Tourist questions re: arrival at 2:30AM

[fluffernutter09]

Hope this is OK to post here. If not, feel free to redirect me. 

 

Assuming I arrive on time, I'm going to arriving at BKK at 2:30 AM from China. The airports I'm used to are usually fully closed up at that hour, but I'm not sure what to expect at BKK: 

 

1. Will customs be pretty busy then, or no? Trying to get an idea of when I'd actually be out of the airport; unsure if it'll take 30-45 mins vs. 3 hours. Mostly curious b/c of how that timing would then play into the following questions...
    
2. From what I can tell SuperRich is not going to be open at 2:30a. Are there any other good money changers in the airport that might be (google didn't get me anywhere)? If not, I'll need to exchange currency before I go to have on hand for a cab, either in the USA before I head out, or I suppose in the hong kong airport if that's going to give me a better rate of exchange for some reason. 
    
3. Will cabs be readily available that early in the morning? I need to go from BKK to Ayutthaya; are odds good that I can find someone willing to take me that far in the middle of the night? If not, I may need to plan for a pricier pre-booked car service; don't want to be stranded at BKK for a few hours waiting to get to Ayutthaya. 
   
   Bonus question: any idea what I should expect to pay for a cab for this trip from BKK to Ayutthaya, assuming the answer is "yes you'll be able to find someone"? Just want a ballpark understanding so taht I can tell whether someone is scamming me if they'll only take fixed price.
    
4. Will need a SIM for my phone. Will any providers be open at that hour in BKK? If not, am I likely to find a provider in Ayutthaya, or is that more of a Bangkok-only thing, meaning I'll need to expect not to have cell service / data for a while? 

 

Thanks very much! 

Edited September 7, 2018 by fluffernutter09

[Nyezhov]

I can say that if it was me and on a weekday, I'd hit the ATM and get the hell out of dodge with a prepaid car and get your SIM in Ayyuthaya.

 

Why the hell so late? My kid comes in from Shanghai at reasonable hours.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Assuming you're talking about Swampy (Suwannaphum) and not DMK (although DMK is a lot closer to your destination):

 

1. It's a lottery whether Immigration will be busy or not, depending among other factors on arrivals, mainly from China, many of which tend to be night flights, number of IOs on duty etc. Assume an hour to one-and-a-half hours, and hope to be pleasantly surprised. Baggage pick up and Customs is a breeze by comparison.

2. You won't find any good exchange rate kiosks open at that time. Best change what you think you'll need to get to Ayutthaya and buy SIM/phone package at any of the regular bank kiosks on exit from Customs (all have the same ripoff airport rate but on small amounts it makes very little difference), and do the rest next day at a bank in Ayutthaya.

3. There will be an official airport taxi rank, for which you prepay a booking fee of 50B last I heard, outside Arrivals. They are supposed to use the meter, but may balk at a trip to Ayutthaya. How good are your negotiation skills? 

If you're a cheap Charlie like me, walk up to Departures level and grab a cab that's just dropped a departing passenger. They can be both cheaper and more amenable, but again, you may have to be patient in finding one who'll go to Ayutthaya without a pre-negotiated fare.

4. SIMs can be bought at provider kiosks on exit from Customs. If they are closed at that time in the morning, any 7/11 or Family Mart convenience store in the airport (at Departure level there is one, probably more elsewhere) will sell you a SIM, with as much load as you want. You'll need your passport to buy. If you can wait till Ayutthaya, they are freely available in the same stores there and all over Thailand too, but again, take your passport to buy/register the number.

[KhunBENQ]

14 hours ago, fluffernutter09 said:

any idea what I should expect to pay for a cab for this trip from BKK to Ayutthaya

That's about 100 km (less than to Pattaya).

A rough guess is 10 Baht/km.

You should come out around 1000 to 1200 Baht.

 

Seven flights arriving from 2 to 3 AM.

All from China.

Hard to guess how many immigration counters are open.

With the new "China passport" counters you might be lucky that "others" have a short queue (except you are Chinese ).

And consider yourself happy with 2:40 AM.

There is an awful lot more flights arriving from midnight to 2 AM. Let's hope that the backlog has eased. I would expect no problem to get a taxi.

 

It's interesting to see still how many flights arrive all night. In 2007 due to some "technical problem" we landed from Copenhagen at 3:30 AM and there TWO planes at the gates. One "fuel stop" from Australia and ours.

Big hello and astonished faces when we marched to immigration. Cleaners asking where you come from?

Edited September 8, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[Argus Tuft]

6 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

It's interesting to see still how many flights arrive all night. In 2007 due to some "technical problem" we landed from Copenhagen at 3:30 AM and there TWO planes at the gates. One "fuel stop" from Australia and ours.

I had to stay overnight at a hotel overlooking Phuket Airport a couple of months back
Was astounded by the amount of movements from China between midnight and 4 am
(Was watching FlightRadar24 out if interest to see what airlines and origins

[fluffernutter09]

This very very helpful, thanks to you all! 

Not our preference to come in this late, but our flight from the US connects through Hong Kong and this is what we ended up with. At least we know we won't be alone per KhunBENQ! (Fingers crossed to avoiding confused cleaners haha)

Sounds like we can feel relatively confident in finding a cab between the official queue or the departures area, even if we'll need to negotiate a bit / not be surprised by a fixed rate fare. That makes me feel much better. We'll plan to hit an ATM (no fees from our bank) in the airport since it sounds like they're around, and just deal with changing our required-on-entry-USD later in Ayutthaya. (Or not, and keep using ATM's, and just stash the USD for emergencies/redeposit when we're home...). And since it sounds like SIM's can be found at lots of 7-11's and won't be an issue in Ayutthaya, I'll just plan to pick one up there and not stress about it if we don't see an open option in the airport, or just buy a super basic one that we top up later. 

You all have seriously put my anxiety to rest; I was worried the airport would be dead and it'd be a huge hassle arriving this late. Thanks VERY much!!