What I dislike in Don Mueang now.

[ALFREDO]

What I dislike in Don Mueang now.

Overcrowded facilities - In particular, Restaurant seating capazity.

(Similar problem in Suvarnabhumi Airport.)

The extremly - for me - walks to and from some Gates, many hundred of meters,

often with some hand-luggage, as 70+ Gates.

No, or not enough, people movers.

BUT, I saw nearly finished construction of one.

That there are most times, really long queues at the Public Taxi stand-booth.

So, I have to go up to the departure level and catch a Taxi there.

Edited May 10, 2015 by ALFREDO

[KhunBENQ]

Silly food/drink prices with no alternatives (like in Suvarnabhumi) at a dismal worn out airport.

50 Baht for a lukewarm coke from the "fridge".

Time for 7/11 to move in !!!

Happy to avoid it.

Lets hope for a magic turn when terminal 2 opens.

Edited May 10, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Wouldn't be nice if DMK got back to the good spread of eateries they once had between T-1 & T-2.

Mac

[KhunBENQ]

Wouldn't be nice if DMK got back to the good spread of eateries they once had between T-1 & T-2.

Mac

Yep, what I remember. There were also some kind of shops/groceries.

Lets hope for the best.

[uli65]

there is one big 7/11 before you check in. little more expensive than outside, but ok.

[CNXBKKMAN]

There is a food court at DMK with regular thai food at 30 - 50 baht a meal. Normal coupon style food court. Its a little bit hard to describe where it is. If you take a taxi to DMK the taxi sort of loops round off the express way past exec VIP terminal and the then goes up a ramp to the departure area drop off. The food court is at the bottom of the ramp. If you were in the terminal walk out on the arrival level, keep to the right and you will come to the food court about 100m outside terminal. Another way is if you exit the terminal higher up where the airline offices are , where the big Air Asia office is , keep walking through until you see some lifts. Take the lift to the ground level and turn right out of the office building. 20 or 30m to the food court. This food court has already been discovered by the chinese tour groups but its nothing like as crowded as the BKK one, well not when i have used it.

[siam2007]

as KhunBenQ mentioned, the revamped Terminal2 will open in the not-so-far future. Let's wait til then. DMK as it is now, is more or less a makeshift operation....

[uli65]

I need to correct my posting about 7/11. This shop is inside the airport before the boarding gates and not before check in.

sorry for wrong information but my english is not the best.

[Iamemjay]

There is a food court at DMK with regular thai food at 30 - 50 baht a meal. Normal coupon style food court. Its a little bit hard to describe where it is. If you take a taxi to DMK the taxi sort of loops round off the express way past exec VIP terminal and the then goes up a ramp to the departure area drop off. The food court is at the bottom of the ramp. If you were in the terminal walk out on the arrival level, keep to the right and you will come to the food court about 100m outside terminal. Another way is if you exit the terminal higher up where the airline offices are , where the big Air Asia office is , keep walking through until you see some lifts. Take the lift to the ground level and turn right out of the office building. 20 or 30m to the food court. This food court has already been discovered by the chinese tour groups but its nothing like as crowded as the BKK one, well not when i have used it.

Many thanks CNXBKKMAN I'll try to follow your instructions (altho it would have been nice if you said whether to turn left or right!) I knew it just had to be there somewhere (I mean the Thai staff have to eat SOMEWHERE) , but have never found it since DM reopened. I used to frequent the staff "cafeteria" of the old airport frequently and really miss it especially given the current state of retail food offerings there.

.

[ALFREDO]

Silly food/drink prices with no alternatives (like in Suvarnabhumi) at a dismal worn out airport.

50 Baht for a lukewarm coke from the "fridge".

Time for 7/11 to move in !!!

Happy to avoid it.

Lets hope for a magic turn when terminal 2 opens.

I used to high prices in airports,

also in Vienna we have at least a Big chain's grocery store near the check in area inside the new Vienna-Schwechat Airport.

BUT, I not used to exercise in airports! Long distance walks to gates.

Was similar in Singapore's Budget Terminal until some years ago. Is adjusted now there I read.

[KhunBENQ]

Obviously I overlooked some opportunities

Must be hidden good because I had quite a while of spare time to walk around.

[DavisH]

Agree about the taxi stand - picked my wife up there the other night and the queues were stupidly long.

Edited May 11, 2015 by DavisH

[recycler]

Don Muang is a dump, it looks like an airport in a warzone!

Even unfinsihed renovation parts are of such shoddy workmanship that it's broken before it's in use.

[prakhonchai nick]

Parking is abominable!

[aar78]

Parking is abominable!

Agreed. Finding a parking space is near to impossible. I had a day trip to Khon Kaen and wanted to park my car there for the day but it was full and i had to park my car nearby the cargo building which was a very very long walk

[shaurene]

Silly food/drink prices with no alternatives (like in Suvarnabhumi) at a dismal worn out airport.

50 Baht for a lukewarm coke from the "fridge".

Time for 7/11 to move in !!!

Happy to avoid it.

Lets hope for a magic turn when terminal 2 opens.

You should all know even in your home airports drink and food prices are very high and the reason is that the lease rental the airports charge is so high.

[shaurene]

Parking is abominable!

Agreed. Finding a parking space is near to impossible. I had a day trip to Khon Kaen and wanted to park my car there for the day but it was full and i had to park my car nearby the cargo building which was a very very long walk

That is very unusual for Khon Kaen I fly out of there very offten with no problem parking in the multi car park.

[aar78]

Parking is abominable!

Agreed. Finding a parking space is near to impossible. I had a day trip to Khon Kaen and wanted to park my car there for the day but it was full and i had to park my car nearby the cargo building which was a very very long walk

That is very unusual for Khon Kaen I fly out of there very offten with no problem parking in the multi car park.

I meant Parking at Don Muang. My day trip was from DMK to KKC. I parked my car at Don Muang

[wooloomooloo]

There is a food court at DMK with regular thai food at 30 - 50 baht a meal. Normal coupon style food court.

Many thanks for this gen, CNXBKKMAN.

More importantly, do they sell beer?

[jimky]

Shopping, food, but... no ATM machines after passing though security.

[jimky]

I used to think the walks were long. But after doing many international flights to KLIA2 in Kuala Lumpur, DMK doesn't seem so long anymore. Seriously some arrival areas in KLIA2 on AirAsia international flights from Bangkok are a 25 min walk to immigration.

[matseng]

DM is da shit (in the good sense) compared to Swampy. My record there is 4.5 minutes from exiting the plane to being seated in the bus that takes me to Mo Chit. At swampy it usually took between 40 and 60 minutes on a good day from plane to ARL.

Sure, DM is a bit run down and doesn't have as many shops and food outlets, but that's merely a minor annoyance for me, I'm happy enough with a 100 baht cup of coffee and some free internet for my laptop. I'm not there for shopping or eating shoddy food anyways, in & out as fast as possible make me a happy guy.

[TBWG]

"Now Everyone can fly" Air Asia proclaim on the side of their aircraft. Now anyone with a 1,000 baht can fly internally. Take my own local airport a year ago 1 flight a day, now 5 all going into Don Mueang.

A lot of these new flyers have never flown before and turn up and buy a ticket half hour before they want to go. Why, because thats what they did at Mo Chit and they assume it's the same.

Consequently with a four or five fold increase in movements, allied to an inexperienced flying public unused to security and check in procedure its a recipe for disaster.

Also a lot of aircraft are turbo prop and as such there is no access to air bridges so it's on the bus to the plane, bus access is restricted and at the extremities of the airport so its one hell of a walk to the gate and the waiting area is small so ..........

I have noticed that airside a few more eating outlets are appearing, but I think the airport authority has rather been caught out by the huge increase in demand and with Thai mentality of why should we spend money when we have a never ending supply of passengers with low expectations, I don't have high hopes of much improvement in the near future.

Well IMHO that's my take on it, I hope to be proven wrong.

TBWG

[wooloomooloo]

Also a lot of aircraft are turbo prop and as such there is no access to air bridges so it's on the bus to the plane, bus access is restricted and at the extremities of the airport so its one hell of a walk to the gate and the waiting area is small so ..........

It doesn't have to be a turbo prop for the bus treatment.

I'm a big fan of AirAsia but about 50% of the time at DMK is the bus treatment. Freaking annoys me, though obviously not AirAsia's fault.

Edited May 11, 2015 by wooloomooloo

[thailandforumaddict]

And what is the closest cheapest hotel to Don muang where we can also park the car for few days ? Thank you.

[wooloomooloo]

And what is the closest cheapest hotel to Don muang where we can also park the car for few days ? Thank you.

Don Mueang Amari, unfortunately. Calling it a cesspit is being generous.

[FT10toLOS]

And what is the closest cheapest hotel to Don muang where we can also park the car for few days ? Thank you.

Don Mueang Amari, unfortunately. Calling it a cesspit is being generous.

Did Amari first time this trip. Late arrival (10pm), met gf, walked across the bridge, straight into room. Happy days. No dealing with taxis etc. Rooms were fine.

Have paid a lot more for much worst.

Great way to start the trip. I'll be back.

[CNXBKKMAN]

There is a food court at DMK with regular thai food at 30 - 50 baht a meal. Normal coupon style food court.

Many thanks for this gen, CNXBKKMAN.

More importantly, do they sell beer?

Not sure if they sell beer. I had my breakfast there a couple of weeks ago and beer was not on my radar at 10 am. Food was ok for a coupon place.

[stevensg]

Silly food/drink prices with no alternatives (like in Suvarnabhumi) at a dismal worn out airport.

50 Baht for a lukewarm coke from the "fridge".

Time for 7/11 to move in !!!

Happy to avoid it.

Lets hope for a magic turn when terminal 2 opens.

I used to high prices in airports,

also in Vienna we have at least a Big chain's grocery store near the check in area inside the new Vienna-Schwechat Airport.

BUT, I not used to exercise in airports! Long distance walks to gates.

Was similar in Singapore's Budget Terminal until some years ago. Is adjusted now there I read.

It was closed down last year or 2 to make way for terminal 4 and also a 5...

[pomchop]

Walk out of DM second floor following signs to the Amari hotel. You will go via walking bridge across the highway. Go down the steps to ground level and turn right.

There are a variety of Thai style, Thai prices, places to eat along there. Walk another five mins or so and you'll pass a big wat and come to a large 7/11 also normal prices.

Good way to kill a little time and eat at normal thai prices if you don't have a bunch of luggage to deal with.