Suvarnabhumi Airport

[BKKSTAN]

Arjay went down to get a taxi!Shortimer went up to departures to get a taxi because there were long lines and no taxis when he went down because they were loading at Domestic!
So I guess it depends on which flights are coming into the airport at certain times!
Up to departures seems to be the easiest and cheapest!But they will probably try to nix that eventually like they tried to at Don Muang!
Now ,we have another project!Find out what the best times of arrival and departures are to avoid as many inconveniences as possible
Anybody up for that project

[shortimer]

Know what you mean Stan, all depends on time of the day, when I went up to departures and found all the cabs the police were all standing around and did not prevent me taking the taxi, actually I got the impression that they were fine with this system as long as it did not screw up the traffic flow upstairs. On the domestic flights during the day the cab cue was normal and I don't thnk the departure routine would have worked very well.

As to the name, well what can I tell you, little of both I guess. Actually I have just over a year to go before I can pull the pinand retire as a proper gentleman, well retire anyway. TGF wants me to rent house in Udon as she is tired of living in dormitory in Nong Khai hospital so we shall see what the future brings. Still toying with the idea of spending 6 or more months in Thailand and returning for couple of months a year to the States, how about you Stan do you ever go back home at all or is Thailand home year round?

[BKKSTAN]

Thailand is my home year round.I went back for 3 weeks 6 years ago!I am thinking of a trip soon.Contemplating taking the wife and daughter.I have a lot of back trouble traveling back and forth to the USA.I am usually worn out from the travelling as I can not sit comfortably for long.

Sometimes I think about moving back as I think it would be advantageous for my wife's future,but I don't feel that way about the daughter.
Although,I hate being the minority and the feeling of powerlessness as an expat here,I prefer living here personally about 2:1 over the USA.I do miss the lack of ''true friendships'' in Thailand,but the focus on the family(wife,daugter and dog) covers most of that feeling combined with enough falangs to be friendly with!The lack of people that you can really trust or count on is the biggest negative for me.
I don't relish the thought of dealing with the new airport either

[dill]

I was just in LOS and this was my first time in the new airport so I was ready for major hassles but to my delight everything went very smoothly, the only problem I encountered was the taxi situation. As I arrived at about midnight when I went down to the taxi stand after running the gauntlet of phony taxi hackers I found huge lines and no taxi's, I noticed down the way at the domestic end what taxi's that were there were being filled at that end. However as I had read the posts here from other members I carried my sorry butt up to departures to find a huge ammount of taxi's just sitting there, as soon as I walked out a driver waved me over and put my bags into cab and off we sent to Sukumvit, all told the fare was just over 300 baht with tolls and tip. Very pleasurable.

Couple of days later taxi to airport for trip to Udon and once again no problem going to Domestic terminal, easy check in, purchase of ticket (NOK) and proceeding to gate, all well marked and no problem, on return same same and luggage wait was about 10-12 minutes, only drawback was luggage came in on same carousel as flight from Pucket and many arab travelers waiting for luggage, must have been water and deoderant shortage because the body odor was something to behold.

International flight back was same same except the check in where the lines were really long and slow but I attribute this to the passengers ahead of me (JAL flight) they had each about 3 huge suitcases apiece and were in groups of 8-10 a group handing girl stacks of passports and tickets, once this was past and I took the Bataan death march to the gate, good for exercise, were the plane embarked. I found the shops to be no more expensive than most in any airport in the world, the only problem is the one I read about most here the Lavatories, few and far between and only for use by 3 seaters and couple of urinals, but I am sure this will be addressed soon ( or so I hope) Would have been worse but thanks to the posting of some of the members here that went first I breezed right through.

still not understand how the taxi system at the airport works because i have always caught toom or limo service but this time i will give a taxi a go.
at level one where the taxi are, does it work on a ticket system or do you just wait in line and haggle with the driver when it is your turn to jump in.
and at the departure (level 4 i think) do you just jump in or wait for somebody to call you over.
thanxs for any advice

[arjay]

Traveller, Bearing in mind you arrive at "Arrivals" not "Departures": -

Based on my recollections, you come out of the arrivals hall and then descend one level for public taxis. If you don't descend one level, you will see only Limo's!

You should then see the visible queues for the taxis. You queue up and tell them at the desk where you want to go. They write it on a ticket that is given to the taxi driver.

[izzix]

TRAVELLER'S Tales

Organised chaos!
DON ROSS in The Bangkok Post

Could we close the year without a few choice comments on the country's
aviation hub, Suvarnabhumi Airport?

Some observers are howling for blood demanding the resignation of
Airports of Thailand's management team based mainly on their personal
gripes when passing through this huge complex. It cost an estimated 155
billion baht to open the doors back in September, but during the four
months of operations, we have all marvelled over the lack of toilets,
the dirty windows and cracked imitation marble tiles.

It was supposed to look better than this, letters to the various
newspapers complained.

Expectations were running high. We tended to forget the airport was not
supposed to open September 28, 2006. Experts had warned six months
earlier that an opening date in late 2007 was far more appropriate.

Yet I wonder if the extra time would have solved the issues, we all
complain about. There are painters on Sydney Harbour Bridge that have a
lifetime assignment. When they finish painting at one end, they start
the routine all over again. They spend their entire careers in the
painting business on a single bridge. The same applies to the hectares
of glass panes and steel beams at Suvarnabhumi. Who has the window
cleaner's contract I wonder - individual Power or Magicland Hotels? Did
someone forget this small point? Perhaps they are still hiring an army
of cleaners willing to perch for near eternity on the domes dispelling
dust and grime while giving the "Golden Land" airport a permanent
shimmer.

Short of importing "port-a-loos" by the hundreds, the lack of comfort
zones, as our posh friends call the plain old fashioned toilet, is a
problem passengers will have to live with for another six to nine
months. A 40 million baht budget will give us 205 additional
life-saving cubicles - 95 for males and 100 for female travellers.

Until then, breathe in and make a beeline for the far corners of the
baggage retrieval areas where a lone toilet is located.

In contrast, each baggage area has three oversized baggage bays. This
is very is major improvement, over Don Muang Airport, for people who
travel with their favourite prams, surfboards, skis, golf bags and
bicycles. Unfortunately, you will never be sure which bay will be used
to dump your precious oversized belongings on the terminal floor. It
all makes for a delightful jogging session if you are not encumbered
with twins, or three other suitcases.

Solving the most alarming shortcomings at Suvarnabhumi Airport would
force its closure for three years, while engineers work out how to
extend the meet-and-greet area of the arrivals floor. This alleyway is
probably the most glaring of structural errors. It can only be
explained by the suggestion that someone lopped off 25 metres of hall
space along the length of the terminal to cut budget costs.

Why spend our time crying over spilt milk? We should accept taxpayers
were given an alleyway instead of a grand hall sporting a dramatic
sense of arrival at what is heralded a gateway to Asia's top tourism
destination.

Not much has been said about the chaos in the departure hall. If you
are a business or first-class traveller, you will not notice that on a
typical evening the queue at Thai Airways International check-in rows
snakes its way through the hall to the door.

You can almost step out of your taxi into the queue. It causes handbag
fights. Some tourists queue according to British Standard, orderly with
elbow room and a line as straight as brigadier's cane. It just does not
work. Elbow room is interpreted as legitimate parking space for an
artful queue dodger.

Then the sweeping bends created by this gigantic unruly reptile is
viewed as an entry point for a more youthful, aggressive snake of
harried passengers. It results in chaos and stress to the point where
passengers will take their business elsewhere.

Blame falls on Thai Airways' management for not doubling the number of
check-in rows for economy passengers, but then there are no vacant
check-in counters unless you squeeze the rest of the airlines into half
of the remaining rows.

Are we exaggerating, a THAI executive might query? Very few of them opt
for a private trip in economy class, so they only see the ordered and
pleasant departure environment afforded business passengers.

Yet it is now so bad, some THAI passengers say they will avoid the
national airline's services. Instead, they will book flights on
competitive airlines to avoid the peak hour chaos around the TG
check-in area.

Taxi services are another thorny issues for passengers. One solution is
to find a reliable limousine driver and ask if he moonlights.
Apparently, many of them do and by jotting down a mobile telephone
number, a Bangkok resident discovers a more reliable home-to-airport
service at a discounted price.

The alternative is to park your car at the airport paying 250 baht for
24 hours, while cutting out the hassle of dealing with what "letters to
the editor" describe as "airport thugs."

Then there remains a crucial question: Should the AOT press ahead with
expansion at Suvarnabhumi Airport to gain a lead on terminal capacity
over the next five years? As it stands it can accommodate a maximum of
45 million passengers annually, just five million more than Don Muang
handled in 2005.

Full-service airlines, that provide around 90% of the passengers, are
calling for a new mid-field terminal to serve the evening and
late-night peaks when most of the European flights depart.

However, AOT has talked about building a low-cost airline terminal that
will support the 10 percent traffic that moves during daylight hours
and can be handled by the current terminal without any stress on other
airline services.

The proposed low-cost terminal would cost 800 million baht, take 16
months to build and handle about 15 million passengers, about double
the current passenger levels for all low cost airlines serving
Thailand.

Predictably, there are other views emerging within the AOT, such as the
recent suggestion that perhaps the low-cost airlines would be better
off back at Don Muang. It is very likely that 2007 could close with
Bangkok having two airports despite an outcry from scheduled airlines.
Ultimately, Suvarnabhumi Airport will become too crowded and two
expensive for low-cost airlines and doubts have already been cast on
the AOT's financial commitment to a new low-cost terminal anyway.

Low-cost airlines always argued that they would be better off left
behind at Don Muang, a sentiment that some passengers can sympathise
with a few trips through Suvarnabhumi Airport under their belt.

[BKKSTAN]

Maybe they will move domestic and low cost flights back to DM!Todats Nation reports:

Don Muang may be re-opened: official

The government is considering reopening Bangkok's old international airport, just three months after it closed to make way for the much-heralded Suvarnabhumi airport, an official said Thursday.

Chiaisak Angkasuwan, director general of the civil aviation department, said there was a chance commercial flights would resume at Don Muang airport because of unsolved problems at Suvarnabhumi, which means 'golden land' in Thai.

"We are considering reopening Don Muang airport as problems at Suvarnabhumi airport have yet to be resolved due to poor management," said Chiaisak.

"Don Muang could be reopened for domestic flights and those of low-cost airlines, but I could not say when," he told AFP.

The decades-old Don Muang closed its operations on September 28 when all commercial flights moved to Suvarnabhumi airport, which the government boasted would be Southeast Asia's largest aviation hub.

But almost three months after opening, the new airport has lingering problems led by inadequate bathrooms and seating areas, dirtiness and safety concerns for female flight attendants, who have complained of sexual harassment by construction workers at the site.

Low-cost airline operators have asked airport officials to let them move back to Don Muang, saying the new airport has become congested and their costs rose after relocation to Suvarnabhumi.

Agence France-Presse

[izzix]

New airport faces partial shutdown

Mistakes, graft found in almost all contracts

AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

Poor construction at Suvarnabhumi may force parts of the new airport to be shut down for repairs. This would open the way for the recently abandoned Don Muang airport to be re-opened to serve Bangkok's air traffic needs.

Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um said yesterday that following a recent report on the problems facing Suvarnabhumi airport, it was likely that part of the new facility would have to be closed and Don Muang airport would pick up the slack.

Some people had suggested the airport, open less than three months, be completely closed for a revamp, with flights being redirected to Don Muang until the improvements are completed, Mr Sansern said. He was opposed to that. Trying to move everything back to Don Muang would cause chaos.

The Council for Democratic Reform _ now the Council for National Security _ asked about the readiness of Suvarnabhumi airport just after the Sept 19 coup, but executives of the Airports of Thailand (AoT) had insisted the airport was ready for the scheduled Sept 28 opening.

Opening the airport before it was completed had inevitably led to problems. If the opening had been delayed to allow work to be finished properly, the airport would have started on a more solid footing.

The new AoT board appointed after the coup has discovered physical and managerial problems at Suvarnabhumi airport.

Board member Yodyiam Theptranont, who heads a sub-panel investigating the problems, said the repairs would take a long time. He could not give a timeframe.

Mr Yodyiam's report to the AoT board outlined a lengthy list of complaints and deficiencies, along with a list of recommendations on fixing the problems.

The report attributed the faults to substandard construction, poor management and manipulation of designs and materials.

The report said the airport's information technology facilities were incomplete and the upper floors of the car park building have no drains, causing rain water to flow into elevator shafts.

Over 1,000 lamps had already burned out and not been replaced.

Mr Yodyiam said AoT lacked an official with direct responsibility for the airport's construction, which had posed an obstacle in getting swift repairs.

Another AoT board member, Tortrakul Yomnak, said many areas need repairs and a partial closure was likely.

Chaisak Angsuwan, director-general of the Civil Aviation Department, said that due to the persistent problems, the department could not issue a permanent licence for Suvarnabhumi airport.

It would, however, extend an interim aerodrome certificate for the airport for another six months in January, he said.

Mr Chaisak said the airport needed to meet all physical and operational requirements before it could be given a permanent certificate.

There were many cracks in the airport's taxiways, some serious and some not, and repairs would be time-consuming, he said. Many operations staff also have no expertise in using their equipment.

Adm Bannawit Kengrian, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's committee on Suvarnabhumi airport, said his panel had discovered mistakes and irregularities in almost all the airport's contracts. Names of those believed responsible would be announced in two weeks.

Specifications in some contracts had been distorted, he said.

Salaries paid executives of the Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel were unusually high. Despite its claimed five-star status, the hotel had plywood doors.

An inexperienced contractor operated transformers that supply power to visiting aircraft and six transformers had burnt out. The cost of digging ditches around the airport was inflated to three billion baht and hiring security guards to five billion baht.

Any contracts where corruption was found would be scrapped, he said

[Miruku]

We came in on Saturday night. One hour in the immigration queue (and me with my arthritis), one hour to collect luggage then when the 6.30am flight was called to Udon in the domestic departure lounge, the bemused passengers found the flight for Udon Rachitani and the one for Udon Thani were called together at the same gate and as there were no signs of any description in sight to indicate 2 separate flights, a fair amount of confusion ensued.

We are not impressed in the slightest by the bells and whistles of the new airport boasting the most flights in Asia (I would have thought Changi would have more flights) and we were not surprised to read that the authorities might close it down for a while and re-open Don Muang.

[FrazeeDK]

two international trips and one domestic through the new airport thus far..

Impressions:

Arrivals/International:
- Arrival; on time/both times.
- LONG walk from the International Plane gate to Immigration!!
- Listen and look as you get off the plane for your baggage belt number. On both arrivals, our belt was further down the immigration halls. Everyone coming down to the first entrance to the immigration hall walk in there.. Massive lines. Continue down the promenade two or three entrances, turn left and probably the lines will be short to nil.
- Baggage delivery.. A tad slow as the new Airport is much bigger than Don Meuang.. Getting the bags from the plane to the individual baggage belts seems to take 15 minutes longer.
- Transport: Seems like as you walk into the main arrival hall it's kind of like old Don Meuang.. Limo desks up front.. Hang a right, bypass the touts, and out to entrances 1-4 for the Novotel shuttles. Hang a left, walk down a ways and out to the taxi queue.. The trip to Bangkok (non rush hour) took about the same as a trip from Don Meuang and about the same price.. 2 toll booths going into the inner ring.. I think one was about 25 Baht and the inner ring entrance the normal 40 Baht.

Departure International:
- They finally got queues established!!! No bag inspection on coming up to the check-in counter, one queue (United anyway) that was controlled by an Airline staffer (you go there, now you go here).. Much more organized. We got in the queue behind at least 100 people and got up to the check-in counter in about 20 minutes or less.
- Emigration: Arrghhghg !!! 25-30 minutes and not enough windows open.. 30-40 people in each queue.. OK, it wasn't a killer but they could put queue barriers up there too to prevent queue jumping..
- an individual Power mile.. I'll never figure out how that company got the contract when they supposedly ripped of the Thai Gov't at Don Meuang and downtown for years.. (wonder who owns that one?) the projecting booths grossly impede a large flow of passengers moving to the gates. At least at Don Muang they kept about a 7 meter corridor open between the booths..
- Departure.. On time, both times..

General Amenities:
- Bathrooms. Each departure gate has a two staller.. Small yes, but clean. I didn't check out any coming down the main promenade.
- Food courts... Way down at either end of the promenade.. You kinda wonder why they didn't keep them in the center..

[BKKSTAN]

Good report FDK!All the reports that I remember talked about how much faster immigration was versus Don Muang.Sounds like things are changing there!
Two toilet stalls at departure?Is that in domestic or international and is that the boarding area?
What do you have to do when transferring from an international flight to a domestic flight and viceversa?
It sounds like careful planning is needed to make connections and prevent a missed flight or a long wait.But still give you time to get your luggage!
What would you estimate the time from the your gate arrival to getting your luggage?And then how much time to catch a taxi?

[laphanphon]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories.php?id=115686

Opinion: Hefty airport fees starting next month are a ripoff

AoT wrong to raise fees

By Boonsong Kositchotethana
Deputy Assignment Editor (Business)

Given the myriad problems airlines and passengers have been facing as a result of deficiencies experienced at Suvarnabhumi Airport, it is totally unfair of the Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) to proceed with the planned fee hikes.

Carriers and passengers simply are not getting value for money at Bangkok's troubled new airport, and the attempt to raise landing and parking fees by 15% in April and the hefty increase in passenger service charges (PSC) in February are a rip-off.

PSC for international flights is set to go up to 700 baht per person from 500 baht at present, while the fee for domestic flights will double to 100 baht.

The fee hike is not justifiable at all in light of the fact that all the flaws, which have created a bad name for the airport, have largely not been fixed, much to the frustration of passengers and those whose work evolves around the airport.

Worse, there has been no definite commitment from the AoT as to when these problems, on the passenger side - ranging from the long wait for luggage, to insufficient toilet facilities, poor air-conditioning and general uncleanliness of the terminal - will ever be resolved.

Similarly, carriers have continued to face operational difficulties ever since its premature opening on Sept 28, 2006, while they have already been burdened with extra costs of about 3.5 billion baht to move to the new site.

Indeed, passengers and airlines should be compensated for the shortcomings experienced at Suvarnabhumi via a reduction of fees from the current rates, instead of the fees being raised in the near future.

That would constitute a tangible token of apology which the airport monopoly owes passengers, airlines and others, as long as the airport does not achieve the kind of efficiency it must accord.

Only when the high standards are achieved, can the AoT then justify an increase - but even then, not at levels it has planned for.

With the planned 700-baht PSC for international departures at Suvarnabhumi, passengers will be paying more than Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and slightly less than Hong Kong.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport charges international passengers 51 ringgit in PSC including 6 ringgit for a recently announced security fee from mid-Jan 2007 - the equivalent of 519 baht.

The PSC at Singapore's Changi is S$21 (about 489 baht), while at Hong Kong International Airport, passengers pay HK$153, or about 705 baht.

Obviously, these three regional airports, which are competing directly with Bangkok's airport, can justify their fees, given their much more complete quality services which have won them accolades as the world's best in recent years for their passenger/airline friendliness features.

The current overall fees, known as airport turnaround cost, which carriers have to pay at Suvarnabhumi Airport are already higher than at airports in Singapore and Malaysia.

The new fees at Suvarnabhumi will widen the gap further and this could affect Bangkok's bid to maintain its status as a major air travel hub in Southeast Asia, as airlines will have think more seriously about the economy of making the City of Angels a port of call.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a coalition of over 250 international carriers, has categorised AoT as one of the worst offenders, in addition to airport operators in Paris, London, Argentina and Auckland, for abusing its monopoly at the expense of airlines and passengers.

The new fees at Suvarnabhumi seem to be structured without giving due consideration to the value offered to passengers and airlines; ensuring only maximum profitability and returns for shareholders and exceptionally generous remuneration to the board of directors, management and staff of AoT.

The AoT president receives a basic monthly salary of 850,000 baht; bonus paid to AoT employees for the fiscal year ended Sept 2006 equalled nine months' salary; the AoT chairman receives a monthly remuneration of 20,000 baht plus 12,500 baht as allowance for each meeting, plus a bonus of 1.5 million baht for 2007. In the last fiscal year, AoT posted a 41% jump in net profit to 10.4 billion baht. With earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 64% in 2006, AoT is the most profitable airport company in Asia, and among the top five in the world

[arjay]

I heard they are renaming the airport "Thaksin's Folly"!

[FrazeeDK]

I'm no booster of the new airport but everything must be taken in context.. one of the stories in the string lauded KL, HK, and Singapore's airports.. The reviews for HK and KLwere not all that good when they first opened.. Of course, only time will show if Suvarnaphumi will improve as both KL and HK have done.

see the links:

1999 KL's new airport opens to stinging criticism.. It took six months to get everything straightened out:
http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/frheft/ ... R9902f.htm

Hong Kong's new airports 1998 opening:
(the article below is from the HK government website!!)

The airport opening was initially marred by technical and teething problems in the passenger terminal, which affected baggage handling, flight information displays, lifts and escalators and even the public toilets. These were largely rectified within a fortnight of opening.

Air cargo handling was more seriously affected by problems with the automated handling system at the new 'Super Terminal 1' operated by Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (HACTL). This forced HACTL to re-open its air cargo facility at Kai Tak until the new terminal at Chek Lap Kok - one of the world's biggest - was running smoothly. By August 24, all incoming and outgoing air cargo was being handled at HACTL's new Super Terminal 1.
http://www.info.gov.hk/info/sar2/infrast.htm


Singapore's Changi, fully opened in 1981 five month after it's first official airline arrival. Perhaps this ramp up from a few flights to full service assisted in making the Changi operation an international model. Perhaps the forced speedup of Suvarnaphumi's opening contributed to some of the problems seen today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Changi_Airport

[arjay]

From the Bangkok Post:

Army general raps 'lax airport security'

Security measures at airports and inter-provincial bus stations nationwide will be upgraded following bomb attacks here on Sunday, senior officials said on Friday.

Assistant army chief Gen Saprang Kalayanamitra, in his capacity as board chairman of Airports of Thailand (AoT) Public Co., Ltd., said he ordered every airport to boost security measures to the same level of airports in Europe and the United States.

He also ordered Loxley Pcl, provider of security at Suvarnabhumi airport, to improve security systems there or have its concession terminated.

Army and police personnel will be assigned temporarily to Suvarnabhumi airport to assist in providing security, and if the company fails to upgrade security performance, then the concession would be revoked, Gen Saprang said.

Chaisawat Kittipornpaiboon, permanent secretary for Transport, said security systems at every inter-provincial bus station would be upgraded following bomb threats at bus stations.

Security at bus stations is now on the same par with national security and passengers may feel inconvenienced because of thorough searches by security personnel there, Mr Chaisawat said. (TNA)

[FrazeeDK]

Went down to the airport Friday to meet family/friends and had a number of hours to kill before they arrived so wandered through the place from top to bottom..

- Two Sky view restaurants at either end of the main terminal building up on what I guess would be the 5th floor. They both overlook the departures hall. One seems to be a high class place, the other more normal sit down.. On top of each is a viewing area looking out over the tarmac. Escalators go up to the restaurants and stairs to the observation decks.. The decks are NOT open to the elements but windowed.

4th floor DEPARTURES..
- Domestic down at Entrances 1/2 Check in lines A/B/C/D
- International continuing down the rest of the temrinal with the more
obscure airlines being the furthest down..
-several Boots stores and pharmacies in the Departures terminal area
- A number of escalator flat belts going down to the next floor

3rD FLOOR FOOD AND AMENITIES with an overlook into Arrival Halls B and C
Many different food venues, with a Boots, Magazine stores (mostly Thai stuff) and down the distant end a hair salon and a foot massage parlor.
-sky bridges goes over to 4 story parking garage from 3rd floor area.
- Escalator flat belts down to 2nd Floor Arrival Hall

2nd Floor ARRIVAL HALL
- Entrances 1/2 domestic arrivals
- Further entrances serve Arrival Halls B and C
- Big board shows arriving aircraft and shows which arrival hall
is closest to the baggage belt serving that hall. As I found out
this does not neccesarily mean your arriving friend/family member
will pop out the door to that arrival hall. If going to exchange money
inside the baggage area they can easily walk out into the other hall.
- Each arrival hall is a bit similar to the old Don Muang halls with
dozens of taxi/hotel touts and hotel greeters jamming the exits
in front of the building doors.. It's a chokepoint and if you're trying
to see your guests come in, it is quite difficult.
Best bet on meeting arriving visitors is to specify an exact building
door number to meet at.. No crowds and the doors are marked both
inside and out..
- A few stores in the arrival halls selling food/drink/magazines along
with the usual limo/hotel guest counters. AOT/TG limos are:
900 Baht to Bangkok general areas, and about 2700 BAHT to Pattaya((????))) RIPOFF!!
- Escalator belts descend to the 1st Floor TRANSPORTATION

1st FLOOR TRANSPORTATION
- 2-3 regular Taxi queues which had large amounts of taxis queued up and the lines moving quickly. Each queue when I was there had 10-15 folks waiting.
- 4 different Airport Express bus routes similar to the old Don Muang
Express bus routes: Sukhumvit, Silom, Khao San and one other I
Can't remember.. Don Muang price was 100 Baht to ride but I'm
surre it's more expensive now.
- Bangkok Taxi fare with tolls (two each totalling less than 60 Baht) should be less than 400 Baht.
- Pedestrian walks go across to the ground floor of the parking garage.

SECURITY:
- 4th floor Entrances; bag inspections upon entry into the Departure Hall
- 3rd floor Entrances; X-Ray machines sporadically used and bag checks upon entrance across the skybridges from the parking garages.
- 2nd Floor; sporadic bag checks upon entrance into the arrival halls
About half the doors were sealed forcing customers to use specific entrances with more security.
- 1st Floor; sporadic bag checks.

Throughout the entire building; many high visibilty military, police, commercial security guards walking and eyeballing anything out of the ordinary. No hassling of anyone, all were courteous and professional.

Rest rooms:
Previous strings are right!!! There are not enough stalls in the restrooms!!! In doing my walkabout I found the number of stalls ranged from 3-6 in the male restrooms. One of my arriving guests, a female stated the female bathroom she used had 10 stalls.
How to beat the rush?? Walk down Floors 3 or 2 toward the domestic end (Entrances 1 and 2) The passenger traffic there is much much lighter and there were no crowds in the bathrooms.. All bathroom at the center of the building seemed to be jammed with lines out the door as this is the area of highest passenger traffic.. Floor 1 also had almost nobody in the Restooms.

AOT Information kiosks; In approaching a couple of kiosks for info I found the two girls at each spoke zero english..

IF YOUR BAGS GET LOST IN TRANSIT!!!

- GO TO THE LOST BAGGAGE CLAIM AREA IN THE BAGGAGE BELT ZONE.
They will find your bags in the system.. They will give you a lost baggage report KEEP THIS AND BRING IT BACK WITH YOU!!

If they tell you to come back the next day:

When returning; Go down to Floor 3 ARRIVALS and walk to the CENTER of the building away from the street. You will see the LEFT BAGGAGE claim area and right beside it the AIRPORT PASS HOLDER entrance. If you have late arriving bags or need to go back in to find lost bags, present your Passport, your baggage claim tickets AND (most important) your LOST BAGGAGE report that the AOT people give you when you report the bags missing upon arrival. The Security guard will walk you back into the baggage claims area and over to the lost baggage office. My son along with my brother and his wife had their bags end up in Frankfurt (they came from the U.S.) The computers quickly located the bags 11PM Friday night when the arrived, and the bags were waiting for them the next day at the lost baggage area at 10AM.

They can coordinate to deliver your bags to your hotel if you have all the hotel info!!

[beer monkey]

just looking through some old posts... this from august 06.
my reply may be old news.....but may be of use to someone.

Also, as a Thai told me yesterday, the new airport is a lot further from central Bangkok, Sukumvit and the like, so taxi or mini-bus transfers are likley to be more expensive.

yes the AOT taxi limo's are now 900 baht to suk area.(inc 2 toll fee's)
More than before by 300 baht !!!, and what seemed to me like a faster,quicker and easier journey.!

also the international departure's(after p/control) are superb, nice and bright and airey, with a fantastic choice of food out-lets,...ohh and a few shops for the lady's.
un-like int arrivals and domestic arrivals/depart's dull and crap food out-lets.

[izzix]

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport plagued by cracked taxiways
The Associated Press
Published: January 21, 2007


BANGKOK, Thailand: Bangkok's new international airport has about 100 cracks in the taxiways that lead up to runways and will need to close the damaged areas for repair, a top airport official said Monday.

Somchai Sawasdeepon, the general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport and a senior executive in state-run Airports of Thailand, however, denied news reports splashed across front pages Monday saying that the cracks had also emerged in runways.

"The cracks do not appear in runways and pose no safety threat to aircraft," Somchai said when contacted by telephone.

Nonetheless, it was the latest batch of bad publicity for the flashy new airport, which opened Sept. 28 and has been plagued by glitches and corruption allegations.

The airport's two runways are each served by more than 10 taxiways, and Somchai said the cracks had appeared in about 24 different locations.
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The cracks began appearing about two weeks after the airport opened and are believed to stem from underground water seeping through the cement and asphalt, he said. The airport was built on a swamp.

The existence of the cracks was made public Sunday by a panel set up by the National Legislative Assembly to inspect the airport's construction.

Praphan Koonmee, head of the panel, was quoted by newspapers as saying that his investigating committee toured the airport and detected cracks in both the taxiways and runways, totaling about 70,000 sq. meters (750,000 sq. feet) in damage.

Somchai, however, disputed the total area affected, saying it had yet to be estimated. He said the contractor for the airfield surface would bear the cost of the repairs.

Some of the cracked taxiways had already been fixed, but others would need to be closed while the repairs took place, he said. Somchai pledged that this would not disrupt air traffic.

A statement from the contractor, a Thai-Japanese joint venture called IOT, said four taxiways and 10 taxilanes, which lead to aircraft parking areas, were affected by the cracks.

It said its investigation showed that seepage of ground water and water vapor affected the bond between the bitumen base and concrete surfaces, leading to the damage.

"It was not due to construction defects," said the statement.

Transport Minister Thira Haocharoen said he planned to inspect the cracks in the coming days and was waiting for the findings of the independent panel to determine whether the remaining taxiways should be closed during repairs.

Suvarnabhumi Airport was heralded as one of the crowning achievements of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra before he was deposed in a Sept. 19 coup. Since then, the airport has become a focal point of corruption investigations into Thaksin's administration.

After opening, the airport has faced problems with its baggage handling system and computerized check-in services, leading to lost luggage and long lines for passengers. It also underestimated the need for public toilets and officials have said new bathrooms will be built to meet the demand.

[izzix]

ooohh good bathrooms ,we will be able to take a hot bath
at the airport ,

[muscle]

Anyone else pick up on the rumor that the new airport is being closed and Don is being reopened? According to the wife, it was mentioned in the news and is being gossiped about. Is this just wishful thinking?