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When my wife - who's Taiwanese and needs a visa on arrival - and I entered thru the new airport last month, we had no problems at all.

The desk where you had to get the visa was clearly marked, and under the sign 'Visa on Arrival,' there was an alphabetical list of about 40 countries whose citizens need the visa. All I had to do was rush ahead to go and change money for the 1000 baht visa fee because we hadn't changed at a bank we saw earlier.

I don't see how a visa scam could work without setting up a full-fledged office desk inside the airport. And would you give money for a visa to a guy who just accosted you?

Most visitors - certainly from Western and even many Asian countries - don't need a visa at all anyway.

I only visited Bangkok for the first time in Oct 2005 - and have been back twice since, with another visit planned for New Year's Eve weekend - but the sidewalks really struck me as the city's most surprising negative.

A complete contrast with all the new mass transit systems and the flashy shopping malls. It's like you're in the first world one minute, and when you step outside, it's the third world.

Interesting explanations!

On my way to work here in Taipei I pass a Toyota dealership every day, and I always used to think how boring it is that 5 out of 6 cars on show are silver. At the moment they only have a Camry in another color, dark grey.

But now I know why.

I remember when I left Bangkok in October, there were people who had parked their cars along the access road to the airport and who were just standing by the side eating snacks and looking at the planes.

No observation decks necessary for them.

Had a great time?

Sounds like the story of my stays in Bangkok.

Came here first last year for work for two weeks, liked it so much I brought my wife from Taiwan for a quick two-day break over Christmas.

Just did the same again last weekend.

Rushed thru the new airport late Saturday, visited the Taling Chan floating market and had waterchestnuts and banana kebab there, saw some kind of military parade rehearsal outside the Royal Palace, visited the Vimanmek Mansion, did the Central World shopping mall with my wife, and then ended the day with a bang partying at the Q bar until 1:45 am.

Monday was my wife's day, so I spent most of it at the Emporium before heading back to Taiwan.

My wife is now talking about another two-day raid on Bangkok over New Year's Eve ...

Just returned to Taiwan last night from a 2-day 'raid' on Bangkok, and I must say my impression of the new airport was quite positive.

I must admit that we moved thru very fast, so we never had to use the restrooms, never had to look for a seat in the main departure hall, never had time to look around the shops, and only had carry-on luggage, so those are several aspects of the airport we can't really judge.

For the rest:

1/transportation late Saturday night

-all the talk about a transportation center on this forum confused us a bit; we just went down to the ground floor and looked for a bus to the Thong Lor area. The lady at the bus stop said there were no buses going there, and recommended a cab.

Unfortunately, we got a cab with a meter that didn't work, which we found out just after the cab left (no scam here, the driver really tried hard to get the thing going); he then drove around for a long time taking us back to our point of departure, he obviously wasn't too familiar with the roads there; we then had to wait for another cab, which took quite some time.

-to my surprise, the trip to Thong Lor didn't pass any toll stations; it was already past midnight, so I thought they stopped asking for money after that hour, but no, there were no toll booths along the way anyway.

-the whole taxi trip cost a ridiculously low 167 baht plus 50 baht airport tax, and no toll fees, i.e. taxi was cheaper than bus

2/transportation back to airport, Monday, pm

-we left Thong Lor in a cab at 4 pm: only minor traffic problems around the Thong Lor area, mainly where our driver chose narrow alleys to make his way to the main highway

-again no tolls despite this long stretch of highway straight to the airport; cab fee: 163 baht

-once inside the airport, we immediately found our check-in information, made our way through a crowded terminal to check-in section HJ; surprised at first that you could check in anywhere, and hardly any lines despite crowds;

-after checking in, we had the VAT forms stamped inside the office near the HJ section

-the airport tax was still 500 baht cash, and not 700 baht, as I had expected

-after going in, the VAT return booth was closed, but there was a sign referring us to gate D1 (which was on the way to C5, the gate for our flight); fortunately, the VAT office there was well visible, and there were hardly any people ahead of us.

All in all, I was very favorably impressed.

The place where you take buses and taxis still looks a bit improvised though. You would expect them to set up something like a real transit station, with booths and clear indications of where buses go, etc, but that's only a minor complaint.

Again (see above), we didn't use some of the facilities that provoked most of the complaints, so maybe that colored my view.

The fact that the taxi fare was so low and time spent on the road so short will make me want to stay in the eastern part of town near Thong Lor whenever I visit Bangkok again.

"Free Agent Nation" by Daniel Pink, and before that "Real Success without a Real Job" by Ernie Zelinski. Both books are about the benefits of leaving dreary jobs at dreary companies to strike out on one's own. Might be my New Year's resolution for 2007!

Interesting, fffarang.

I'll be having my first experience with the airport this Saturday night. I'll be arriving on a Thai flight from Taipei at around 11 pm, I hope that will take care of the crowd problem.

We will only be bringing carry-on luggage, so that should also save a lot of trouble.

Around that time, we'll probably miss the bus into town but a cab should do. We're staying in the Thong Lor area (Suk Soi 50-something).

I am more worried about the trip back from the city to the airport on Monday afternoon though. Don't know what the traffic will be like. The airport should be a doozy after that.

Since the 19th I just can't get that song (which is the name of the album) out of my head.

Aja?

hey, thanks Bambina.

Especially the second website is really interesting.

I know India and Bali are the yoga heartland of the world, but is it possible to take long-term yoga classes on a Thai island (any Thai island for that matter)?

What I'm thinking of is spending a couple of months, maybe up to 8 months, practicing yoga on a regular daily basis, while staying in a relatively cheap room nearby - a simple room with airconditioning and bathroom is all I would need.

I live in another Asian country right now, so I have no idea about how prevalent yoga schools are in Thailand.

Any suggestions?

My apologies if this is the wrong section of the forum to be posting this, but studying yoga is also a kind of tourism.

China Airlines is Taiwan's national airline.

I flew them between Taipei and Rome last month. Great service, especially compared to the flights on Alitalia and SN Brussels Airlines that followed.

Good service, lots of free beverages, white wine (my favorite) as a choice with meals, all the regular in-flight entertainment you expect on a long-haul flight between Asia and Europe: several movies to choose from, music channels maybe too Asian and not enough European, but hey, I was quite satisfied.

The airline used to have a stodgy image, being state-owned and all that, and not too mention the crashes they had in the 1990s, but they certainly improved.

I had my doubts before booking this flight, but now I would consider flying again if the price is right.

By the way, the flight Taipei-Rome stopped in Bangkok, picking up Italians returning home.