Suvarnabhumi Airport: A Bad Experience For Travellers

[Jimbo53]

This is a nonsense!

The Airport has only been opened since September 2009! apart from the few hiccups regarding the runway surface,the extremes of going through the security and immigration,(which no doubt the authorities have either looked at BS bulletins from the US Airport authority or others) ,the restrictions on the DF amounts that can be brought into Thailand,previously(Up until 2009,you could bring in allsorts) now its a Litre max) THe staff dont understand the rules! flying to Singapore....They will tell you you can only take 1 Ltr Spirits....when in fact....you are also allowed 1 Ltr of Wine and Beer! ! !and the Taxi Tossers i have not encountered any problems!

Heathrow...Your feet stick to the stinking carpet at the immigration counters at the arrivals! unreal!

Regards your mans post regarding Seoul Airport!.......... unless its had a major revamp in 6 years! when i was last there,(Staff at food oulets couldnt speak a word of English) In an International Airport)!!!! There was absolutely nothing special about it!

Without a doubt the top airport that i have been to in the world is HK...followed by Changi in Singapore...although taxi queues in Changi are now getting out of hand on arrival!!!

Thats how Airports should be run!

Try going to Oz! and see how well you fare! especially Perth! where theres a little lady after outbound immigration,asking you if you have any duty free on you!!!! <deleted> with that???

Having lived there for 30 years...Its a P. OFF !!!!

Premier Lounge in Qatar Airways Doha...Load of BS...Not a premium Scotch to be seen!

(As of DEC 2009). But a great airline that will improve,great in flight service,matched by bad land side.

Best Biz Class Lounges ......Virgin Captains Club at LHR!....SIA@ Changi...TG @ BKK.

Give me Suvarnabhumi any day!!!

(Where else in the world can you buy a bottle of Heineken at an International airport for Bht40. Approx ...AUD$1.30 /USD$1,30...GBP 80Pp

Forget about the Euro! the results of that are being seen far and wide!

Have a nice day!

I did forget to mention...That the beer can be bought out of the 711 inside the airport after you go outside of the arrivals gate!!

[Jimbo53]

... what part of TRANSIT PASSENGERS in my post do you not understand?

did I miss quote you?

No you did not , but it is a high profile member ,and maybe hit the bottle early today

I must be missing something here! High Profile member and hitting the bottle early!!! What has this got to do with the subject? Whom has hit the bottle early may i ask???

[nithisa78]

The airport is still in a state of unfoldment. However, during my many experiences, arriving at the airport has been slightly easier than departing. That maybe due to the fact of not being a tight wad when it comes to their airport personal and the International norm of a decent gratuity [tip] . It is always interesting how so much emphasis is placed on the negative. If 10% of the inbound to beautiful Thailand [especially Isan] . Had to deal with anything near the difficulty of economic quality of survival, that most Thai do. Then we would really be hearing from a bunch of cry babies and malcontents.

[softgeorge]

I have been in and out stacks of times and have had no trouble. The wait at passport differs depending on how many aircraft land at the same time but It never worried me . Go upstairs and get a taxi to the city or where ever not down where you have to pay extra to book.

Get place Bangkok if you use your nogging! I live in Bangna Bkk.

Agreed. All this thinking just cuts into most people's drinking time doesn't it? Why don't airplanes just start taxiing right up to bars/pubs?

Can they do that? Wow that would be great

[Sabrinus]

The airport is still in a state of unfoldment. However, during my many experiences, arriving at the airport has been slightly easier than departing. That maybe due to the fact of not being a tight wad when it comes to their airport personal and the International norm of a decent gratuity [tip] . It is always interesting how so much emphasis is placed on the negative. If 10% of the inbound to beautiful Thailand [especially Isan] . Had to deal with anything near the difficulty of economic quality of survival, that most Thai do. Then we would really be hearing from a bunch of cry babies and malcontents.

Yes, and compared to the misery of landing on 'Devils Island' (UKs relationship with Europe) at LHR, knowing that all your money will go just on heating, and eletric, maybe food if you can save a few pennies.....and if you are lucky you might be able to find that 3rd or 4th Job, then to save some money that no-body steals to be able to fly back to the land of plenty, well free.... Thailand and see all those happy people.....

Yes we have it really easy here my friend, and they still put gold on the pavements. :jap:

Edited March 2, 2011 by Sabrinus

[softgeorge]

My complaints are:

1. Departure immigration queues are often long. A little over a month ago there wasn't just one queue for all desks, but a queue for each desk, so it was unfair for people waiting at desks that only had one officer as opposed to two at other desks. I have a friend who worked at the airport who says that many people miss their flights whilst waiting in the queue at immigration. There needs to be a better system, starting at least with having only one queue for all desks and having more officers.

2. I have had items stolen from my luggage on arrival.

I don't understand why some of you whine about people not smiling. I don't care about unfriendliness as it's unimportant - I'm not there to make new friends. It would even be fine if instead there was a computer that could process passports faster (e.g. like e-check in, which I often do - the computer spits out a valid boarding pass). I just want things to be done properly without much hassle or delay, as I don't want to miss the flight that I paid for. I'd be more bothered by immigration officers who are smiling and chatting with others as it means that they are not doing their job at 100% efficiency, which can cause delays in processing.

Yep your right I have missed 2 connecting flights in the last eight months because of the long queues and had to wait until next morning for a flight. I fly from Chiangmai - BKK-Melbourne every month. Always thought that 3 hours would be sufficient time to get a connecting flight and boy was I ever so wrong. I now allow 12 hours and I need it just to be sure.

[surangw]

I must say i hate the long, long walk from plane to pick up my bags - what genius thought of that one? and signage is terrible

Yes, it felt like a kilometer from the plane to Immigration when I arrived last month, seriously.

Easily! Especially if you arrive on one of the "poorer" airlines who can only afford the far-away terminals/bus doors...

still a long walk from tg flights from hkt last time we had to walk it.

[nithisa78]

I'd have to say this airport was both my first and worst impression of Bangkok. Made me want to leave Thailand asap.

Sandwich had mold on it and i was charged 1200B for a taxi to Victoria monument (I didn't know about airport link/bts :S )

IMHO, main problem is that there seems to be no information desk for transport. Phuket and Chiang mai (and every other airport in the word) have a help desk near the exit, where you can ask how to get where you are going. Although, maybe there is an information desk, who would know, its a f***n maze with no signs...

???How are we supposed to know the airport link exists???

Suvarnabhumi Airport:

Construction 5 stars

Service 0 Stars

There is no doubt about your food or anything else. If we speak polite. Something positive would be done. Was in Ubon with a friend of mine. Very high ranking, International / Isan Monk. Needed tires for our car. We negotiated for fifteen minutes. I was not that polite and before I could say anything, car was on the lift. Without my agree on price. When I got the invoice back. Was charged less that what I was bargaining for and felt embarrassed for my behavior up until then. Though, when I saw the diamonds the owner was sporting felt a little less embarrassed.

Edited March 2, 2011 by nithisa78

[DumFarang]

I have been in and out stacks of times and have had no trouble. The wait at passport differs depending on how many aircraft land at the same time but It never worried me . Go upstairs and get a taxi to the city or where ever not down where you have to pay extra to book.

Get place Bangkok if you use your nogging! I live in Bangna Bkk.

Agreed. All this thinking just cuts into most people's drinking time doesn't it? Why don't airplanes just start taxiing right up to bars/pubs?

Can they do that? Wow that would be great

I wish. It would be great. At this time I can't think of the tip that a tight little Asian waitress would get for bringing me my beer and my stamped, customs cleared passport, but it would be substantial!

[nithisa78]

Every now and again . . . all of us could take out a little more time to "Thank God For Life".

[bitterbatter]

I never had any problems, but I don't fly to much anyway so I really don't care.

[Baa_Mango]

I think somethings are easier to get upset about than others. For example.. coming off a 10 hour flight the first bathroom has 2 stalls and 3 urinals.. ? I just don't get it.. Just mediocre planning.. I think its built okay enough and does look .. really big ( ahh Incheon, looks amazing but come on its Korea, unfair to compare) Another thing that SHOULD be unacceptable is the taxi stuff, and even worse in my opinion those hyenas who jump on you while your still in the airport and just come out from luggage pick up.. trying to hustle hotels or tours (are they TOT people?).. these things should be easy to fix.. of course should being the key word. Usually i hit the ol' taxi on departure level trick and have no problems but people who are tourists or coming for their first time are fish in a barrel for everyone. Ha at least Don Mueang was cozy. COULD be worse though!!!

[bonobo]

Postsoftgeorge, on 2011-03-02 08:40:46, said:

Definately the worst airport in the world

I travel to manila every month, now that old airport REALLY is worse than good old swampy, paint peeling off, business lounge not much larger than a telephone kiosk, even more scam taxi drivers, no decent food outlets at all.

BTW, just where does one pay to get the buggy ride to immigration; thought these were only for old and infirm, which I am not

The Thai business lounge has better food than the Thai airways lounge in BKK, though. The place is a dump, but no long walks, either.

[MarkyM3]

Things that could be improved imo

- Queues at immigration. Last 3 arrivals from LHR have seen me queueing for up to an hour in a stuffy arrivals hall, not good after 11+ hours flying. Hopefully the staffing issue will be addressed soon (seems to be case judging by recent reports in the Bangkok Post) because a number of the booths just stand empty. Outbound queues seem to be a big issue as well although I haven't found them an issue. Although when at airport last Thursday the queues at the far end were well out onto the concourse, thus headed for other immigration point where things were still busy but got through in reasonable time. And with a smile from the immigration officer - a first!

- Food/drink pricing is excessive. I expect to pay £4 for a beer at LHR as London is a pricey city. But that buys me a decent pint of Staropramen. A pint of gassy Heineken costs more at Swampy. No possibilities for free wi-fi for customers in the bar/cafes as far as I could see (was told it was available where I was supping my Heineken but would have to pay).

- Duty Free is sewn up by King Power i.e. no Marlboro or L&M (the "supply shortage" has been going on for a long time LOL), other items I was looking at seem to cost more there than at LHR e.g. Grey Goose vodka.

But overall I find the airport more than OK. It has a clean, spacious feel with well maintained outside areas, something you could hardly say about LHR T3. Toilets are fine and seem to be in reasonable shape whenever I have used them.

Sorting the queues out is the main step they need to take.

Edited March 2, 2011 by MarkyM3

[remiss]

Every now and again . . . all of us could take out a little more time to "Thank God For Life".

Indeed. And I most certainly wouldn't complain if I was landing at swampy tomorrow...

[chooch7]

I'd have to say this airport was both my first and worst impression of Bangkok. Made me want to leave Thailand asap.

Sandwich had mold on it and i was charged 1200B for a taxi to Victoria monument (I didnt know about airport link/bts :S )

IMHO, main problem is that there seems to be no information desk for transport. Phuket and Chiang mai (and every other airport in the word) have a help desk near the exit, where you can ask how to get where you are going. Although, maybe there is an information desk, who would know, its a f***n maze with no signs...

???How are we supposed to know the airport link exists???

Suvarnabhumi Airport:

Construction 5 stars

Service 0 Stars

1200 could have got you to papaya!

[oldsailor35]

Definately the worst airport in the world

I've been through alot worse Heathrow for example

True but how old is Heathrow ? Paris CDG is also a nightmare but those airports are old ...

You cannot compare 'apples' with 'oranges' those other airports are very old and no doubt were good in their time. But The Swamp ! well its one of the worlds newest and probably one of the worst due to utterly BAD managemrnt and the swift introduction of the worst of Thai habits............Ripping off and laziness.

[oldsailor35]

It's one of the better airports. Of course, minor problems will always happen. Somehow most people in this forum only want to critizise anything here in Thailand. Why do you come here?

What a stupid arrogant, unintelligent remark. What in the world has a reason for coming here got to do with the airport being so badly administered ?

[oldsailor35]

It's one of the better airports. Of course, minor problems will always happen. Somehow most people in this forum only want to critizise anything here in Thailand. Why do you come here?

Are you the kind of farang who cannot accept any critics on Thailand ? Did you become more Thai than Thais ? some are here to work , to spend retirement , to enjoy life .. Any critics are good to take and we learn by making mistakes. why you come here if you dont like to see critics ?

No mate , his remarks probably reflect the standards of the place he comes from and he knows no better !

[oldsailor35]

Yes, it has its faults, but Swampy is OK by me, especially since I found the basement food area .

Immigration lines in are understandably slow, but I have experienced worse. Outgoing clearance should be a lot faster as they do not even need to talk to you.

The comparisons on here are often not valid as one needs to compare the traffic volume of each before a general comparison can be made.

In my opinion Swampy is neither the worst or the best, it just is what it is.

We all have our favourites; mine is Brisbane, but it has nowhere near the traffic of other places. :jap:

Yes Brisbane International is a nice easy going clean attractive place. But my favourite is the small but beautiful Samui airport which incidentially is privately owned although boy! do you pay for it. And there is complimentary refreshments for all passengers. :jap:

[oldsailor35]

At the end of the day, i am here to enjoy myself and relax, so personally, i just take it all with a 'pinch of salt' and take it all in, if i find something i don't like i just avoid it the next time if possible. If i can't then its a case of 'so be it' but i am safely here at last. I guess the management have the same attitude and are not going to 'rock the boat' after all they probably did'nt get where they are by being super efficient, rather by just knowing the right persons, so nothing is going to change Mai Pen Lai

[yordyiam]

I found this too much Too!! Last time I was in Swampy you had to buy a 500 baht token for the upstairs restaurant.

I can remember parting with 180 baht just for 1 small bottle of Singha! only wish I'd known about any other places.

[Siam Simon]

My main issue has always been the poor mapping. I've got used to the airport layout now, but it's a difficult and confusing airport for newbies to navigate. The elevators that only go to certain floors are a strange one indeed.

[bifftastic]

meh!

it's an airport, things are over-priced and a bit rubbish at airports. Taxis over-charge you (try a black cab from Heathrow to central London) it's a long way to walk from the 'plane to anywhere, 'planes are big, there's lots of them there, it's an airport.

I thought it was ok,nice space when you walk in there. After a couple of hours any public transport building is boring and you want to get out of there. It's also reasonable to expect that anyone who wants to rip off a tourist will hang out where they arrive. (yes, I've got a suitcase which I'm perfectly capable of carrying myself, yes, I'm a visitor, yes, I will need some form of local transport, no thank you, I'm not an idiot).

I've only been there a few times, (I think about 9?) but found my way around reasonably well, asked some questions about where everything was and got given good answers, found where I was meant to be and got on my 'plane.

The shops, well personally, I go to the airport to catch a plane, not really interested in much else. Shopping malls, now they're pretty good for shopping, terrible places to catch planes!

Immigration, governments do that stuff, they always seem to try and make it a hassle one way or another, although, having said that, I've always got through fairly quickly.

Wi-Fi, now that is a good point, would be easy to provide.

[bifftastic]

My main issue has always been the poor mapping. I've got used to the airport layout now, but it's a difficult and confusing airport for newbies to navigate. The elevators that only go to certain floors are a strange one indeed.

yes indeed, that is a bit odd!

[selftaopath]

Definately the worst airport in the world

All foreigners with money to be relieved of:

Welcome to Land of Scams (LOS).

[JuanCF]

I don't really have a problem with SVB except for the inconvenience in getting the free WiFi; the login & password are like getting into Thaksin's Swiss bank accounts. Prices at airports all over the world are the same - pricey for food or shopping. Immigration queues are the same too , be it in the US or Singapore if you land at peak periods you will have to wait. As for distance between airbridge and immigration, try Brussels airport and then you will sing praises for SVB.

[blix99]

Definately the worst airport in the world

I guess you've never been to MNL.

[Kilgore Trout]

It's one of the better airports. Of course, minor problems will always happen. Somehow most people in this forum only want to critizise anything here in Thailand. Why do you come here?

There will always be foreigners complaining in Thailand about Thailand; TIT If you don't like it you can leave.

I hope this is a spoof - if you seriously mean this then you are a complete fool.

BTW - I hope you realise that when leaving Thailand chances are you'll have to leave via the airport.

Seems to be some peoples answer to everything, so I thought I'd try it out

But apparently the absurdity of it is lost on some, someone complains about complainers in Thailand with the notion "if you don't like it then leave" so I am merely saying complainers complain here, if you don't like that you can leave....when is someone going to tell me that complainers complain about complainers complaining.....maybe we should all just leave

[nicksal37]

I was there last Saturday afternoon and I had to queue for two hours at immigration.That has to be the longest ever I have had to queue anywhere in the world.I have travelled to most countries.