The New Airport, My Review

[The Coder]

New airport impressions:

1. Aesthetically I like the design elements they chose of stainless steel, glass, canvas, and high ceilings. The ergonomics were pretty good, but I just didn’t feel the presentation was pleasing to the eye say like say Inchon airport (too much frame, not enough useful glass, dirty canvas, inside and out there was just no “wow” factor there). From a quality standpoint, there were too many noticeable corner cutting instances such as using metal with silver paint instead of real stainless (due to sub-par contracts?). And then there were instances of just plain shoddy, poorly installed elements that stood out like a sore thumb. The quality spec was better than you will generally find throughout Thailand, but below what you would find in developed countries.

2. Getting in and out of customs was quick and easy. Odd they don’t have those intrusive cameras you stand in front of anymore. They ramped attendants such that there were no more than a handful of people per line, nice! One odd thing is instead of handing you your passport back, they put it on a tray. I find this kind of a cold welcome.

3. Minor disappointments relative to Don Muang: no drinking fountains, nor any conspicuous outlets to plug a laptop into. I really miss the latter.

4. Extremely long walk to the gate, just like Don Muang, but with fewer walkways—err wasn’t this something they were going to fix? It made my skin crawl having to walk by so many duty free shops with rigged prices and the clank of forks on plates of people eating 400 baht pasta. Not my thing.

5. Had to take a bus to the plane both on departure and arrival—this was slightly more appalling because I thought surely this was another thing they would fix for the new airport especially since it is operating well under capacity. I’ve always felt herding passengers into buses like cattle is a very undignified way for an airport to operate.

6. Taxi on arrival was the one problem I would classify as major. You first walk to an official looking taxi booth which turns out to be taxi mafia owned (i.e. 3x the regular fare). If you don’t fall for it, you then must hunt for the hard to find taxi queue. If you can bear a 2 hour wait behind hundreds of people due to no taxis around then I guess it’s ok, not! What a disgrace and inconvenience for people’s first impression of Thailand. Read more in this thread: Taxi At Arrivals

Overall impression: I preferred Don Muang. The newer airport is a little nicer to look at, but didn’t seem to fix the obvious problems or add world class features. All I could think of is what Thailand could have done to help the country with all the money they spent on this place. They didn’t get it right the first time, but maybe they can get new management in the future to try to salvage lacking areas as I just had the feeling there was a lot of unutilized potential to do better.

[manjara]

New airport impressions:

Overall impression: I preferred Don Muang. The newer airport is a little nicer to look at, but didn’t seem to fix the obvious problems or add world class features. All I could think of is what Thailand could have done to help the country with all the money they spent on this place. They didn’t get it right the first time, but maybe they can get new management in the future to try to salvage lacking areas as I just had the feeling there was a lot of unutilized potential to do better.

Good review, I haven't been there yet, but mafia taxis and buses to the planes are enough to let me know that this was a waste of time and money.

Any new airport that doesn't have a decent, obvious taxi area is just ripping passengers off (they even manage a reasonable taxi rank at MoChit 2!).

As for having to get buses to the planes, that's just unforgivable unless the airport is over-capacity.

They'll probably build a 3rd Airport in Samut Prakan or somewhere South West.

Suvarnabhumi seems a 'very Thai airport', i.e. not particularly well designed, executed or built, but works providing your expectations are not high.

So long as the people working there are smiling and there are plenty of massage/spa places, it will be considered a success.

[dantilley]

5. Had to take a bus to the plane both on departure and arrival—this was slightly more appalling because I thought surely this was another thing they would fix for the new airport especially since it is operating well under capacity. I’ve always felt herding passengers into buses like cattle is a very undignified way for an airport to operate.

This is dependant on the airline I think. I didn't have to do this when flying with Etihad recently.

6. Taxi on arrival was the one problem I would classify as major. You first walk to an official looking taxi booth which turns out to be taxi mafia owned (i.e. 3x the regular fare). If you don’t fall for it, you then must hunt for the hard to find taxi queue. If you can bear a 2 hour wait behind hundreds of people due to no taxis around then I guess it’s ok, not! What a disgrace and inconvenience for people’s first impression of Thailand. Read more in this thread: Taxi At Arrivals

My experience of this was quite different. Hardly any hassle at all from touts and clear and obvious signs to direct you to the meter taxis. Once there, there were about 4 people queuing in front of me. I waited 2 minutes to get in my cab, and someone at curb side very helpfully carried my bags into the taxi for me. Plain sailing really, and also the reported massive crowds at arrivals weren't in evidence at all either.

[Soju]

3. Minor disappointments relative to Don Muang: no drinking fountains, nor any conspicuous outlets to plug a laptop into. I really miss the latter.

If you'd be willing to use a drinking fountain at Suvarnabhumi, then you're a braver man than me. When I saw the distinctively brown colored tap water in the restrooms there, drinking the tap would not be something I'd want to consider.

6. Taxi on arrival was the one problem I would classify as major. You first walk to an official looking taxi booth which turns out to be taxi mafia owned (i.e. 3x the regular fare). If you don’t fall for it, you then must hunt for the hard to find taxi queue. If you can bear a 2 hour wait behind hundreds of people due to no taxis around then I guess it’s ok, not! What a disgrace and inconvenience for people’s first impression of Thailand. Read more in this thread: Taxi At Arrivals

Simply go up to Level 4 (departure level) and catch a taxi from there. It couldn't be simpler, and you'll save yourself 50 baht and be able to catch a cab immediately. No problem whatsoever as far as I'm concerned, provided you know what to do. For some who don't know better and hit the arrival area at the wrong time, it might be a problem.

[inf]

Just passed thru the airport over the weekend, for the second time this year, and again no problem with the cabs. If you know beforehand what to expect - by reading this forum - there is no problem, but I agree someone not familiar with the situation might fall into the hands of unscrupulous taxi or limo people.

This time i also noticed the toilet problem, and i agree there's too few of them. Even more peculiar is the design: to wash your hands you have to go deeper into the restrooms, while any restroom i have ever seen anywhere has the wash basins near the entry/exit.

[Who, me ?]

Just passed thru the airport over the weekend, for the second time this year, and again no problem with the cabs. If you know beforehand what to expect - by reading this forum - there is no problem, but I agree someone not familiar with the situation might fall into the hands of unscrupulous taxi or limo people.

This time i also noticed the toilet problem, and i agree there's too few of them. Even more peculiar is the design: to wash your hands you have to go deeper into the restrooms, while any restroom i have ever seen anywhere has the wash basins near the entry/exit.

Someone might have looked at the work plan the wrong way ....When you see how they read a map, that's no surprise !

[Simmo]

Simply go up to Level 4 (departure level) and catch a taxi from there. It couldn't be simpler, and you'll save yourself 50 baht and be able to catch a cab immediately. No problem whatsoever as far as I'm concerned, provided you know what to do. For some who don't know better and hit the arrival area at the wrong time, it might be a problem.

That didn't work for me yesterday. They have spotters watching the escalators for people with baggage going upstairs and direct you downstairs.

[Soju]

Simply go up to Level 4 (departure level) and catch a taxi from there. It couldn't be simpler, and you'll save yourself 50 baht and be able to catch a cab immediately. No problem whatsoever as far as I'm concerned, provided you know what to do. For some who don't know better and hit the arrival area at the wrong time, it might be a problem.

That didn't work for me yesterday. They have spotters watching the escalators for people with baggage going upstairs and direct you downstairs.

I was there yesterday, about 11 AM, and didn't have the slightest problem doing just that. Didn't see any of these so called 'spotters'. What about the passengers arriving on one flight and then departing on another? Are you telling me that someone is trying to prevent these people from getting to their flight? If someone tried to stop me from going from Level 2 to Level 4, it would be a long, long time before they heard the end of it. Probably the person you ran into was nothing more than a taxi tout. If you don't have time, just ignore them, it's easy to do. If you have a lot of extra time, just call the tourist police on them and have them make a report. Even the mention of the word "tourist police" sends most of the touts running away as fast as they can.

[libya 115]

Good report.

I shall be travelling through the new airport again very soon; but my concern is taxis and transportation upon return later in January.

This next time I shall have to make my own way back to Pattaya since it is late at night (early hours). Can anyone suggest the best choice?

I have only hand luggage and would have taken the bus, but they stop about 10.00pm, I don't particularly want a metered taxi, and I am wary of tout taxis, who have a bad safety and security record (in the early hours).

[Axel]

Airport limousine.

I wouldn't know the rate for Pattaya. To BKK it's Baht 900, cash only.

[Old Man River]

This time i also noticed the toilet problem, and i agree there's too few of them.

I flew out last week. In the toliet area where I went one of the two urinals and one of the sinks were already out of service. The problem appears to be getting worse.

[Simmo]

I was there yesterday, about 11 AM, and didn't have the slightest problem doing just that. Didn't see any of these so called 'spotters'. What about the passengers arriving on one flight and then departing on another? Are you telling me that someone is trying to prevent these people from getting to their flight? If someone tried to stop me from going from Level 2 to Level 4, it would be a long, long time before they heard the end of it. Probably the person you ran into was nothing more than a taxi tout. If you don't have time, just ignore them, it's easy to do. If you have a lot of extra time, just call the tourist police on them and have them make a report. Even the mention of the word "tourist police" sends most of the touts running away as fast as they can.

Not a tout, he had an AOT badge on and asked us if we'd just arrived. Stupid gf said yes and he showed us the way to the official first floor taxi rank.