Fundamental Design Flaw...

[buddhafly]

just passed thru the new airport last night.

what a disaster.

i understand that huge ventures like a new airport will have growing pains( though something as simple as a lack of taxi signs should not have been overlooked).

but the biggest problems i feel are things that won't be able to be fixed overtime. there is a hugely fundamental flaw in the design. when you come out in arrivals (after immigration and customs) you exit into a very narrow entrance hall (where the shops are) which suffers from a traffic jam of pedestrians worse than any automotive traffic jam i've ever seen in bangkok in my life.

the rest of the airport felt spacious, but then you have all the arriving passengers, all those waiting for said passengers, the traffic of shoppers, the annoying taxi touts all crammed in this narrow corridor.

unless they are going to tear down some walls, or not allow awaiting people inside, this problem will remain the downfall of the airport.

[think_too_mut]

I just posted in another therad - "Taxis queues clogging up arrivals".

So, it's same at night?

Some walls should have to be moved backwards....

[skippybangkok]

yep, saw the same thing. Stuck out as a bad planning affair

[AlexLah]

Hi all,

Just took a flight this morning.

I am so dissapointed about the looks of the new airport.

Dirty floors, Broken seams of tiles, Seams not filled, Duct tape used for indicating waiting line at Pass control, dirty windows that show handprints, Low quality chrome that show rust. Slippery tiles after immigration check (had to walk like a robot), X marks with duct tape that indicate someting.

I can go on and on.

I thought Thai people where so detailed.

Alex

[nostrel]

you get the feeling that the architects had never designed an airport before and havent studied existing airport designs to improve on the design for processing large numbers of people.Looks like Singapores airport is the better of the 2.

its quirky and fututistic and looks great from a distance but is impracticle . The old airport is looking better by the day ....

[Nemo.]

Who were the architects? I guess it was someones son/brother/relative etc. Reminds me of Proton south of the border where the CEO's son was chosen as the chief new car designer - and designed a national joke of a car eveyone hates............very asian!

[Zen]

I've used the new airport twice, once before the official opening, the second time after the official opening. The first time I was "impressed" by the aiport, looks really big, spacious etc...what I forgot to consider was that the airport looked spacious probably because it wasn't officially opened yet, only 3 airlines were using it at that time....

2 days ago I arrived again at the airport (2nd day of official opening)..My god I was shocked to see how clogged the Arrivals could get! The Immigration hall was really wide, with so many Counters..but not all counters were opened...so the Qs were long, but as the hall was "shallow", the Qs went zig-zag. Then I came to the baggage area, the new Trolleys were so difficult to pull out from one another, even though we did the right thing of pushing down the handle. Travellers were helping one another, struggling to get the trolleys out. At the conveyer belt, for some reasons, baggages were tumbling onto one another.

Finally I collected my luggage and was eager to get out...and when I did, I was shocked to see the whole place was so clogged up with people! There was barely room to move, and trolleys were banging into people.... I didn't even bother to try finding if there's any taxi..I went straight to the limo service, and there were 6-8 beautiful ladies there..I asked how much it cost to get to Novotel Siam and it was really Amusing to watch all 6-8heads looking into the computer for about 5-10min just to try get an answer for one question!

Today I used the Departure area, it's much better than the Arrivals I think, at least not as clogged...but still crowded...and one area of the airport doesnt seem to have airconditioning...it was really HOT.

Hope things get better...They should improve the Arrival area because it gives foreigners the First impression...

So, is there really a taxi stand at the 1st floor of the building or do we have to take a shuttle bus to get to the "Transportation Building" to board a taxi?

I'm confused because different people tell me different things, and the aiport was too crowded and confusing for me to go explore...

[Zen]

you get the feeling that the architects had never designed an airport before and havent studied existing airport designs to improve on the design for processing large numbers of people.Looks like Singapores airport is the better of the 2.

its quirky and fututistic and looks great from a distance but is impracticle . The old airport is looking better by the day ....

I agree. S'pore airport is much better. And I kinda miss Don Muang now...

[buddhafly]

there was a taxi stand right at the airport, which is good, i should say.

though i dont know if its permanent.

and there was 'limo' service which is essentially just nicer cars, and little waiting (no line usually) but yes, when i asked how much, they couldnt figure it out. it used to be 650 at old airport, to my house, but now its 1100 because its 'farther' they say. but where i live its actually not farther. its all relative. but the employess just have it in their head 'that its further'. i lived 20 lkilo from old airport, and im 20 kilo from the new. "yes sir, farther!"

also the seller said tolls are now included. thats good. but it didnt stop the driver from trying to get the toll money out of me. he got quite embarrassed and nervous when i told him they are included (in thai!).

i dont mind modern architecture (when done right). its probably right for an airport, but i get the feeling that it was probably originated from a competent architect but then the commitees of 'respected thai elders' who know nothing of the ergonomics of pedestrian traffic flow and use of space got a hold of the plan and started chipping away at the integrety of the design plan and concept. i have been in meetings like this here before. i would love to hear from the architect.

and they could have ventured out from the drab gray and siver of the whole thing. its soul-less.

it feels like "space odyssey prison". the KL malaysia airport is modern but much more functional.

once again, i understand that there will be growing pains. but if they werent ready to open it, they shouldnt have opened it yet. plain as that.

[Backpack_thailand]

Who were the architects? I guess it was someones son/brother/relative etc. Reminds me of Proton south of the border where the CEO's son was chosen as the chief new car designer - and designed a national joke of a car eveyone hates............very asian!

I believe the architects were a German firm!

[Soju]

just passed thru the new airport last night.

what a disaster.

i understand that huge ventures like a new airport will have growing pains( though something as simple as a lack of taxi signs should not have been overlooked).

but the biggest problems i feel are things that won't be able to be fixed overtime. there is a hugely fundamental flaw in the design. when you come out in arrivals (after immigration and customs) you exit into a very narrow entrance hall (where the shops are) which suffers from a traffic jam of pedestrians worse than any automotive traffic jam i've ever seen in bangkok in my life.

the rest of the airport felt spacious, but then you have all the arriving passengers, all those waiting for said passengers, the traffic of shoppers, the annoying taxi touts all crammed in this narrow corridor.

unless they are going to tear down some walls, or not allow awaiting people inside, this problem will remain the downfall of the airport.

Agree with that. I've made 4 trips through the airport since it opened last Thursday. Lots of minor problems but they should be easily solvable given a short period of time. Many have already been solved. A few major problems with baggage handling and taxis, but these problems should be easily solveable. The arrival area problem will prove very difficult to solve because it is a basic design problem. Right back at stage one of the airport planning this situation needed to be addressed. Whoever is responsible for the airport design is an idiot IMHO. If it was a design firm that had experience in airport design, the world should now about it and that firm deserves to be bankrupt. Totally inept design with respect to the arrival area. If I was AOT, I would be looking to sue the design firm for everything they're worth. Totally unbelievable that a design firm with any sort of experience with airport design created such an idiotic arrival area.

Hopefully they can do something to at least ease the situation. A good start would be passing a law that makes touts illegal and arrest any touts hanging around the area. Another thing to ease congestion would be to use one of the sparsely populated areas (perhaps part of level 1) for a meeting area and ban all greeter from the arrivals area. Maybe hotels and companies could register someplace and be allowed in the arrival area and given a sticker to attach to their clothing. Anyone without a sticker would be asked to immediately leave the departure area.

If you banned all but a few of the greeters, and completely redid the signage so that people could quickly determine where to go, and maybe redo the location of some of the booths, it would certainly make it much easier for the arriving passengers.

Edited October 2, 2006 by Soju

[Soju]

you get the feeling that the architects had never designed an airport before and havent studied existing airport designs to improve on the design for processing large numbers of people.Looks like Singapores airport is the better of the 2.

its quirky and fututistic and looks great from a distance but is impracticle . The old airport is looking better by the day ....

I agree. S'pore airport is much better. And I kinda miss Don Muang now...

IMHO, The arrival area at Don Muang isn't signifcantly different from Suvarnabhumi. I wasn't around when Don Muang first opened, so don't know the history of their arrival area, but I'd guess that at first it was very much like Suvarnabhumi and they eventually saw the need to install the barriers and make a large area where arrivals could exchange money or visit the hotel desk without interference from the general public. The same thing could easily be done at Suvarnabhumi if desired. But the depth of the arrival area does not seem to be much different from Don Muang. So I don't agree that Don Muang is looking better. They can easily make Suvarnabhumi's arrival very similar to Don Muang, but Don Muang was also very difficult to navigate as soon as you were funneled out to the public area. Overall, I believe the total area of the arrival hall at Suvarnabhumi is much bigger than Don Muang. With just a bit of effort it can certainly be made to be just as convenient, if not more so than Don Muang. But unfortunately to be made ideal would require a huge redesign of entire arrival level.

[steveromagnino]

Who were the architects? I guess it was someones son/brother/relative etc.

well assuming the German design firm appointed (with several airports under their belt including O'Hara) wasn't an orphan, then clearly, yes, they probably would be someone's son/brother/relative etc.

Wise oh so wise words that really add to the quality of this forum. I can really see how knowing that an architect has a few relatives has added so much to this wonderful day.

Thank you so much for your wise observation. Perhaps next time, you can also point out how other posters also have a son/brother/relative. I am sure that would be equally wise and useful

[Heng]

[kayo]

I just flew through Madrid... Now that airport (terminal four) was impressive, I must admit. Even if I don't like running marathons to catch my connecting flights.