Bangkok's Airport Of Smiles In Crisis

[cdnski12]

My airplane from Narita landed @ "Swampy" on Sept 4, 2011. There was a massive thunder storm, c/w enormous lightening bolts and very heavy rain. "Too dangerous to pull into the terminal", said the Pilot. We sat there for 20 minutes, enduring 2 lightening hits very near the airplane. Finally we de-planed into 6" of water and onto a bus, which took us to an access door. The only good thing, was that we didn't have to walk the usual 1.5km hike to Immigration ... which was a pleasant change from previous visits. I squelched my way thru immigration in my soggy sports shoes to meet my Thai Terak in LOS.

[Richmeister]

"riddled with corruption and mismanagement"

Fancy that in Thailand!

[theajarn]

This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how I'm flying in on a new 590 ton Airbus A380 in 45 days.

Per Thai standard and regulation will it take a major disaster at Suvarnabhumi before these issues get addressed?

Who says major disasters get things addressed in Thailand? I believe the word you were searching for is "money".

[theajarn]

This is more serious than I had thought... I better get my family out of here soon, otherwise the only safer alternative would be by boat!

[josephbloggs]

And, just to add, you can get to bangkok a lot quicker from Korat and Saraburi than from that junkyard called Suvarnabhumi, because all the roads leading from there to BKK are also sinking and under constant repair!

What an absolutely ridiculous statement.

[voodoomagicman]

Delete my account. Thank f... I retired at 35 listen to world wisely shit from a country you are not even born in. Expert in own illusions.

[TonyGilbert]

Flew into Swampy from Surat Thani a month ago and managed to get our bags, get from 1st to 4th floor and check in for our flight to CNX in less than 30 minutes. Hard to fault that. Was worried the short turnaround would be a bIg problem.

[Stevenredd]

Once again, before we twist our bloomers into a bundle, remember the days of Heathrow under construction? Oh, wait...that hasn't stopped. And how about SFO? I lived there for 25 years and endured God-knows-how-many changes and rearrangements of areas/terminals/wings. And Paris! Yes, Paris! Where you arrive at Orly--but wait, the only connection to your next destination is actually at DeGaulle....unless you want to fly somewhere nearby and continue by trains....(my recommendation? Train in Europe, short flights there are more trouble than they're worth). As far as "substandard construction"....trust me. If the airlines thought planes would crash on a broken runway, they'd shut down their service.

I sometimes don't understand the media (or this board, for that matter, some days). I would think the point is healthy, well-thought discussion, not endless slinging of mud, mire and woefully inaccurate data. If we want that we can watch Fox News! (American joke). Back to the point: my intention is to try to use discussion boards like this to get at the truth, not further fan the flames of hyperbole and, well, *flaming*.

It's an airport. They are by design and an unfortunate side-effect of human planning, always going to be inadequate. About two minutes after they leave the drawing board for the last time, they've already fallen behind in meeting capacity because some random bit of human behavior has changed. Airports just suck. To paraphrase Douglas Adams:

"In no language spoken anywhere on earth is there a cognate for the phrase 'as lovely as an airport.' "

It's just a fact we all have to live with.

Sadly, some of us more than others.

S.

[rjhklein]

I am not minding the delays so much but last Friday I came back from China and we had to circle around the airport for about an hour. So instead of 2115 hours we arrived 2215, then to the bus and be out at 2245. It still okay, shit happens.

However, what pisses me off is the main flight board in the terminal only indicated that we had a 4 minute delay!! The website just update it hours later.... Very nice if you are waiting for somebody...

[BKS22]

This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how I'm flying in on a new 590 ton Airbus A380 in 45 days.

Per Thai standard and regulation will it take a major disaster at Suvarnabhumi before these issues get addressed?

The weight of an aircraft isn't as important as its pavement loading. The A380 is less than a 777-300ER because of the tire size and number of tires. Surprisingly, the 727-200 had a higher pavement loading than the 777-300ER.

Don't get a woman in high heels to land the heel on your foot..

Interesting .... Appreciate that explanation. Makes sense.

[bangkokheat]

I came through the airport 2 days ago and was pleasantly surprised. I passed through immigration in around 10 minutes and had my baggage in hand around 30 minutes after the plane had touched down. There have been big improvements in the immigration area, so credit where credit's due.

maybe because its low season

[oz93666]

some of the building contractors need to be arrested , but don't worry about overcapacity , as the banksters steal more and more of our money and the world economy continues to crash they'll be plenty of spare capacity.

[Nigel1500]

This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how I'm flying in on a new 590 ton Airbus A380 in 45 days.

Per Thai standard and regulation will it take a major disaster at Suvarnabhumi before these issues get addressed?

... from where?

[rakman]

What is the problem here?

No planes have crash landed

and no planes have crashed on takeoff

tic tic tic tic......

We have ways to make you toc

[moe666]

Its very easy to be negative. However, Bangkok, Ayuttaya, etc, are on a flood plane. So where can you build a new airport? Virtually every factory in this area is built on flood plane/sinking land! I remember when the airport was being built and a huge amount of earth was moved to fill the swamp. As with most Thai projects, the build is done at breakneck speed and no time is made to allow the ground to settle; however sink age will happen anyway. Thus ongoing problems are inevitable. Thailand is not alone in this respect; look at the airport at Osaka, which is built on a man made island, and has also suffered sinking. Whats the answer? Live with the problems and fix them as they arise?

Where can you build a new airport? Hum?

Does Korat ever flood? Is there high ground around Korat? Is there plenty of land available in and around Korat? Land settle - errm about 5 billion years.

Does Saraburi ever flood? Is there high ground around Saraburi? Is there land available in and around Saraburi? Land settle - errm about 5 billion years.

Do we need rocket science to decide where to build an airport?

No! We need uncorrupt Ministers, who own land in none of the areas discussed, and who won't profit from the choice of land for an airport in order to silverline their back ass pockets.

Unfortunately, the Shinawatras owned most of the land where Suvarnabhumi was built, along with their cronies.

There is plenty of land that does not flood, and believe me, none of the Ministers own it, as their dirty hands are in rice and shit fields. Dry land is of no interest to them, as it is not arable land.

So Thailand IS alone in this crooked mess, AND it all stems from the top. Pisses me off no end, and you need a rethink!

And, just to add, you can get to bangkok a lot quicker from Korat and Saraburi than from that junkyard called Suvarnabhumi, because all the roads leading from there to BKK are also sinking and under constant repair!

It's not often, but by Buddha your post made me vehement. You didn't think one iota about other possibilities, but made excuses for Suva being the way it is. Pathetic!

Now, I'll have a beer and chill.

-mel.

Your going to land in Korat how do you propose getting to Bangkok, no thanks I will land at swampy. Despite the moaning and groaning here by the usual crowd swampy has proven to be a ok airport. Yes someday there could be a crash but that happens worldwide at airports that have been around longer. A friends brother-in-law lost his father at Lax when a airliner took the top off of a small plane waiting for take off.

[moe666]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassel. In the end all you can use to measure the airports preformance is your own experience.

which makes all other reporting sheer nonsense???

Yes, you nailed that one

[andyww]

In my previous post I wasn't complaining.

I just meant to point out that the real purpose for swampy was to have a nice looking place where incoming and outgoing tourists would spend their mony. That's why I refered to it before as a shopping mall where customers FLY in and leave by cars.

Any other consideration....such as it's suitability a/nd/or efficency as an airport or even the safety of it's runways was always considered less important than it's revenue generating capacity.

Question: If swampy isn't a big fancy shopping mall with stores selling expensive high-end (and I say overpriced) luxury goods....then why is there that long walk through all those shops on both arrival and departure to and from the departure gates?

It's was, and still is, that "shopping is first priority" attitude that made swampy what it is.

I guess that's called "Capitalisim".

Heathrow terminal 3 is far worse in this respect. They are continually reducing seating to squeeze in more shops, sorry "retail opportunities". Try finding one single seat in the check-in area, I dont think there are any.

I regularly fly LHR to BKK and give me Swampy any time.

[Reasonableman]

In my previous post I wasn't complaining.

I just meant to point out that the real purpose for swampy was to have a nice looking place where incoming and outgoing tourists would spend their mony. That's why I refered to it before as a shopping mall where customers FLY in and leave by cars.

Any other consideration....such as it's suitability a/nd/or efficency as an airport or even the safety of it's runways was always considered less important than it's revenue generating capacity.

Question: If swampy isn't a big fancy shopping mall with stores selling expensive high-end (and I say overpriced) luxury goods....then why is there that long walk through all those shops on both arrival and departure to and from the departure gates?

It's was, and still is, that "shopping is first priority" attitude that made swampy what it is.

I guess that's called "Capitalisim".

Heathrow terminal 3 is far worse in this respect. They are continually reducing seating to squeeze in more shops, sorry "retail opportunities". Try finding one single seat in the check-in area, I dont think there are any.

I regularly fly LHR to BKK and give me Swampy any time.

Your wish is granted, Master.

[nikkoid66]

I have travelled all over the world and Thailand airport is very impressive compared with England, France, or even LA Airport. Saying that it is the worse airport in Asia shows that the writer of this article is not a journalist or he has something personnal against someone working at this airport.

This article is biased and full of wrong statement, like the food is bad, everything fall apart, toilets too small etc... it is not true. Everytime I take this airport everything is working correctly, and I think it is looking very beautiful compared with most airports in the world.

As for waiting at the customs, try to land in Miami and good luck with the wait!

Seriously, this article is wrong in so many points that it is not worth reading, the intent is just to scare people to come in Thailand maybe?

[Thai at Heart]

I have travelled all over the world and Thailand airport is very impressive compared with England, France, or even LA Airport. Saying that it is the worse airport in Asia shows that the writer of this article is not a journalist or he has something personnal against someone working at this airport.

This article is biased and full of wrong statement, like the food is bad, everything fall apart, toilets too small etc... it is not true. Everytime I take this airport everything is working correctly, and I think it is looking very beautiful compared with most airports in the world.

As for waiting at the customs, try to land in Miami and good luck with the wait!

Seriously, this article is wrong in so many points that it is not worth reading, the intent is just to scare people to come in Thailand maybe?

it isn't realistic to compare old airports in developed countries being expanded with all the limits they face in terms if space and regs with a green fields site for brand new development.

You are right, in comparison with other airports in Asia it isn't as good. What a shame, it could have been the best in Asia, but 30 years of messing saw that it wouldn't be the case. Is not bad, but should be a lot better.

[asia3492]

what a sad shame. I hope that they can get the problems sorted. Yingluk has huge experience in large scale project management I'm sure the problems can be fixed

[SantiSuk]

51 million tourists per year ??? 139,700 /day just the 700 is 5 plane loads.

where are they all staying ?

the average plane has about 150 passengers... do the maths

Amazingingly popular Thailand according to TAT.

Probably means 51m takeoffs and landings in total. Take off the number of purely domestic passengers - let;s say 5 to 10 million take-offs and landings. Divide by 4 (ok lets say 3) since most real tourists take a total of 4 take-offs and landings at Swampy in a typical tourist vist. Bingo - more like the real number of actual tourists (some of whom like me come up to 5 times per year).

[Moruya]

My airplane from Narita landed @ "Swampy" on Sept 4, 2011. There was a massive thunder storm, c/w enormous lightening bolts and very heavy rain. "Too dangerous to pull into the terminal", said the Pilot. We sat there for 20 minutes, enduring 2 lightening hits very near the airplane. Finally we de-planed into 6" of water and onto a bus, which took us to an access door. The only good thing, was that we didn't have to walk the usual 1.5km hike to Immigration ... which was a pleasant change from previous visits. I squelched my way thru immigration in my soggy sports shoes to meet my Thai Terak in LOS.

You flew in to see your tee rak. The earth moved, the sky was alight, you woke up wet and panting.

One of the most romantic stories I've heard on here for a while.

May the pleasure of your stay improve tenfold!

[arrowsdawdle]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassle. In the end all you can use to measure the airports performance is your own experience.

Yeah lets see how it impacts you... All the things they say about the airport are true of course but at the end of the day passengers care mostly about the experience. I frequently fly between SFO from San Franciscos relatively new international terminal to BKK. BKK compares favorably: Less wait for luggage, MUCH less wait for immigration, MUCH friendlier immigration officials, better services re food and shopping on departure. In Fact BKK wins over SFO in pretty much any category you choose to look at.

Better than Swampy are Changi, Incheon, maybe HKIA. But all these are internatioal airports that are known to be near the top of the list. BKK is not the best airport in the world - they had the chance to do that, but screwed up thanks to all the problems mentioned in the article, mainly corruption of course. But BKK isn't the worst either.

And its the only airport I have ever arrived on in an international flight where I went from the airplane into a taxi in 15 Minutes. I know its not always that fast but it can be....

How do the duty free extortion for shoplifting scams/ransoms at SFO compare to Swampy?

Don't know the extent of your travel experience but It can be (and has been) that fast from airplane to taxi in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Manila, Rome, Manchester, London, Madrid, Malaga, Lisbon, Rio, Miam, DFW, KL, Penang, HCMC, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Cancun, Mazatlan, Acapulco, Auckland, Sydney, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Ankorage, this is getting boring, Don Muang, and Swampy.

[gerry1011]

Suvarnabhumi is good.

It will be even better when all the cheap flights (and their passengers) move back to Don Muang.

[chooka]

most outdated and worst airport on the planet. Well past it's useby date bulldoze the bloody thing and build a modern up to date user friendly airport

[pauljones]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassle. In the end all you can use to measure the airports performance is your own experience.

Yeah lets see how it impacts you... All the things they say about the airport are true of course but at the end of the day passengers care mostly about the experience. I frequently fly between SFO from San Franciscos relatively new international terminal to BKK. BKK compares favorably: Less wait for luggage, MUCH less wait for immigration, MUCH friendlier immigration officials, better services re food and shopping on departure. In Fact BKK wins over SFO in pretty much any category you choose to look at.

Better than Swampy are Changi, Incheon, maybe HKIA. But all these are internatioal airports that are known to be near the top of the list. BKK is not the best airport in the world - they had the chance to do that, but screwed up thanks to all the problems mentioned in the article, mainly corruption of course. But BKK isn't the worst either.

And its the only airport I have ever arrived on in an international flight where I went from the airplane into a taxi in 15 Minutes. I know its not always that fast but it can be....

How do the duty free extortion for shoplifting scams/ransoms at SFO compare to Swampy?

Don't know the extent of your travel experience but It can be (and has been) that fast from airplane to taxi in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Manila, Rome, Manchester, London, Madrid, Malaga, Lisbon, Rio, Miam, DFW, KL, Penang, HCMC, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Cancun, Mazatlan, Acapulco, Auckland, Sydney, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Ankorage, this is getting boring, Don Muang, and Swampy.

Yea. The Duty Free extortion case where the local police chief(allegedly) was terrorizing & robbing tourists of thousands of dollars on fake shoplifting charges.

What ever happened to him?

-"A British couple paid the equivalent of $11,000 to secure their release five days after being accused of stealing a Givenchy wallet that was never found.

The couple transferred into a bank account 400,000 baht $11,800.

Police Col. Teeradej Panurak, oversaw the case.

-"Danish Embassy Consul Tove Wihlbrot-Andersen says the woman was accused of stealing an item worth about 1,500 baht ($45) after she unknowingly crossed from one shop to another. Her allegations mirror those made by the British couple: She was taken to a police station, contacted by Tony the translator, released on bail and then "taken to a bad hotel in the vicinity for almost a week," until she reportedly paid Tony 250,000 baht ($7,400) — for an offense that normally results in a 3,000 baht ($90) fine, the consul said."

Newspapers have published a steady stream of outraged letters-to-the-editor that note the Thai police force's reputation for taking bribes and to call for arrests in the airport scam.

Edited July 15, 2012 by pauljones

[johnlandy]

Just departed thru the airport a few days ago and no problems leaving, thru immigration in about 15 min.., we where a bit late departing but the airplane arrived late. When I arrived from the Philippines earlier thru immigration in about 20 min no hassel. In the end all you can use to measure the airports preformance is your own experience.

Changi sets the standards (or the benchmark) with immigation and customs on arrival, rarely more that 5 minutes, never more that 10 and 15 minutes your in a cab halfway to the city.

Depatures rarely more that 2-3 minutes.

No buses between gates, Changi is a dream whilst Suvarnabhumi is a nightmare 'pure and simple'

[gkinbkk]

Wish they would just hurry up and complete the repairs. I'm sick of being in the 'new' flight path having jet engines roaring over the house at 1am.....

[softgeorge]

Wish they would just hurry up and complete the repairs. I'm sick of being in the 'new' flight path having jet engines roaring over the house at 1am.....

I wish they would build a passenger friendly airport where you do not have to walk kms to get a connecting flight, with young children it is just way to far for them to walk when they are tired from an international flight. The planning that went into this miserable, pathetic excuse for an international airport is just laughable. How about building a skytrain like Changi so passengers don't have to walk for hours or even a hotel in between lounges so passengers can stop for a rest from walking.

Bulldoze the dam_n thing a build a proper airport this current one is nothing but a stupid big tin shed.

Thailand your so called airport is an absolute disgrace, hang your heads in shame.