have skin cancer screening done at a major university hospital in the USA. I’ve had both basal cell carcinoma and “pre” melanoma. I now need to get this done in Bangkok every six months. Can anyone recommend a good doctor / facility in the area that does this, along with removal and analysis of suspicious moles? I assume Bumrungrad is the default choice but perhaps there are specialists I’m not aware of?

whaleboneman is correct. I fly very frequently through Vancouver. Coming from the US, your baggage checks through. You follow US to Int’l connection signage and scan your passport to get into the International departures area. No additional security either. On return to the US, you follow transit signs and clear USA customs / immigration in Vancouver (and clear security again due to TSA rules). Again, bags check through. If you connect to a domestic Canadian flight, you go through a different transit hall with dedicated Canada immigration / customs separate from the main immigration / customs. MUCH faster. As for security, you bypass it depending on your origination point. Come from the US / UK / EU and you skip it. No idea on Thailand but I would guess Canada doesn’t consider Thailand “high security”. This is all determined by scanning the origination boarding pass. All this said, I live near Vancouver and won’t use this flight on my Thailand trips. I’ve had bad luck with AC on delays / cancellations, this flight (if you originate in Vancouver) carries a hefty price premium, and finally departure is near midnight with an early morning arrival in BKK. OK if you have a home to go to but a PITA if you’re going to a hotel as you can’t check in for many hours. Give me JAL through Narita: reliable, great service, cost effective, and good departure / arrival times. Of course, if you fly to Vancouver from a North American city that doesn’t itself have nonstops to other Asian cities, this makes the trip one connection vs. two.