WARNING Don muang airport new rules

[Mr Moo]

I had a similar experience with Frankfurt airport.

Put a pure crystal sculpture in my baggage, checked my bags in in Sweden without problems, transferred in Frankfurt and upon arrival in Brazil I found a note inside the bag from Frankfurt security telling me they opened my bag because X-Ray does not penetrate pure crystal, just shows up as a black image.

[onthemoon]

I once had a "Seinfeld" moment with this particular airlines. Got to the counter and they told me the plane was full I had to wait for the next flight.....

"Excuse me? I have a reservation, here is my CONFIRMATION NUMBER, confirms I have a seat on this flight".

"Sorry Sir, flight is full next flight in two hours" Ends up they had a flight cancellation earlier in the day and just moved everyone onto the next flights......

"You see, you know how to take the reservation, but you do not know how to hold the reservation, the holding being the most important part".

I told them I was going to the gate and going to board that flight no matter what, they made me sign a waiver and I flew backwards in a stewardess jump seat in the back of the plane.

Will not EVER flight that airlines again.

You book low-cost, that's what you get.

[onthemoon]

Typical Thailand again, screwing people like this, Sorry OP, you have my sympathy.

I always try and stick up for Thailand, but things like this make it very hard.

and to the "if you don't like it, go home" brigade, just run along.

That's not typical Thailand. It's typical low-cost carrier, what do you expect?

[onthemoon]

New rules? I doubt it. Bad service? Most likely.

I agree. You get what you pay for.

[onthemoon]

ok.. fire hazzard, but less of a fire hazzard inside the cabin??

fair enough, just hope they implement a less confusing system. I can see why all the confusion, from some of the comments alone.

If it's in the cabin and catches fire, for example in the overhead compartment, the fire will be detected immediately and extinguished. Has happened in the past..

In an airfreight container down in the cargo hold, it will be very difficult to extinguish. Might also be detected much later.

[NoshowJones]

Typical Thailand again, screwing people like this, Sorry OP, you have my sympathy.

I always try and stick up for Thailand, but things like this make it very hard.

and to the "if you don't like it, go home" brigade, just run along.

That's not typical Thailand. It's typical low-cost carrier, what do you expect?

Are they not following Thailands rules?

[onthemoon]

Most peculiar: I flew into Suvarnabhumi from the YUK just over a month ago. I had a "cabin bag" stuffed full of electronics, batteries etc. At Manchester I was told my "cabin bag" was overweight (1 or 2kg) and had to be hold baggage. I had to pay for another bag - not just an overweight of 2kg - and it all went in the hold. Diferent country different rules I know: but I had a dismounted HDD, a USB HDD, battery alarm clocks, transformers, cables etc. IMO all a (terrorist) risk for hold baggage which is why I was carrying it in cabin baggage so's it could be inspected.

Where there any lithium batteries in these items?

[onthemoon]

So can I put my electronic chargeable battery toothbrush,razor,hairclippers in my checked bags or do I have to take them in the cabin along with the phone and tablet?

Ask the airline before or during check-in. That's the correct way to do if you are not sure.

[onthemoon]

I had a similar experience with Frankfurt airport.

Put a pure crystal sculpture in my baggage, checked my bags in in Sweden without problems, transferred in Frankfurt and upon arrival in Brazil I found a note inside the bag from Frankfurt security telling me they opened my bag because X-Ray does not penetrate pure crystal, just shows up as a black image.

I find this example very dissimilar. No batteries involved, no baggage delay, just a note. How does this relate to the topic on hand?

[BKKdreaming]

I flew out of Suvarnabhumi Wednesday on China Air and no questions about batteries in checked luggage ,

there were 4 rechargable flashlights in the luggage ,

I hope they get this sorted out of what is allowed and what is not , and tell us before we get to the airport

I do not want my bags left behind and I do not want to give things not allowed ( like I did at Taiwan airport) to the Airport workers , ,

Same on the USA side , tell us before , maybe an email from the Airline

[onthemoon]

Typical Thailand again, screwing people like this, Sorry OP, you have my sympathy.

I always try and stick up for Thailand, but things like this make it very hard.

and to the "if you don't like it, go home" brigade, just run along.

That's not typical Thailand. It's typical low-cost carrier, what do you expect?

Are they not following Thailands rules?

This could have happened in any country. It is not particular to Thailand.

In fact, it may be that Thailand is now stricter in following the international rules, as they have a bad safety record with ICAO and need to fix that.

Edited December 31, 2015 by onthemoon

[chrisinth]

why would you buy two new tickets to fly back, the airline is responsible for the baggage unless you used two different airlines and your baggage was not checked through to the final destination.

Explain please

He had prohibited objects in his luggage.If his name was on the bag,maybe the should have sent a message to the boarding gate.

His name wouldn' have to be on the bag, it is already coded to his name/ticket.

I have never heard of anyone (anywhere) that has been told they have to buy a ticket to flight origin (place of checkin) to get their baggage back. Normally if checked in baggage is put on hold the passenger will be informed before the flight leaves if only to identify the threat/reason for the hold.

Would seem strange if 20kg of class one was discovered and the passenger later informed that he can coĺlect it by getting a flight back.

Not logical..........

[grumpyoldman]

I once had a "Seinfeld" moment with this particular airlines. Got to the counter and they told me the plane was full I had to wait for the next flight.....

"Excuse me? I have a reservation, here is my CONFIRMATION NUMBER, confirms I have a seat on this flight".

"Sorry Sir, flight is full next flight in two hours" Ends up they had a flight cancellation earlier in the day and just moved everyone onto the next flights......

"You see, you know how to take the reservation, but you do not know how to hold the reservation, the holding being the most important part".

I told them I was going to the gate and going to board that flight no matter what, they made me sign a waiver and I flew backwards in a stewardess jump seat in the back of the plane.

Will not EVER flight that airlines again.

This thread has nothing to do with a particular airlines and everything to do with new baggage check in procedures as the thread title plainly states

I would like to add a retort to your statement above....do you think you were the only passenger affected by the previous flight cancellation? No, it affected probably several 1000 people both on your flight and others.

Its obvious you do not really understand the process of flying except for in your own 3 ft bubble world. SMDH

Just relating an experience once I saw the airlines you were referring too, that it morphed into a bug in you a$$, hmm...interesting.

Duly admonished from thee on high pedestal. NEXT!

[DipStick]

My God....some of the answers are so typical ##&%& TV.

While the OP was not 100% clear, you didn't have to be a genius to understand.

It happens in China, and looks like it's happening here. You cannot have powers packs, spare batteries etc in your check-in luggage. They screen your check-in luggage after it is checked in. If your are still close to check in area (that is not hurried through to immigration etc) then if they find something you will hear announcement of your name and you go back and take out offending items. Otherwise your bags will not go.

Fact is they have signs alerting passengers to what is not allowed.

In china, you can add cigarette lighters to the list as well.

[Fookhaht]

What the OP didn't say was that he was told to watch the screen which is after the checkin desks and wait until he saw his bags pass through without a problem.

What will have happened is that after checking in he just went through to the security point and didn't wait for the bag check. He will have been called to deal with the banned or questionable items in his baggage and would have been able to open the bags and either show that they were OK or removed the problem items.

This is a new system that I've never seen anywhere else so people will be unsure of its working.

With my bags I didn't notice the video monitor until after my bags had cleared so waited more than the suggested 5 minutes..

So it's the fault of the OP or signage or information given.

I went through the day after terminal 2 opened.

It is not NEW RULES it is the terminal 2 baggage security system. It is very very good. I am very much in favour of the system.

I went through this procedure at terminal 2 on Monday. It's very confusing. The instructions from the check-in staff are unclear.

I was told to "see that man over there" with a vague gesture toward a group of people 50 meters away. I went over to the general vicinity, but did not know what to do. Apparently, this was the place where they screen your bag, but there was no signage and no one to instruct me.

I did see my bag go through on a screen attached high on the wall; but again I waited without instructions. Other passengers just passed on through without stopping. It was very confusing. Finally, I gave up and went on to my gate.

I think this is probably the stage at which the OP fell through the gap in procedures and was separated from bags that had been stopped, containing unacceptable items.

Of course, the airline should have contacted the passenger before he went through the boarding gate.

This procedure has to be tightened up to avoid further unfortunate incidents.

[SunsetT]

Typical Thai f*** up!

All my life when flying internationally from the UK, including 10yrs to and from Thailand, I always wondered what happened if there was a problem with any contents of checked baggage when Xrayed after check-in because it is not Xrayed before check-in in London (or Swampy). Anyone know? I have always checked on the airline's website if unsure of anything so I have never had a problem. I once brought a quite big electric drill which might have been misconstrued as a firearm, but no problems, even when carrying it domestically in Thailand in my hand luggage I think, to conform to weight limit on checked baggage.

[thailandstupidlife]

How ridiculous you are. You are the one supposed to Xray your bags before you check in !

[scorecard]

why would you buy two new tickets to fly back, the airline is responsible for the baggage unless you used two different airlines and your baggage was not checked through to the final destination.

Explain please

He had prohibited objects in his luggage.If his name was on the bag,maybe the should have sent a message to the boarding gate.

His name wouldn' have to be on the bag, it is already coded to his name/ticket.

I have never heard of anyone (anywhere) that has been told they have to buy a ticket to flight origin (place of checkin) to get their baggage back. Normally if checked in baggage is put on hold the passenger will be informed before the flight leaves if only to identify the threat/reason for the hold.

Would seem strange if 20kg of class one was discovered and the passenger later informed that he can coĺlect it by getting a flight back.

Not logical..........

I like what you say, however in my experience if you try to discuss something a little outside of the standard procedure with the said airline they can't answer the question / can't give a logical win-win answer because they don't have enough knowledge or training, so they make up an answer which sometimes doesn't even have logic.

Example: A few months back, an older Thai lady in the line at the check-in gate scolds the gate check girl for not checking that the name on her ID card is the same as on the boarding pass and for not checking that the person standing there in the line is the person in the photo on the ID card / passport.

Answer from check-in gate staff ''If you don't like the photo on your ID card then we can't help you, you need to get a new ID card".

The old Thai lady then scolded her even further in both Thai and English, and the passengers nearby in the gate queue all clapped.

[scorecard]

How ridiculous you are. You are the one supposed to Xray your bags before you check in !

Suggest you read the whole thread, the procedure at the newly reopened T2 is all changed, there is now no X ray of check-in bags before check-in.

[Bruce404]

The original poster's report suggests that Thailand's aviation authorities are now enforcing -- to their credit -- international safety guidelines to prevent carrying hazardous cargo which can potentially bring down an airliner.

Lithium batteries -- particularly cheaply- and poorly-manufactured ones -- are very dangerous, as prone to spontaneously igniting and causing serious fires.

Currently, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) forbids their carriage in checked baggage, although if safely packed without nearby metals that might short out their terminals, they may still be carried on board in hand-carried bags. Presumably, if they start smoldering or burning in flight, flight staff can quickly immerse them in a coffee pot or other water container to quench any combustion.

See:

http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/06/travel-tips-tuesday-safely-packing.html

and

https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/more_info/?hazmat=7

I have read in recent weeks that even this policy may change in 2016, such that lithium batteries may be banned entirely from any parts of passenger aircraft.

Indeed, following the recent craze for hoverboards (inexpensive Segway-style gyroscopic rollerboards) -- some made cheaply with low-quality lithium batteries -- many U.S. airlines are banning them from their planes, regardless if not (yet) completely prohibited by the FAA or Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Check out Youtube.com for "hoverboard fire" video clips, and think twice about trying to sneak one (or lithium batteries of cellphones, computers, shavers, toys, etc.) into your checked baggage.

Edited January 1, 2016 by Bruce404

[BKKdreaming]

I have read in recent weeks that even this policy may change in 2016, such that lithium batteries may be banned entirely from any parts of passenger aircraft.

Then no computers or mobile phones on the plane ?

I never knew having lithium batteries in my check-in luggage had already been banned , and will think about it next time ,

if you remove the batteries from the phone and pack them away from the phone would that be OK ?

[SoiBiker]

I have read in recent weeks that even this policy may change in 2016, such that lithium batteries may be banned entirely from any parts of passenger aircraft.

Then no computers or mobile phones on the plane ?

I never knew having lithium batteries in my check-in luggage had already been banned , and will think about it next time ,

if you remove the batteries from the phone and pack them away from the phone would that be OK ?

That would just make it more likely that the contacts might get shorted, and this increase the possibility of fire.

[Bruce404]

Actually, aviation-safety authorities appear less worried when lithium batteries are installed within the devices they power, and more worried about loose ones. This is so probably because of the reason SoiBiker mentioned above, that the chances of an accidental short circuit are greater from some loose item in the bag (e.g., coins, paper clip, keys, etc.) contacting the exposed terminals of a loose battery to cause a short circuit. Thus, the guidelines of FAA and TSA are stricter regarding loose lithium batteries than those in their devices

(1. http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/06/travel-tips-tuesday-safely-packing.html

and

2. https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/more_info/?hazmat=7

and

3. http://phmsa.dot.gov/safetravel/batteries).

Also, my previous comment about smothering smoldering or burning lithium batteries with water applies only to common rechargeable lithium batteries (formally known as "Lithium Ion Polymer" [LIPO]) that power laptops, power tools, and many other modern devices. These contain no metallic lithium, and may be extinguished by various conventional fire extinguishers and water. However, the extinguisher on a plane may very well become empty before a burning battery deep in a bag in an overhead compartment has been successfully extinguished. This is probably why the total permissible lithium element mass of uninstalled lithium batteries is limited for each passenger in their carry-on baggage (see URL no. 3., above).

Non-rechargeable lithium batteries (also know as "primary" or "disposable" lithium batteries of various chemical types) often contain lithium metal, which when contacted by water reacts violently, generating hydrogen gas which itself can explode and burn. Thus, only specialized extinguishers should be used if a non-rechargeable lithium metal battery is burning and cannot be moved to a safe place to allow to burn itself out.

On an airliner at 30,000 feet, there's no depressurized bomb-bay-type hatch to be able safely to jettison an object burning uncontrollably, like one of those hoverboards on fire as shown at YouTube.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Bruce404

[onthemoon]

Typical Thai f*** up!

All my life when flying internationally from the UK, including 10yrs to and from Thailand, I always wondered what happened if there was a problem with any contents of checked baggage when Xrayed after check-in because it is not Xrayed before check-in in London (or Swampy). Anyone know? I have always checked on the airline's website if unsure of anything so I have never had a problem. I once brought a quite big electric drill which might have been misconstrued as a firearm, but no problems, even when carrying it domestically in Thailand in my hand luggage I think, to conform to weight limit on checked baggage.

You mention both London and "Swampy" but precede your experience with "Typical Thai". Is London now in Thailand? I must have missed something.

[Bruce404]

Here's a rather frightening YouTube example of a smoldering, then burning, then exploding hoverboard. Imagine this occurring in someone's backpack in a tightly-filled overhead compartment on a full flight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxeF4jWDSJc

youtube.com/watch?v=lxeF4jWDSJc

Edited January 2, 2016 by Bruce404

[SunsetT]

Typical Thai f*** up!

All my life when flying internationally from the UK, including 10yrs to and from Thailand, I always wondered what happened if there was a problem with any contents of checked baggage when Xrayed after check-in because it is not Xrayed before check-in in London (or Swampy). Anyone know? I have always checked on the airline's website if unsure of anything so I have never had a problem. I once brought a quite big electric drill which might have been misconstrued as a firearm, but no problems, even when carrying it domestically in Thailand in my hand luggage I think, to conform to weight limit on checked baggage.

You mention both London and "Swampy" but precede your experience with "Typical Thai". Is London now in Thailand? I must have missed something.

Typical Thai......refers to the Don Muang changes, but the rest is just a personal digression and question on flying internationally which no one has answered yet.

[natway09]

No, This is not a new rule from Don Muang.

Sorry, your holiday disrupted. I packed my old lap top I use for traveling in my check in bag (Luckily carry bag as well) some 8 months ago.

On check in told to remove from bag, did so & off I went.

One month later from Suvarnabhumi did the same not a problem

As to the actual civil aviation rule I cannot give an opinion

[scorecard]

No, This is not a new rule from Don Muang.

Sorry, your holiday disrupted. I packed my old lap top I use for traveling in my check in bag (Luckily carry bag as well) some 8 months ago.

On check in told to remove from bag, did so & off I went.

One month later from Suvarnabhumi did the same not a problem

As to the actual civil aviation rule I cannot give an opinion

'

It changes by the day.

Is this because of laziness or is it confusion?

Or, is it deliberate?

Who knows!

[watcharacters]

I think I get the drift of the OP's warning/complaint.

Batteries and electronic items are not advisable in checked luggage

Edited January 3, 2016 by watcharacters

[masuk]

This is very unusual. Normally, the airport staff will open your luggage and take out the item in question. I've had this happen before. Luckily, it was determined the item in question wasn't dangerous and they put a note in my bag it had been opened and inspected. They cut the lock off and even put it inside my luggage, right on top with the note.

Sure would like more into.

Electronic devices are not allowed to be in baggage that you want to check in, (mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc), luckily mine was spotted by the scanner operator at Don Muang upon entry to the airport and before I checked in so I simply took it out and placed it in my hand luggage.

His obviously wasn't spotted at this stage but was seen at the second scan stage which takes place between you checking it in and it getting loaded onto the aircraft.

The airline in question then simply quarantined the bag and placed the responsibility of retrieving it, along with its electronic contents, to the passenger.

So either the 1st scanner operator was asleep or he did not put his bags through this 1st scan point.

Either way, electronic goods were in the baggage that was checked in, which is not allowed.

These rules are not 'new rules' as my experience took place nearly 12 months ago..

Absolute drivel !

For safety reasons, the following items cannot be taken on to an aircraft. Please do not pack them in either hand baggage or hold luggage.

• Flammable liquids and solids
• Oxidisers such as bleaching powders
• Organic peroxides
• Tear gas devices or any gas cylinders
• Infectious substances such as live virus materials
• Wet-cell car batteries
• Magnetrons. Instruments containing mercury
• Instruments containing magnets
• Fireworks and pyrotechnics
• Non-safety matches
• Fire lighter, lighter fuel, paints, thinners
• Poisons, arsenic, cyanide, weedkiller

The X-ray machine at Macau Security picked up that my bag had a pack of AA batteries in it. It showed up that they were batteries, and that alerted security. However, this type of battery was OK and I didn't have to remove them. A first time for everything.