Short (and Mostly Positive) Report Of My Experience With The New Airport

[Tompa]

After reading quite a lot about other people’s experiences of the new airport I was looking forward to seeing and experiencing it for myself. We traveled to Sweden on the 21st of Dec with a night flight. We arrived about 2.5 hours before the flight and there weren’t too many people around. Check in was completed very quickly and we were off to check out the rest of the airport.

So much has been said about the lack of toilets but we found no problems at all either finding a close by toilet, or them being crowded (again, this was late at night – around 22, so it might be a totally different story during day time). There were definitely an abundance of duty free shops and the prices weren’t that attractive at all (duty free shops in Europe seemed cheaper than these ones). I brought my lap top with me but could unfortunately not find any power outlets at all which sucked. Not sure if they have wireless internet available as in the Don Muang airport? There were plenty of seats around (although they were freezing cold) so no problems there.

We arrived back around 3 pm yesterday and the airport was a lot more crowded. It was quite a long walk from the gate to the immigration counter, but nothing too bad. I saw the huge billboards the long stay Thailand Company put up advising about visa on arrival. There were about 10 Japs that were sitting at their counters but not sure if they were there for their actual service, or if they mistook it for the immigration. Immigration itself was hugely crowded and extremely slow. I checked the average time per passenger and this was about 3 minutes, far slower than their stated turnover time. Once through immigration and customs you entered the tiny arrival hall which was just a big mess. It’s incredibly small and hugely crowded (mostly taxi touts I guess ). I didn’t see a single sign for the official taxi stands but after having read this forum we headed directly to the departure lounge to catch a cab there. Some other members have mentioned that they were accosted by some AOT officials trying to get them to go down to take the taxis at the arrival hall. Nothing happened to us, in fact one nice AOT staff even asked us where we were going and helped us stop a mini van (as he saw the huge number of bags we were carrying). The fare was 187 baht to Ploenchit (plus 60 odd baht for the express way), a far cry from the 7-800 baht the “limousine” drivers want.

All it all it was quite a pleasant experience. The only real negative aspect was the arrival hall which is just too darn small.

Tompa,

[tornado40]

It seems you took some time so that you could write your 'report'

I have to say that it decribes how I see the new airport

I think its great

[tangoll]

I flew into and out of new airport over 12/28 - 1/7/07 period. This is 2nd time using the new airport, as I had also flown out on opening day on 928/07. My experience this time around:

1. Immigration lines were long, but with luck, I picked the right line, and was thru immigration in about 20 minutes. The single unified line is better than separate lines, hoping you pick the right line with the quicker worker, and hoping that pax in front don't have special immigration/visa problems. This means picking the line with mostly Japanese and Caucasians, and avoiding the 3rd continent individuals, being the correct way to describe this particular racial prejudice.

2. Found no takers amongst the taxi touts in arrival hall to my counteroffer of baht 300 for ride into town. Once they reject your offer, the others in the same general area won't bother you anymore, since they either overhear your 300 baht offer, or they talk about it amongst themselves.

3. Found toilet in arrivals area is near line N.

4. Went upstairs to departures area, found waiting taxi, used meter to go to Ratchadapisek Road, fare on meter was 187, and tollway fee is baht 25. Paid total 230.

5. On day of departure, anything went smoothly -- check in was quick, thru immigration. Only minor hitch is that it's unclear exactly where the available small luggage carts are parked. They should be right after hand baggage check, but you have to hunt around for them. Each gate area has its own toilet, so actually there are sufficient toilets for departing pax. Taxi with meter from Ratchadapisek Road was same amount as on the way in. Both taxi rides were no more than 30 minutes.

Seems to me that the new airport is functioning OK.

[Soju]

1. Immigration lines were long, but with luck, I picked the right line, and was thru immigration in about 20 minutes. The single unified line is better than separate lines, hoping you pick the right line with the quicker worker, and hoping that pax in front don't have special immigration/visa problems. This means picking the line with mostly Japanese and Caucasians, and avoiding the 3rd continent individuals, being the correct way to describe this particular racial prejudice.

Could you please expound on this "single unified line". Are you saying that there was a single line on one of your trips through BKK, or are you comparing BKK with other airports that have a single line? I've always seen separate lines at BKK and prefer it that way because I'm always able to walk down a few booths and find one with an immigration officer and nobody in line. I've yet to have to wait in a line upon arrival, and only very minimal lines of a couple people on departure.

[Old Man River]

1. Immigration lines were long, but with luck, I picked the right line, and was thru immigration in about 20 minutes. The single unified line is better than separate lines, hoping you pick the right line with the quicker worker, and hoping that pax in front don't have special immigration/visa problems. This means picking the line with mostly Japanese and Caucasians, and avoiding the 3rd continent individuals, being the correct way to describe this particular racial prejudice.

Could you please expound on this "single unified line". Are you saying that there was a single line on one of your trips through BKK, or are you comparing BKK with other airports that have a single line? I've always seen separate lines at BKK and prefer it that way because I'm always able to walk down a few booths and find one with an immigration officer and nobody in line. I've yet to have to wait in a line upon arrival, and only very minimal lines of a couple people on departure.

I had no problems departing. On arrival, it probably depends on what time of the day (or evening) you arrive. In a few days, I will be arriving at midnight and at this point have no idea how long it will take to clear immigration. I can only guess that one's experience on fast or slow would depend on whether there are a lot of other arriving flights at the same time, similar to other airports.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

1. Immigration lines were long, but with luck, I picked the right line, and was thru immigration in about 20 minutes. The single unified line is better than separate lines, hoping you pick the right line with the quicker worker, and hoping that pax in front don't have special immigration/visa problems. This means picking the line with mostly Japanese and Caucasians, and avoiding the 3rd continent individuals, being the correct way to describe this particular racial prejudice.

. . . I'm always able to walk down a few booths and find one with an immigration officer and nobody in line. I've yet to have to wait in a line upon arrival, and only very minimal lines of a couple people on departure.

Hmmm, you must spend a lot of time in first or biz class -- first ones off the plane get to see empty lines. I've passed through 'Poom three rountrips and always faced a substantial lineup.

[Soju]

I had no problems departing. On arrival, it probably depends on what time of the day (or evening) you arrive. In a few days, I will be arriving at midnight and at this point have no idea how long it will take to clear immigration. I can only guess that one's experience on fast or slow would depend on whether there are a lot of other arriving flights at the same time, similar to other airports.

I typically arrive about 00:30 - 01:00 and no queues for me at that time. I also used Don Muang a lot, arriving at that same time and ALWAYS had a queue there, sometimes 45 minutes to an hour. I'd assume that the flight schedules remained the same from Don Muang to Suvarnabhumi, so the only explanation I can see for the lack of queues in my case is that there are many more immigration officers than at Don Muang and/or are more efficient so that under normal conditions they are able to process the passengers pretty much as they arrive. Of course if you get a dozen 747's all arriving one after the other, there will definitely be some long queues.

[Soju]

1. Immigration lines were long, but with luck, I picked the right line, and was thru immigration in about 20 minutes. The single unified line is better than separate lines, hoping you pick the right line with the quicker worker, and hoping that pax in front don't have special immigration/visa problems. This means picking the line with mostly Japanese and Caucasians, and avoiding the 3rd continent individuals, being the correct way to describe this particular racial prejudice.

. . . I'm always able to walk down a few booths and find one with an immigration officer and nobody in line. I've yet to have to wait in a line upon arrival, and only very minimal lines of a couple people on departure.

Hmmm, you must spend a lot of time in first or biz class -- first ones off the plane get to see empty lines. I've passed through 'Poom three rountrips and always faced a substantial lineup.

No, I typically fly a mix of business and economy and have the same experiences with both. But I do walk quickly once off the plane and am able to pass most or all other passengers before getting to immigration. I also have flown exclusively on TG into Suvarnabhumi and always use the same bank of immigration booths which are closest to the C gates. If you arrive at the E, F, or G gates, the immigration booths nearest to those gates may be busier.

[tangoll]

At Don Muang towards the last few months of operation, there was a single line that fed into a bank of booths, but at one end of the immigration hall, there were a number of booths with separate lines, and so I usually went to the separate lines area and got thru there within ten to 15 minutes. At Suvanna, I came in just the one time, and there were only the separate lines with each line holding at least 30 people. So it became a question of scanning the lines to see which group of pax would seem to present the fewer problems, and also a look at the immigration officer manning the booth. The younger females usually seem to work faster and more efficiently. The older male sods just took their <deleted> time and with a sour face.

I've always wondered whether there could be separate booths for pax without checked luggage, and once thru the line, the line bypasss the baggage claim area. For pax with checked luggage, if they have to wait for luggage, waiting in immigration line presents no delay, as they must wait anyway for the luggage. For pax with no checked luggage, making us wait along with all other pax does present delays that are unnecessary.

[Old Man River]

I had no problems departing. On arrival, it probably depends on what time of the day (or evening) you arrive. In a few days, I will be arriving at midnight and at this point have no idea how long it will take to clear immigration. I can only guess that one's experience on fast or slow would depend on whether there are a lot of other arriving flights at the same time, similar to other airports.

I typically arrive about 00:30 - 01:00 and no queues for me at that time. I also used Don Muang a lot, arriving at that same time and ALWAYS had a queue there, sometimes 45 minutes to an hour. I'd assume that the flight schedules remained the same from Don Muang to Suvarnabhumi, so the only explanation I can see for the lack of queues in my case is that there are many more immigration officers than at Don Muang and/or are more efficient so that under normal conditions they are able to process the passengers pretty much as they arrive. Of course if you get a dozen 747's all arriving one after the other, there will definitely be some long queues.

I came in early this morning (00:30 - 01:00) and immigration was packed, as several planes had just arrived. The immigration agents were friendly and helpful, but not enough lines were open to expedite things. I got lucky (it only took me 15 minutes) as I was next to the diplomatic line and when empty the friendly agent was taking some from our line.

Given all I have heard about luggage problems, I have to say I had exactly the opposite experience. The luggage was on the carousel waiting. Perhaps the delays at immigration have an upside.