New Airport Poll

[womble]

simple 3 choice poll.

[rcm]

Teething Problems - Ok there's been a few problems at the start, but they will be sorted sooner or later and then it will be an adequate Airport for Thailand.

I would have voted for that one.....

rcm

[Rinrada]

Teething Problems ...agree....

Nice Airport... in fact quite stunning but they gotta sort out the wisdom teeth..

Get the bogs sorted,install some new bars and decent restaurants,fix the Main Doors and Air Con,Finish off the Sky Train and Choo Choo travel links,get rid of the Taxi mafia and then DOUBLE its Size and just maybe.....

[britmaveric]

Re-open Don Muang and I think heaps of issues will go away.

[Cheeky Farang]

Thai Airways International Check In Area is a <deleted> JOKE. I had a 2 hour wait to check-in, and I hold a Thai ROP Gold Card.

[Crossy]

and then it will be an adequate Airport for Thailand.

My thoughts exactly.

This airport will only ever be adequate, it's not on a par with HK, KL or Changi.

Shame really, nice architectural design, but poor usage of the massive space it creates

[GuestHouse]

Teething problems, do you mean the bit were they various taxi/limo/concession operators have not yet sorted out their turf and will not do so until a few swollen corpses start bobbing up in the nearby Klongs?

You can't move a whole community of gold diggers across a city without some pain.

[Donz]

cant be any worse then the previous airport, but i wont be able to find out till next feb.

I hope it will be up to scratch then.

[djinn]

Just went to Chang Mai and back

Booked via internet.We nearly missed the Thai flight due to their faulty printing machine that refused to print ticket."engineers (wouhaha)"were more interrested at looking my gf than to try to solve the problem.Gf transleted their conversation:printer faulty since day one.

When come back from Chang Mai,they make us go out of the plane on one of their tube normally connected to exit door in the airport....and they make us go to take busses on the tarmac.Very clever.

Luggage:well 30 min waiting.

Taxi;if you wish to pay 700b to go to BKK with their overpriced limo OK else you take a shuttle.

(I had booked my preferate taxi companyso no problem,but poor scammed tourists;welcome in Thailand )

I think you imagine what I voted no?

[jdinasia]

Just went to Chang Mai and back

Booked via internet.We nearly missed the Thai flight due to their faulty printing machine that refused to print ticket."engineers (wouhaha)"were more interrested at looking my gf than to try to solve the problem.Gf transleted their conversation:printer faulty since day one.

When come back from Chang Mai,they make us go out of the plane on one of their tube normally connected to exit door in the airport....and they make us go to take busses on the tarmac.Very clever.

Luggage:well 30 min waiting.

Taxi;if you wish to pay 700b to go to BKK with their overpriced limo OK else you take a shuttle.

(I had booked my preferate taxi companyso no problem,but poor scammed tourists;welcome in Thailand )

I think you imagine what I voted no?

Let's see ..... Printer ... Airline problem (Budget airline ....)

Gate or Bus .... Result of flying the budget airlines

Luggage ... (same thing ... gate=faster ... faster = not flying the cheapo airlines)

Limos --- fair price for the folks that want to use them

Taxis --- available

So your problem was flying a budget airline?

[Cheeky Farang]

Just went to Chang Mai and back

Booked via internet.We nearly missed the Thai flight due to their faulty printing machine that refused to print ticket."engineers (wouhaha)"were more interrested at looking my gf than to try to solve the problem.Gf transleted their conversation:printer faulty since day one.

When come back from Chang Mai,they make us go out of the plane on one of their tube normally connected to exit door in the airport....and they make us go to take busses on the tarmac.Very clever.

Luggage:well 30 min waiting.

Taxi;if you wish to pay 700b to go to BKK with their overpriced limo OK else you take a shuttle.

(I had booked my preferate taxi companyso no problem,but poor scammed tourists;welcome in Thailand )

I think you imagine what I voted no?

Let's see ..... Printer ... Airline problem (Budget airline ....)

Gate or Bus .... Result of flying the budget airlines

Luggage ... (same thing ... gate=faster ... faster = not flying the cheapo airlines)

Limos --- fair price for the folks that want to use them

Taxis --- available

So your problem was flying a budget airline?

Djinn wrote - Booked via internet. We nearly missed the Thai flight so why do you think Thai Airways is a budget airline ?

Now- I always fly Thai and I can tell you all of the above that you wrote also equated to all the Thai flights I have had since this DISGRACE of an airport opened. In fact DJinn only waited 30 min for his bag, well I would have been very happy with that. I had over 2.5hour wait, and this can be verified by the Mod of this forum. I firmly believe the worst experiences of this airport are from the Thai operated flights and that whether on arrival or check-in. Thai Airways has lost the plot, and their current attitude toward these problems STINK.

[Donz]

its a new airport, things will get delayed from time to time, the longer its open the smoother it should be. Isnt that pretty obvious or do you guys think that because this is Thailand it will just stay the same

[jdinasia]

Just went to Chang Mai and back

Booked via internet.We nearly missed the Thai flight due to their faulty printing machine that refused to print ticket."engineers (wouhaha)"were more interrested at looking my gf than to try to solve the problem.Gf transleted their conversation:printer faulty since day one.

When come back from Chang Mai,they make us go out of the plane on one of their tube normally connected to exit door in the airport....and they make us go to take busses on the tarmac.Very clever.

Luggage:well 30 min waiting.

Taxi;if you wish to pay 700b to go to BKK with their overpriced limo OK else you take a shuttle.

(I had booked my preferate taxi companyso no problem,but poor scammed tourists;welcome in Thailand )

I think you imagine what I voted no?

Let's see ..... Printer ... Airline problem (Budget airline ....)

Gate or Bus .... Result of flying the budget airlines

Luggage ... (same thing ... gate=faster ... faster = not flying the cheapo airlines)

Limos --- fair price for the folks that want to use them

Taxis --- available

So your problem was flying a budget airline?

Djinn wrote - Booked via internet. We nearly missed the Thai flight so why do you think Thai Airways is a budget airline ?

Now- I always fly Thai and I can tell you all of the above that you wrote also equated to all the Thai flights I have had since this DISGRACE of an airport opened. In fact DJinn only waited 30 min for his bag, well I would have been very happy with that. I had over 2.5hour wait, and this can be verified by the Mod of this forum. I firmly believe the worst experiences of this airport are from the Thai operated flights and that whether on arrival or check-in. Thai Airways has lost the plot, and their current attitude toward these problems STINK.

Have you seen TG using satellite parking for their jets? I haven't

Did you experience satellite parking with TG at the new airport? I haven't

Was it TG that he flew? or Orient Thai? <<12go>>

[britmaveric]

Give it 6mo - if its still the same then there should be whinges.

[Cheeky Farang]

Have you seen TG using satellite parking for their jets? I haven't

Did you experience satellite parking with TG at the new airport

Hi JD,

Yes is the answer, and the manic bus ride to the terminal - TG international from LHR. Also others have posted in the airport section/forum about Thai landing off gate and using the buses.

[mrbojangles]

Well, i land on Sunday. So i'll find out then

[mogster]

i do about 25 flights a year in se asia. imo changi is great. signposts, toilets,etc., etc. whenever you need them. New bkk airport is pathetic. miles and miles of walkway conveyor belts only to be told you came the wrong way. 160 baht for a small draft heineken. youre having a laugh. no where to take a leak when you need one. immigration official being smarmy when you just arived on a 14 hour flight. none of this helps. gimme an identical copy of changi with english speaking, trained staff, any day

[bkkandrew]

I am genuinely astonished at the number of apologists for the new airport. Are you being paid or what? Moreover, what number do I call to be paid to write nice things?

I use the BKK airport every two weeks and have done so near on 6-years. My experience at the new place was shambolic and shaming on this country. I fly tomorrow and am steeling myself for another debacle...

[britmaveric]

I am genuinely astonished at the number of apologists for the new airport. Are you being paid or what? Moreover, what number do I call to be paid to write nice things?

I use the BKK airport every two weeks and have done so near on 6-years. My experience at the new place was shambolic and shaming on this country. I fly tomorrow and am steeling myself for another debacle...

Well it wasn't really ready to be opened - this was glaringly obvious. Well on the more optimistic side - it can't get any worse now can it??

[udon]

Yes..... coz it was 'designed' on the back of a beer mat.

You would think that someone would go have a look at an airport like Changi and "think", how can we imporove on Changi?

Edited October 25, 2006 by udon

[bendix]

Well, call me an apologist if you like, but I'm at the airport as I write this. I posted this on the other thread:

I'm currently sitting having a fantastic coffee in the departures lounge, waiting for a flight to Taipei. It's 6am.

This is my first experience of departure (although I arrived in on another flight the day after it opened).

My experience?

I love it.

The building is stunning, especially in the early hours of the morning. Check in was orderly, there were no queues at immigration and the range of shopping matches HK and Singapore easily. There are food outlets all over the place. And all the early nonsense about no toilets is just that - nonsense.

Sure there are some teething problems and it still looks like some retail places are opening soon so there are some construction people around.

But I am VERY impressed. 9 out of 10.

Oh, and I'm currently on a free wifi account here - so I can't complain about that either.

BTW, the taxi cost me 179 from Sukhumvit 11. Roughly the same as I paid to go to Don Muang.

[IMA_FARANG]

Thai Airways International Check In Area is a &lt;deleted&gt; JOKE. I had a 2 hour wait to check-in, and I hold a Thai ROP Gold Card.

I went thru Royal Exec (Business Class) on 12 October on TG and it took all of 15 minutes from time I entered until bags were checked and boarding pass was in my hand. And that was only because I had one person in front of me.

On the Poll however, I picked #2, but only because the 3 choices were so limitedl. It isn't a bad airport compared to Don Muang, but be serious; it can't hope to compare to Changi in Singapore. (When will transit passengers in BKK ever have bus tours of BKK while in transit?)

I am glad to hear however, that some of the problems are being taken care of.

Edited October 25, 2006 by IMA_FARANG

[Soju]

Well, call me an apologist if you like, but I'm at the airport as I write this. I posted this on the other thread:

I'm currently sitting having a fantastic coffee in the departures lounge, waiting for a flight to Taipei. It's 6am.

This is my first experience of departure (although I arrived in on another flight the day after it opened).

My experience?

I love it.

The building is stunning, especially in the early hours of the morning. Check in was orderly, there were no queues at immigration and the range of shopping matches HK and Singapore easily. There are food outlets all over the place. And all the early nonsense about no toilets is just that - nonsense.

Sure there are some teething problems and it still looks like some retail places are opening soon so there are some construction people around.

But I am VERY impressed. 9 out of 10.

Oh, and I'm currently on a free wifi account here - so I can't complain about that either.

BTW, the taxi cost me 179 from Sukhumvit 11. Roughly the same as I paid to go to Don Muang.

Interesting post. My experience pretty much echoes your's. I experienced a few problems, some of which I complained about, but almost all of which I expect will be solved soon. Maybe I was just lucky and hit the airport at good times and on good days. Or maybe I'm just a hopeless optimist.

As you say, I didn't see any real problems with the toilets, but obviously a large number of people do, as they are now in the process of tripling the number of toilets. I suppose that this problem happens during peak operating times and I haven't been there at those times.

I've also seen lots of complaints about seating, but saw absolutely no seating problems (outside of the THAI lounge that is) myself. I don't doubt the people that say there are seating problems at the gate, even though I've yet to see such a problem, but complaints about seating problems elsewhere I pretty much dismiss as complaints from people who want everything.

As for the many luggage problems. I don't doubt everyone who says there are long delays. I've never had any luggage so can't comment other than I'd expect whatever problems they're having to be worked out soon, so give it some time. The airport hasn't even been open a month yet.

Regarding using remote parking and buses, this is the case with many THAI flights, and probably is my biggest complaint. But I spoke to THAI about it and they said they are trying to resolve the problem and that it's an airport facilities problem, not a THAI specific problem. Let's hope so.

I think people like to complain. Don Muang was an old airport and had lots of problems but not that many complaints because people got used to the problems and complaining about the same old problems was uninteresting. Now we have a new airport and lots of complaints because people were expecting a near perfect airport. I'm not saying all the complaints are not valid, or even that most of them are not valid. I am saying that minus some obvious teething problems that hopefully have been or soon will be resolved, I don't see there being any more or worse problems than were at Don Muang. I think a lot of one's opinion of the new airport has to do with their expectations. I went there the first time expecting to see lots and lots of problems, as I would at any new airport. I saw lots and lots of little problems and a few big problems, but I didn't let them bother me. I also experienced lots and lots of improvements over Don Muang. For me, the improvements far outweigh the problems. If the big problems continue for months on end, then I'd say we all need to complain more.

Anyways, despite my optimism, I do think the complaining has merit as it shows to AOT and the airlines that people aren't happy with certain things so they will be pushed harder to resolve these problems. I'm sure they're well aware of most all these problems even without the complaints, but certainly must have their hands full opening the new airport in a hurried manner, so there is a need to prioritize problem solving, and the ones about which they're hearing the most complaints will likely get first attention. But everyone should remember that this is Thailand, so please complain in an appropriate manner. If you lose your cool when complaining, you won't make a good impression and your complaint may go unnoticed.

Regarding the poll that started this thread, I think it's a bad poll, but chose the second option as the best of the three. I think it will be a good airport once the teething problems are resolved but don't know that it can be judged to be equal to other airports. All airports are unique and each has their good and bad points. Some people will like it and and some won't. No airport is perfect. No airport is without complaints. I'm sure Suvarnabhumi will never be perfect, but given the overall state of Thailand I think they've done a good job with the airport, assuming they fix the few glaring problems within a reasonable time. My expectations of anything in Thailand are based on the fact that they are in Thailand. Take the same circumstances and put them in another country, and you have to use different expectations by which to judge the product. People don't go to Thailand, a third-world country, expecting a country with filled with a first-world infrastructure and conveniences. That doesn't mean they can build a third-rate airport and expect people to be happy, but it means there can be some deficiencies and still satisfy the majority of people who come with the knowledge that this is Thailand.

[womble]

"range of shopping matches HK and Singapore easily. There are food outlets all over the place."

And did you check the prices? Everything is controlled by one company, kings power and they are overcharging on everything they are selling, not by a little but by a huge amount.

The choice for food is not good, all the other airports in asia are much better, where do you get this idea from, have you ever been to another airport in asia???

Hong Kong has everything from Mc D's, KFC, Burger King to Noodle, rice and English pub food.

The choice is very poor in Bangkok. The same can be said for the shopping.

What you have written is simply not true, the choice is poor and over priced when compared to elsewhere in Asia.

[kmart]

Only used the new place once, but my initial impression was very good. Staff were helpful and efficient, bags checked in were not a problem, and did not have one hitch on a return to Hat Yai.

Only negative encountered was the overpriced, crap food in the top floor of the main hall.

[djinn]

Just went to Chang Mai and back

Booked via internet.We nearly missed the Thai flight due to their faulty printing machine that refused to print ticket."engineers (wouhaha)"were more interrested at looking my gf than to try to solve the problem.Gf transleted their conversation:printer faulty since day one.

When come back from Chang Mai,they make us go out of the plane on one of their tube normally connected to exit door in the airport....and they make us go to take busses on the tarmac.Very clever.

Luggage:well 30 min waiting.

Taxi;if you wish to pay 700b to go to BKK with their overpriced limo OK else you take a shuttle.

(I had booked my preferate taxi companyso no problem,but poor scammed tourists;welcome in Thailand )

I think you imagine what I voted no?

Let's see ..... Printer ... Airline problem (Budget airline ....)

Gate or Bus .... Result of flying the budget airlines

Luggage ... (same thing ... gate=faster ... faster = not flying the cheapo airlines)

Limos --- fair price for the folks that want to use them

Taxis --- available

So your problem was flying a budget airline?

Never considered Thai air as cheap but up to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Soju]

"range of shopping matches HK and Singapore easily. There are food outlets all over the place."

And did you check the prices? Everything is controlled by one company, kings power and they are overcharging on everything they are selling, not by a little but by a huge amount.

The choice for food is not good, all the other airports in asia are much better, where do you get this idea from, have you ever been to another airport in asia???

Hong Kong has everything from Mc D's, KFC, Burger King to Noodle, rice and English pub food.

The choice is very poor in Bangkok. The same can be said for the shopping.

What you have written is simply not true, the choice is poor and over priced when compared to elsewhere in Asia.

I suppose the food selection is quite a subjective matter, but can you honestly say that the food selection at Don Muang was better than Suvarnabhumi? I'm referring here to the food selection once you go through immigration on an outbound international flight. And can you honestly say the the prices are the same or higher than Don Muang? My experience is that there is no comparison in the food selection airside between Don Muang and Suvaranabhumi. Don Muang had absolutely a horrible selection and at totally ridiculous prices. I never once bought a single thing there due to that. Suvaranabhumi has a much larger selection and at reasonable prices for airport dining, IMHO. Airside domestically, it's a different story. Suvarnabhumi, domestic is much worse than Don Muang, domestic. There's really no options here and you should eat before you go to the gates. Landside, also there's a difference between Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi. Price-wise, I'd say it's similar. Selection-wise, I'd say Don Muang had the upper-hand with a good selection, whereas Suvarnabhumi is more marginal.

With regard to Hong Kong having a better selection of food options, I'd agree, though pricing wise I didn't see a significant difference as you did. Give the new airport a couple of months and I'd guess there will be some more food shops open and bring the selection closer to Hong Kong, though likely still not enough to match it.

To me, shopping seemed to be on-par with other airports, but I almost never do any shopping at airports as they're all terribly overpriced. I've never understood the need for duty-free shops at airports, but I guess there are certain items that for certain people they think are good deals. I've never seen anything for sale in any duty-free shop that I couldn't buy for the same or less outside the airport. If the prices are really so high, simply don't buy. If everyone did that, they'd quickly either lower their prices or go out of business. If they stay in business, then obviously enough people think the prices are a good deal. People need to eat and drink and may not be able to wait many hours to find a more reasonably priced alternative. Very few people have the same needs with regards to duty-free shopping. So I'd say that keeping the food/drink prices reasonable is important, but trying to put price controls on other items is not necessary. Let the market determine if the pricing is fair or not.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Soju

[Gary A]

I hate all airports equally. Other than the VERY small international airports like Krabi, you are captive and must pay outrageous prices for even a bottle of water. I have never left from the new airport and only arrived October the 5th for the first time. Other than the long walk from the arrival gate things went fine for me. I was through immigration very quickly. The people movers made the walk from the gate at least bearable. I did have to wait for my luggage about 20 minutes or maybe a little longer. Actually I was thankful that it arrived at all. In time all the little quirks will be worked out and it will be just like all the other international airports. There are advantages as well as disadvantages to having multiple terminals. Which is better? That depends on your connections. Simply leaving or arriving, it appears that separate terminals are better and easier.

[womble]

"With regard to Hong Kong having a better selection of food options, I'd agree, though pricing wise I didn't see a significant difference as you did."

The food in HK airport is on a par with what you would pay outside the airport, and the range means you have lots of choices. Unlike Suvarnabhumi which is a rip off, 75 baht for a bottle of King power water!!!!

Anyway there were cheap tasty options in the old domestic terminal, personally I will miss the chinese upstairs that gave you a plate of duck and rice, soup and a drink for under 120 baht. The same in new airport would set you back something in the region of 300-400 baht.

A Mc d's meal or kfc meal is cheaper than that in HK.

[udon]

3 airports have impressed me.

Changi

London City

& my alltime favourite.... Koh Samui.