Suvarnabhumi voted 47th among world’s best 50 airports

[mogandave]

All surveys are questionable.

Who funded this one?

Likely some travel association or publication that shakes down airports & airlines for donations or advertising dollars, how could they possibly be biased?

Edited March 15, 2015 by mogandave

[kkerry]

For a new airport it would have been better if all the money allocated for it went on actually building it, but these days most of the initial teething problems are no longer cause for complaint.

There wasn't enough seating... seems fine now.

There weren't enough clean and functioning restrooms... seems okay now.

Too much congestion... they relocated the counters along the front of departures so it feels less congested.

Hot... but now seems to have better air conditioning than in the past.

Immigration... they pre-screen passengers arrival forms, and have a more orderly queuing system in place now (certainly quicker than DM right now).

Taxis... still not right for some people but not the nightmare it was in the early years.

Food... if you want first class dining then eat before you leave for the airport... otherwise there is plenty of choice if you look, better than many other airports.

[dragonfly94]

0ver 40,000 airports in the world, 47th is not bad.

What is it people expect to eat at an airport that you can't get there?

Might be something to do with getting ripped off in food outlets and having a duty free monopoly and the transport 'hub' being about a mile away from the airport. Not to mention the continuing taxi problems.Take HK for a comparison, walk straight out of arrivals and onto a bus, there you can go into a 7/11 and the prices are the same as in town, not more then twice the price. HK airport even has a cinema. The best thing you can say about swampy is that it;s big and the check in area is OK.

Edited March 17, 2015 by dragonfly94

[Dannyboy666]

0ver 40,000 airports in the world, 47th is not bad.

What is it people expect to eat at an airport that you can't get there?

Might be something to do with getting ripped off in food outlets and having a duty free monopoly and the transport 'hub' being about a mile away from the airport. Not to mention the continuing taxi problems.Take HK for a comparison, walk straight out of arrivals and onto a bus, there you can go into a 7/11 and the prices are the same as in town, not more then twice the price. HK airport even has a cinema. The best thing you can say about swampy is that it;s big and the check in area is OK.

. I know Changi has Cinemas , where in HK airport, Changi is on 2 no floor in term. 3 and 4 , don't know about Term. 1

[mogandave]

You guys crack me up.

I can take a taxi from the airport to a downtown hotel for Baht300 and you're whining about a bus. I generally don't ride busses, but there does not seem to be any shortage of them. There is also a train you can catch, limousine services and plenty of parking if you want to drive yourself.

Also, while I generally eat free at the airport, there does not seem to be any lack of places to buy food.

Seriously, if you can't afford a sandwich at Subway or Burger King maybe you should think about staying home and saving your money.

[dragonfly94]

Swampy is little more than one big unfriendly and uncomfortable glass and metal shed

[kkerry]

The prices at Family Mart at the airport are lower than regular convenience stores prices in countries like Australia.

Food in just about any airport in the world is expensive between immigration and your flight gate. Eateries like S&P below departures are probably pricier than outside the airport but it's not like they are double or triple priced.

I'd suggest the busy Thai food court in the basement for the financially challenged but at 10 baht dearer than your average Tesco or BigC it's perhaps still out of the price range of a few posters here.

[mogandave]

The prices at Family Mart at the airport are lower than regular convenience stores prices in countries like Australia.

Food in just about any airport in the world is expensive between immigration and your flight gate. Eateries like S&P below departures are probably pricier than outside the airport but it's not like they are double or triple priced.

I'd suggest the busy Thai food court in the basement for the financially challenged but at 10 baht dearer than your average Tesco or BigC it's perhaps still out of the price range of a few posters here.

And given the additional cost of operating at the airport it is fair to expect to pay a premium.

[hanno]

I have no problem paying a premium at airports but sometimes it is even hard to get food.

On my last visit, Subway had only one kind of bread, there was only one lady at the coffee place and she was completely swamped and the staff at Burker King were too busy discussing the weather or whatever to serve customers.

That is all OK as I usually just take short flights but that there is no more book store is a crime.

[mogandave]

I have no problem paying a premium at airports but sometimes it is even hard to get food.

On my last visit, Subway had only one kind of bread, there was only one lady at the coffee place and she was completely swamped and the staff at Burker King were too busy discussing the weather or whatever to serve customers.

That is all OK as I usually just take short flights but that there is no more book store is a crime.

Asia books was open Monday morning when I went through.

I don't see the attraction, but it seems like the BK is always swamped, but that is hardly the airports fault, and there are plenty of other choices.

Anyone remember the days when one company would get the food & drink concession for the entire airport?

[hanno]

Asia books was open Monday morning when I went through.

Really? Where. I usually leave from terminal C; there used to be two bookstores there but they have gone since renovations. I know they are still in the domestic part but I just cannot find them in the international terminal.

[mogandave]

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Asia books was open Monday morning when I went through.

Really? Where. I usually leave from terminal C; there used to be two bookstores there but they have gone since renovations. I know they are still in the domestic part but I just cannot find them in the international terminal.

In the main terminal at the door 10 end, next to a big Family Mart.

[IMA_FARANG]

I have stated my opinion before on this forum that the real problem with Suvarnabhumi is that originally it was designed as a shopping mall where the shoppers flew in, not as an airport that had a shopping mall attached to it.

By which I meant, and still mean that it was designed as a shopping mall first, and then an airport secondly.

And I still hold the opinion that is the main problem with Suvarnabhumi.

P.S. Does anyone but me still remember when one of the people involved in the construction of Suvarnabhumi was asked why there was (at that time) not enough passenger seating or toilets in Suvarnabhumi, and his reply was that they didn't want people to be sitting down or going to toilets ..... they wanted people to be shopping instead.

I remember that..... the time when in the entire check-in area of Suvarnabhumi there was only two toilets in that area?

Edited March 17, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[mogandave]

I have stated my opinion before on this forum that the real problem with Suvarnabhumi is that originally it was designed as a shopping mall where the shoppers flew in, not as an airport that had a shopping mall attached to it.

By which I meant, and still mean that it was designed as a shopping mall first, and then an airport secondly.

And I still hold the opinion that is the main problem with Suvarnabhumi.

Yet look at the number of guys moaning about the lack diversity in the shopping.

When you think about it, given the size of concourses and the distances you have to maintain between them, it makes sense to load the area up with shops and whatnot. If you have to walk for 30 minutes, what difference does it make if you are walking past shops? They generate revenue, which good for everyone, at least everyone not travelling with their wife...

I do not fly domestic, but assuming the airport is designed to facilitate tourism, having domestic and international in the same terminal makes a lot of sense.

[hanno]

Cheers mogandave.

[Dannyboy666]

At least they have a Cheap &@$ Food Court for the waiting TG's 35 and 40baht can't beat that for cost savings

[Dannyboy666]

Il tell you everything Beats LAX, a National Disgrace, nonstop construction , should be Leveled or Condemned...

Totally agree. One of the least appealing airports in the world. They have been working on that airport for a decade now. It is broken and it is ugly. It says something about Los Angeles. I myself like Swampy. I find it pleasant, airy, clean, and love the employee food court on the first level. 45 baht for fish soup, at an international airport? Hard to beat that.

. Idk if I would call it an Employee Food Court it was Overun with Chinese Tourists last night, Starting to notice a lot of Phlem in the Urinal areas in the toilets Now, oiiiiiii

[Dannyboy666]

Btw, I'm in Seoul right now and headed to San Francisco, I'm the only Farang on this Asiana Flight, all Indian, hmmmm. They all arrived on handicap golf carts, I counted 22 carts, if you ever sit at LAX you never see an Indian walking they all take wheelchair service and breeze through Customs and Immigration, a Clever, they will all order Hindi Meals and I will be served Last, I'm telling you Clever...

Edited March 18, 2015 by Dannyboy666

[mogandave]

Btw, I'm in Seoul right now and headed to San Francisco, I'm the only Farang on this Asiana Flight, all Indian, hmmmm. They all arrived on handicap golf carts, I counted 22 carts, if you ever sit at LAX you never see an Indian walking they all take wheelchair service and breeze through Customs and Immigration,... I'm telling you Clever...

"Clever" would not be my first choice of words.

[Dannyboy666]

Btw, I'm in Seoul right now and headed to San Francisco, I'm the only Farang on this Asiana Flight, all Indian, hmmmm. They all arrived on handicap golf carts, I counted 22 carts, if you ever sit at LAX you never see an Indian walking they all take wheelchair service and breeze through Customs and Immigration,... I'm telling you Clever...

"Clever" would not be my first choice of words.

. I'm so Sorry I was trying to be be Civil 555555