Suvarnabhumi Named Fifth Best Airport

[asiawatcher]

The airport is a compete abortion in traffic control of pedestrians and for people meeting passengers. Large boards face a street but cannot be read by public, entrances are blocked off, moving walkways between floors are also blocked off to access - it is a total nightmare - so obviously the people doing the survey were blind mutes unable to see or hear, or move without the use of guide dogs to get them through the 'crowds' who all moved aside for them. What a croc of crap this report is.

[whybother]

The airport is a compete abortion in traffic control of pedestrians and for people meeting passengers. Large boards face a street but cannot be read by public, entrances are blocked off, moving walkways between floors are also blocked off to access - it is a total nightmare - so obviously the people doing the survey were blind mutes unable to see or hear, or move without the use of guide dogs to get them through the 'crowds' who all moved aside for them. What a croc of crap this report is.

Agreed. They should have had twice as much space (at least) outside baggage collection.

[RaoulDuke]

I have been to countless airports all over the USA, Europe, and Asia. And I really have no idea why everyone is so hard on BKK. It is at least 10x better than any airport in the USA, and easily on par with many in Europe. Maybe it has some problems which would be noticed to someone who spends a lot of time there, but to the casual traveler, including myself, it is a very acceptable airport with no obvious fallacies. And the rail link is a great addition, since it is easy to get into the city without having to hassle with the taxi mafia there. Even if you need to catch a taxi to/from Makkasan or Phayathai, it is still better than going all the way to the airport. Of course, they still have some bugs to work out, but any new airport needs a few years to get its act together.

[spidermike007]

This means that Swampy is the 5th best airport in the world that handles over 40 million passnegers, correct? Christ on a bike, those from 6th place and below must be pretty awful. I'm sure the reason it reached over 40 million in 2010 was all the people who wanted to leave once the riots began.

One word - restaurants. After you've passed through immigration where are they? I spend half of my life at that place because of work and the immigration cues must be up amongst the top 5 worst in the world. Not to mention the smiley, happy, welcoming faces of the Immigration clerks at the arrivals desks. Behind the USA they have to be the most miserable and least welcoming!

Who votes for these things??

After you have passed through immigration, you just take the escalator back up to the 2nd floor. There are 10 plus restaurants up there. Or, if you prefer 50 baht dishes, go to the food court on the ground level, on the extreme end of the terminal(same end the international flights come in on). That is where all of the Thais, and the air crews eat. Great food, at great Thai prices.

[spidermike007]

Structurally the airport is good, a reasonable assortment of shops etc. Direction signs could be better displayed and too much walking for my liking, but this seems to be common to all airports.

What really lets the place down is the staff, not just immigration, although they seem to set the overall tone, even the duty free shops have surly staff.

It is an international airport, English is the International language, yet no one, including the airport police and immigration speak it.

But that is an issue with Thailand, overall. In general, the country is failing miserably, to keep up with it's neighbors, who either speak good english, or are making huge efforts in that direction. The english being taught in the schools here is dreadful. Even the english teachers cannot pass their own exams. They have no real english skills, and they are teaching. Thailand may be destined to be on the middle rung of ASEAN nations, within 10-20 years. They will almost certainly be ecplised by Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, within the region. Those other countries are trying harder. Thailand is taking it's position for granted, and assuming nothing ever changes. They assume the world cannot live without Thailand. We shall see.

[inquisitive]

I don't know why the newspapers here are so excited about this rating. Perhaps I got my math wrong, but coming in fifth place out of 13 is saying that this airport is in the 62nd percentile. Another way to say the same thing is that nearly half of all the airports in the world that handle this amount of people, no matter how old or antiquated their systems may be, are either equal to or superior to Swampy. For such an expensive and new project I would have to consider the effort a failure.

Of course such an analysis would be missing the point entirely. That view assumes that the reason for building the airport in the first place was to, well, end up with a better airport than we had already. In fact, that was never the reason for building Swampy. The resaon for the new airport (as opposed to extending the old one) was the enormous potential for corruption and graft. The grand plan at one time was actually to cordon off the area as its own special governmental area which woud not pay taxes to Thailand but woud keep them for itself. Sort of its own country within a country. And who do you think was going to keep all that money? Who got the contracts for advertising, parking, duty-free shops, etc., etc.? And remember how critics of the runways that cracked before a single plane had landed were railroaded, lost their jobs, and faced expulsion because they noticed the deficiencies, corruption, graft, nepotism, and such? If the goal was a good and safe airport, those critics should have been thanked, but they weren't, were they? The prime minister of that time himself even got into the act in persecuting those that had the timerity to speak about what was really going on.

So as a modern and great airport it is a failure, but as a means of enriching the politicians and their families it is a great success. And that is what it was designed to do right from the start.

[Nisa]

42 million passengers?

Does that include folks just making connections ?

It does include transfers but what is important is to consider the numbers come from the same criteria of the other dozen or so other airports in the world that handle more than 40 millions passengers.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Nisa

[Nisa]

http://www.aci.aero/...6^41035_725_2__

I. BEST AIRPORTS WORLDWIDE

1) Seoul Incheon (ICN)

2) Singapore (SIN)

3) Hong Kong (HKG)

4) Beijing (PEK)

5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

Asia-Pacific

1) Seoul Incheon (ICN)

2) Singapore (SIN)

3) Hong Kong (HKG)

4) Beijing (PEK)

5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

over 40 million passengers

1) Hong Kong (HKG)

2) Beijing (PEK)

3) Dubai (DXB)

4) Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)

5) Bangkok (BKK)

Interesting to note the best WORLDWIDE and best in ASIA/PAC are identical.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Nisa

[spidermike007]

I have been to countless airports all over the USA, Europe, and Asia. And I really have no idea why everyone is so hard on BKK. It is at least 10x better than any airport in the USA, and easily on par with many in Europe. Maybe it has some problems which would be noticed to someone who spends a lot of time there, but to the casual traveler, including myself, it is a very acceptable airport with no obvious fallacies. And the rail link is a great addition, since it is easy to get into the city without having to hassle with the taxi mafia there. Even if you need to catch a taxi to/from Makkasan or Phayathai, it is still better than going all the way to the airport. Of course, they still have some bugs to work out, but any new airport needs a few years to get its act together.

There are alot of issues with this airport. The primary one is immigration. I have rarely found them to be surly, but they are not particularly friendly. But, how many countries have truly polite immigration officials? It seems to be an endemic problem with that group of people. The restaurants are nothing special, but again, how many airports have great restaurants? The food court downstairs, is the great little treasure of this airport. And the internet issues need to be sorted out. There is no reason they should not offer free wireless. If you go up the the departure level, and catch a taxi there, there are no lines, and no fees. And the taxi drivers are thrilled to deal with you, as they save themselves 4 hours in the airport que, which is ridiculous. But, overall I find this airport to be pleasant. I like it alot. It is aesthetically pleasing, and a pleasant place to spend a few hours. I think the rating of number 5 is obvious hogwash, that was bought and paid for. But, nonetheless, it is an impressive airport for Thailand, and an enormous improvement over Don Muang.

[caf]

Structurally the airport is good, a reasonable assortment of shops etc. Direction signs could be better displayed and too much walking for my liking, but this seems to be common to all airports.

What really lets the place down is the staff, not just immigration, although they seem to set the overall tone, even the duty free shops have surly staff.

It is an international airport, English is the International language, yet no one, including the airport police and immigration speak it.

But that is an issue with Thailand, overall. In general, the country is failing miserably, to keep up with it's neighbors, who either speak good english, or are making huge efforts in that direction. The english being taught in the schools here is dreadful. Even the english teachers cannot pass their own exams. They have no real english skills, and they are teaching. Thailand may be destined to be on the middle rung of ASEAN nations, within 10-20 years. They will almost certainly be ecplised by Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, within the region. Those other countries are trying harder. Thailand is taking it's position for granted, and assuming nothing ever changes. They assume the world cannot live without Thailand. We shall see.

Stating your points about English skills is admirable but there was no need to give so many examples in your own post.

[mdechgan]

1) Seoul Incheon (ICN)

2) Singapore (SIN)

3) Hong Kong (HKG)

4) Beijing (PEK)

5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

These airports are quality airports.

I have been to everyone of them and have been impressed with all.

The swamp isn't that far behind if they could get their act together.

What the swamp needs is a budget or low cost terminal, maybe even a separate domestic terminal.

You just have to separate the budget passengers from the long haul people.

[w11guy]

On the Suvarnabhumi Airport Forum in TV, there are a number of posters who would beg to differ. Long queues at immigration, longer queues going out etc. etc.

The airport itself is great up the immigration queues both in and out are awful. But if you have a Thai wife/girlfriend/friend travelling with you, you can use the Thai passport queue which is always short.

But it's not just the views of foreigners that are taken into account. This is a survey of all passengers, so domestic passengers wouldn't know about the immigration queues.

Also, this is a comparison with all other airports. Most Asian airports I have been to have been 1st class compared to what is available in the UK, Europe and USA. I have queued for much longer at immigration at JFK than most other places. And their immigration staff are the most unfriendly I have come across. If visiting NYC I now use Newark, as it's a much better airport and easier to get into Manhattan.

But the worst immigration queue I've ever been in was leaving Kuala Lumpur. We were in teh queue for over 90 mins and nearly missed our flight as a result. There were lots of people who nearly missed their flights but the immigration guys just didn't care. I will never visit KL again, as the bad airport experience just isn't worth it.

[w11guy]

I find that when visitors come, they haven't been told they are supposed to hate swampy, so they usually say the airport is really nice. I am amazed that expats think poorly of swampy, I guess they have their eyes closed when they are at their homeland airports.

I'm not surprised at all. Most expats on here hate anything to do with Thailand. They come on here every day and just look for soemthing negative to say. Immigration queues are bad, but how can you arrive at swampy and not be impressed. I have been to plenty of airports around the world and I can assure you that most are much worse than this, especially in the US and UK.

Some people (especially jaded thaivisa expats) just hate everything. The survey isn't about them. If they don't like the airport, no-one really cares. Go find a different airport if it's so bad. And go find a different country if you think Thailand's so bad. But they wouldn't do that because they love to stay here so that they can complain all day. LOL. I feel sorry for them.

[PokerFace]

Where does this come from??  Today's Bangkok Post, 19 Feb, has an article on page A2 which states "In the ACI survey, Suvarnabhumi airport falls from 24th place in 2009 to 45th last year in the customer satisfaction category".  Guess it all depends on who owns the paper which is writing the article!!!<br>

[prefabs]

I wonder who actually answered the survey questions. I have been traveling internationally since 1977. I use BKK about 15 times a year, usually to Europe, but also travel to Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai etc.

I have never once been approached by anyone with a "Best Airport Survey". Nor have I ever heard of these organisations except in articles like this.

Maybe I am invisible

[Nisa]

Where does this come from??  Today's Bangkok Post, 19 Feb, has an article on page A2 which states "In the ACI survey, Suvarnabhumi airport falls from 24th place in 2009 to 45th last year in the customer satisfaction category".  Guess it all depends on who owns the paper which is writing the article!!!<br>

http://www.aci.aero/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_banners.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-7-46^41035_725_2__

Double check the BKK story. They 'may" (I didn't look) be talking about another group with a similar acronym that has to do with Asia specifically.

[Nisa]

I wonder who actually answered the survey questions. I have been traveling internationally since 1977. I use BKK about 15 times a year, usually to Europe, but also travel to Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai etc.

I have never once been approached by anyone with a "Best Airport Survey". Nor have I ever heard of these organisations except in articles like this.

Maybe I am invisible

Considering there are 40+ passengers a year just at the BKK and you only go through 15 times a year ... I would put your odds much better at winning the Thai lottery

Keep in mind it appears they surveyed 300k + people in ALL airports total and NOT 300k in BKK.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Nisa

[w11guy]

Who votes for these things??

The ranking was based on a satisfaction survey of 260,000 passengers at those airports.

[Nisa]

Who votes for these things??

The ranking was based on a satisfaction survey of 260,000 passengers at those airports.

The number is not so important but what is important is to keep in mind the total number is representive of all airports with no mention of how many (percentage) of the approx. 300k were taken at an individual airport.

"In 2010, over 300,000 passenger surveys were completed at participating ASQ airports and served as the basis for determining the top 5 performers in each of the categories "

[w11guy]

Structurally the airport is good, a reasonable assortment of shops etc. Direction signs could be better displayed and too much walking for my liking, but this seems to be common to all airports.

What really lets the place down is the staff, not just immigration, although they seem to set the overall tone, even the duty free shops have surly staff.

It is an international airport, English is the International language, yet no one, including the airport police and immigration speak it.

LOL. Most passengers arriving aren't English so why shoudl the staff speak English? The immigration staff I've dealt with have always been able to speak basic englisg. I've never had a poblem communicating with them. You need to get over yourself and stop expecting the rest of the world to speak English. As China grows the use of English is likely to drop. It'sin most people's interest to learn some form of Chinese, not English.

[w11guy]

Even with the pestering touts on leaving, taxis not having close access to the entrance doors, the miserable immigration with its long waits, the terrible vertical access on the land side and the useless clutter of overpriced shops and restaurants on the air side, the worst thing is the huge walks to get to the gates when departing, with virtually no travelators. Whilst walking is generally a good thing, I for one can do without a 500-metre walk to get to my plane, given all the other stresses involved in catching a flight.

Why are there loads of travelators when you arrive, but virtually none when you depart? It couldn't be because that might whizz you past all the shops and restaurants, could it?

LOL. You have legs so use them. Or would you prefer that mummy came and push you around in a pushchair? Unbelievable. If you find flying stressful, then the walk will do you good, as it will help you de-sress. Or maybe you need therapy, Flying is fun? Where is the stress. Taxi to airport, a bite to eat, cup of coffee, get on plane. Sounds pretty straightforward to me. If you don't like your legs than get them cut off and buy a wheelchair.

[w11guy]

The airport is a compete abortion in traffic control of pedestrians and for people meeting passengers. Large boards face a street but cannot be read by public, entrances are blocked off, moving walkways between floors are also blocked off to access - it is a total nightmare - so obviously the people doing the survey were blind mutes unable to see or hear, or move without the use of guide dogs to get them through the 'crowds' who all moved aside for them. What a croc of crap this report is.

I think you have a real problem. I have used this airport 7 times in the last 9 months and didn't find any of the problems you mentioned. Perhaps you are the one who is a blind mute and can't find their way around. It's well signposted and easy to get around. What exactly did you have a problem with? Would you like some help next time? Perhaps you could hire someone to push you around.

[w11guy]

I have been to countless airports all over the USA, Europe, and Asia. And I really have no idea why everyone is so hard on BKK. It is at least 10x better than any airport in the USA, and easily on par with many in Europe. Maybe it has some problems which would be noticed to someone who spends a lot of time there, but to the casual traveler, including myself, it is a very acceptable airport with no obvious fallacies. And the rail link is a great addition, since it is easy to get into the city without having to hassle with the taxi mafia there. Even if you need to catch a taxi to/from Makkasan or Phayathai, it is still better than going all the way to the airport. Of course, they still have some bugs to work out, but any new airport needs a few years to get its act together.

I think you forgot to read the rules before posting. When making any post on here it is a requirement that all comments should be negative. Saying something nice about the airport, about Thailand or about Thai people is just not telerated and you are likely to be banned if you continue to say these nice things.

LOL.

Great post. I wish there were more people like you on here.

[w11guy]

1) Seoul Incheon (ICN)

2) Singapore (SIN)

3) Hong Kong (HKG)

4) Beijing (PEK)

5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

These airports are quality airports.

I have been to everyone of them and have been impressed with all.

The swamp isn't that far behind if they could get their act together.

What the swamp needs is a budget or low cost terminal, maybe even a separate domestic terminal.

You just have to separate the budget passengers from the long haul people.

I have a slightly better solution that I think will work quite well. Separate the whinging thaivisa expats from the other passengers.

[jimbeam1]

I agree, Swampy is a good airport and deserves to be up there. Good food also. Well done

jb1

[Nisa]

Structurally the airport is good, a reasonable assortment of shops etc. Direction signs could be better displayed and too much walking for my liking, but this seems to be common to all airports.

What really lets the place down is the staff, not just immigration, although they seem to set the overall tone, even the duty free shops have surly staff.

It is an international airport, English is the International language, yet no one, including the airport police and immigration speak it.

LOL. Most passengers arriving aren't English so why shoudl the staff speak English? The immigration staff I've dealt with have always been able to speak basic englisg. I've never had a poblem communicating with them. You need to get over yourself and stop expecting the rest of the world to speak English. As China grows the use of English is likely to drop. It'sin most people's interest to learn some form of Chinese, not English.

Actually English is considered not only the internationally accepted language but also the official language for airlines. Every pilot (I believe even non-international) is required to speak and understand English though they certainly are able to communicate in their natural tongue if the staff and/or tower are comfortable with that but the official language is English.

As I have no doubt that business people learning Chinese may have a leg up on others ... the number of those learning Chinese are likely to drop as the number of Chinese continue to rapidly grow who speak English.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Nisa

[w11guy]

Structurally the airport is good, a reasonable assortment of shops etc. Direction signs could be better displayed and too much walking for my liking, but this seems to be common to all airports.

What really lets the place down is the staff, not just immigration, although they seem to set the overall tone, even the duty free shops have surly staff.

It is an international airport, English is the International language, yet no one, including the airport police and immigration speak it.

LOL. Most passengers arriving aren't English so why shoudl the staff speak English? The immigration staff I've dealt with have always been able to speak basic englisg. I've never had a poblem communicating with them. You need to get over yourself and stop expecting the rest of the world to speak English. As China grows the use of English is likely to drop. It'sin most people's interest to learn some form of Chinese, not English.

Actually English is considered not only the internationally accepted language but also the official language for airlines. Every pilot (I believe even non-international) is required to speak and understand English though they certainly are able to communicate in their natural tongue if the staff and/or tower are comfortable with that but the official language is English.

Good point. I didn't realise this, but it makes sense, as you need a single language, in order to avoid any disasters. But I don't think all immigration staff need to speak English, as I'm sure there will be someone available in the event of a real problem. It's more important that they speak the language that most passengers understand. I assume in BKK airport that would be an Asian language. For example, if lots of Chinese were visiting, it wouldn't be very useful if the immigration staff spoke Thai and English. I'm sure that there are a range of languages spoken, so maybe some people on here just got unlucky. But it seems to be a general thing that Englsih speaking people expect the world to adapt to their ways, whether language, culture or whatever.

Edited February 19, 2011 by w11guy

[ginjag]

The airport is a compete abortion in traffic control of pedestrians and for people meeting passengers. Large boards face a street but cannot be read by public, entrances are blocked off, moving walkways between floors are also blocked off to access - it is a total nightmare - so obviously the people doing the survey were blind mutes unable to see or hear, or move without the use of guide dogs to get them through the 'crowds' who all moved aside for them. What a croc of crap this report is.

I think you have a real problem. I have used this airport 7 times in the last 9 months and didn't find any of the problems you mentioned. Perhaps you are the one who is a blind mute and can't find their way around. It's well signposted and easy to get around. What exactly did you have a problem with? Would you like some help next time? Perhaps you could hire someone to push you around.

Well, I,m not a Thai basher, nor a Swampy basher, but what asiawatcher says IS TRUE, if you say-----most out/in doors are not blocked, no taxi mafia operating, no rip off shops,no moving walkways blocked, many seats to sit on, english spoken info . Immigration queues are short, then you are in denial, and by the way do you work for A.O.T. on commision. please don't come back with the usual Karachi Manilla crap----we are talking about this HUB airport and its report/survey. and shizen comments dont do you any favours poster. Asia W....was talking about people who assess. because of the truth about its downfalls how do you and a few more say its first class ???? amazing.. I actually like its position. and some of the planning gone into it-BUT it is miserable for passenger comfort.

Edited February 19, 2011 by ginjag

[jimbeam1]

Structurally the airport is good, a reasonable assortment of shops etc. Direction signs could be better displayed and too much walking for my liking, but this seems to be common to all airports.

What really lets the place down is the staff, not just immigration, although they seem to set the overall tone, even the duty free shops have surly staff.

It is an international airport, English is the International language, yet no one, including the airport police and immigration speak it.

LOL. Most passengers arriving aren't English so why shoudl the staff speak English? The immigration staff I've dealt with have always been able to speak basic englisg. I've never had a poblem communicating with them. You need to get over yourself and stop expecting the rest of the world to speak English. As China grows the use of English is likely to drop. It'sin most people's interest to learn some form of Chinese, not English.

Actually English is considered not only the internationally accepted language but also the official language for airlines. Every pilot (I believe even non-international) is required to speak and understand English though they certainly are able to communicate in their natural tongue if the staff and/or tower are comfortable with that but the official language is English.

As I have no doubt that business people learning Chinese may have a leg up on others ... the number of those learning Chinese are likely to drop as the number of Chinese continue to rapidly grow who speak English.

Yes except in France. Where they refuse to speak any language other than French. Over their own air space,supposedly.

jb1

[ginjag]

1) Seoul Incheon (ICN)

2) Singapore (SIN)

3) Hong Kong (HKG)

4) Beijing (PEK)

5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

These airports are quality airports.

I have been to everyone of them and have been impressed with all.

The swamp isn't that far behind if they could get their act together.

What the swamp needs is a budget or low cost terminal, maybe even a separate domestic terminal.

You just have to separate the budget passengers from the long haul people.

I have a slightly better solution that I think will work quite well. Separate the whinging thaivisa expats from the other passengers.

Hey -thats a brilliant Idea, me and asiawatcher and the other whingers can go to Don muang International, and you carry on with the award winner. Then you can get fit with your walks--and spend all your money being ripped off