Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport Ready For High Tourist Season

[rubl]

The new Thai Permanent Secretary for Transport Wichean Potephosree told reporters that the International Airport is expected to cater up to 23 million tourists during the five-month high tourism season, or 150,000 foreign visitors daily on average via some 800 flights a day.

The TAT said 15 million tourists in the first nine months, expectation 20m this year, Immigration confirmed 30m movements in/out. Now we have 23m tourists in FIVE months? Probably the recent cabinet reshuffle had a positive effect ?

[Beng]

Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport Ready For High Tourist Season

Now, only need to find high tourists.

That's what they're aiming at. High end tourists, staying at high end hotels, eating at high end restaurants and getting ripped off while joining one of those high end excusions.

[Thai at Heart]

If you've ever been to LA airport, all the moans about BKK would be silenced. There may be no corruption there but the queues are endless; the Immigration officers are very rude; the system a disgrace to a 'civilised' country.

I walk quickly from the plane at BKK and the most time I have ever waited is under 20 minutes in seven years of travelling to Thailand. Compare this to LA where it took my wife & I two hours of being bullied; having to collect our luggage for extra security check despite flying on to Vegas. This caused a missed connection resulting in an unscheduled extra night in a hotel.

It's my last visit to USA, particularly when you throw in the difficulty of obtaining a visa through an incompetent on-line system that necessitates a night in a hotel in BKK because the only appointments are only for early morning.

I'm American, born in Los Angeles, and find LAX International appalling. I guess maybe because I've traveled quite a bit internationally and think we could do a hell of a lot better. One to two hour waits in line are common. Then it's a free-for-all in the baggage claim area and getting out the door through another round of checks. Just an awful way to greet visitors coming to this "great land" for the first time. My 2 cents.

Let's hope they build a brand spanking new lax then. Just hope they don't copy svb.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Let's hope they build a brand spanking new lax then. Just hope they don't copy svb.

I have done nothing worth copying

SVB

[Tanaka]

I would live to know where all these tourists are coming fron is Thailand not aware of a world wide recession !!!!!!!!!!!!

China, Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan, Russia. Strictly high-class.

[Geratul]

I always laugh about the reactions here. Especially those who likes to compare. Oh in LAX I wait more then 2 hours and I wait there more then 2,5 hours etc etc. May I remind you that I'm not waiting for this information? I prefer reactions to the subject itself and that is that the officials in

Thailand says that "Thailand's Swampy is ready for High Tourist Season...".

Well to be honest and looking to myself I can conclude NOT at all. It's still terrible, especially when I come from a international flight when hundreds of people get intothe queue. Last week I wait for more then 1 hour from my flight from Paris. Some counters still closed and the officers always like to talk with each other instead of looking to a passport.

So when the Thai officials say that they are ready I really want to ask them how they come to this conclusion. Do they fligh only domestic? so they can skip the immigration counter? My goodness, it's still lousy and especially when many "big" flight arriving. That you sometimes need to wait longer I can understand, but at least open then the closed counters with extra staff and let them work instead of talking with colleagues. No Swampy, you're not ready at all. Go to visit Kuala Lumpur, you can learn lots

[FarangTalk]

No Swampy, you're not ready at all. Go to visit Kuala Lumpur, you can learn lots

I had a 2+ hour wait on arrival at immigration at the budget airport in KL. Longest I have ever had to wait anywhere. Next longest was leaving Suvarnabhumi at 1 hour 15 minutes. Fights were almost breaking out in the queue as patience was being tested to the limits.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

[BarryM]

My TG platinum means Thai Air give me a girl, or sometimes an effeminate Thai boy, to carry my passport to immigration on departure, before putting me on a buggy to the lounge. Seldom more than 5 minutes from check in to first drink.

Arriving rarely longer than 10 minutes.

That said, for me it's always a pleasure to depart Thailand, never arrive. Swampy with is general superficiality, myriad corruption, accepted scams and the warmth of "welcome" from the immigration staff is merely a snapshot of the country as a whole.

Arriving in KL with the MM2H and being greeted with a smile and "welcome home" is a breath of fresh air in contrast to Thailand.

[khaowong1]

Every year they say they are ready for the High Tourist Season, and every year they have problems out the wazoo.

[SeaVisionBurma]

My TG platinum means Thai Air give me a girl, or sometimes an effeminate Thai boy, to carry my passport to immigration on departure, before putting me on a buggy to the lounge. Seldom more than 5 minutes from check in to first drink.

I feel very underprivileged...

[salty]

I was there 2 weeks ago - waited over 1 hour at immigration :-(

The queue was longer than the "snake" and hence chaos just to join the queue!

Despite it being peak time only half the immigration desk were open.

Of course the few Thai Passport desk were all fully manned with no passengers waiting - couldn't they use these trained staff to assist in processing foreign passports?

But that would mean having to think and use common sense.

[Ricardo]

So which dates will they schedule, for runway-subsidence or crack-repair, this high-season ?

[RogueLeader]

My TG platinum means Thai Air give me a girl, or sometimes an effeminate Thai boy, to carry my passport to immigration on departure, before putting me on a buggy to the lounge. Seldom more than 5 minutes from check in to first drink.

I don't understand. Are you incapable of walking?

[SeaVisionBurma]

My TG platinum means Thai Air give me a girl, or sometimes an effeminate Thai boy, to carry my passport to immigration on departure, before putting me on a buggy to the lounge. Seldom more than 5 minutes from check in to first drink.

I don't understand. Are you incapable of walking?

Just showing off I think....

[RogueLeader]

This reminds me (slightly OT, but I hope you'll forgive me this once) of the time I flew with THAI from Kolkata to BKK. Kolkata airport is (like many of the older Indian airports) a sprawling mess of squat toilets, discoloured paintwork and worn departure lounge furniture surrounded by a clever hybrid of a swamp, a building site and a car-park.

I got a room in a mosquito-blown guest house near the airport, as I wanted to get there early for a 9am flight. It was a good thing I did. There was a very large Thai extended family in front of us, each of whom had a carry-on bag larger than my hold bag and a hold bag bigger than those carried by the Indian passengers in the queue. As anyone who's ever been to India or flown on an Indian airline will attest, that's quite a feat - Indian Airlines used to have a 70kg baggage allowance, which virtually guaranteed that Indians and NRIs would book them almost automatically whenever they flew.

It turned out that the Thai party had a few cases over their limit and were liable for an excess baggage charge, so they all opened up their cases and tried to redistribute the load to avoid the charges. For three hours, we stood behind them waiting for them to check in. Most of them looked bored, but there was one woman who I'll never forget who held all the travel documents in a clear ziploc bag and seemed to become more delighted as the passengers behind her became more frustrated. At the three hour mark, when it was obvious that some of us would miss our flights if something wasn't done, Royal Thai Airways (who I still maintain are by far the best airline east of the Arab peninsular) opened another desk, which we cleared in half an hour and rushed through to get our flights, hungry, thristy and cursing the group in front of us.

We never saw the Thai party again. For all I know, they're still there, juggling cheap textiles between suitcases to avoid a $25 excess baggage charge...

Edited November 2, 2012 by RogueLeader