Possible delays at Suvarabhumi - holiday maker surge

[Guest wowpow]

Holiday surge leads to crowded airport

Bangkok Post : BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

 

 

The crowding at Suvarnabhumi Airport is becoming even more apparent during the holiday season as the airport's capacity is fully utilised. Average daily passenger traffic through Bangkok's new airport between Dec 28 and Jan 3 is expected to be 121,000 passengers, exceeding the airport's designed capacity of 120,000 passengers, said Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT).

 

About 17,000 more passengers are expected to go through the airport each day in the period, above the daily average of 104,285 passengers on normal days. In other words there will be 850,000 more passengers passing through the airport in the period and most of international arrivals are Asians. Higher passenger volumes reflect a 21% increase in international flight numbers, both scheduled and chartered, to 182 from between Dec 25 and Jan 5.

 

http://www.bangkokpost.net/Business/27Dec2007_biz25.php

 

Hopefully there will be no repeat of the taxi strike on Christmas Day.

[Guest buaseng]

And this is the shiny white elephant that Thaksin touted and forecast as going to be the new hub for SE Asian air traffic.

 

Could the increased passenger numbers include all the flying pigs?? !!

 

All those people who hailed this chrome and glass monstrosity as a masterpiece of architectural design were fooled into believing that it would be an icon for the future of air transport in this region. It is proving to be a disaster which is totally unsuitable for the job it was designed to do i.e. improve the quality of experience and the flow of passengers wishing to fly in and out of Thailand.

 

 

 

[Guest fountainhall]

As a regular traveller in and out of the Kingdom, I am no fan of Suvarnabhumi. I just hope they have added more Immigration officers for the holidays. Three months ago the peak afternoon arrival period was much worse than at the old Don Muang. Without more officers, delays of well over an hour can be expected.

[Bob]

Perhaps in the minority, I am a great fan of Suvarnabhumi. It's a great airport which is easy to use. And, compared with Don Muang, switching from international to domestic is a breeze.

Not having enough customs/immigration officers manning the various stations is hardly the airport's fault - but I do agree it is annoying to wait in a crowded queue while various booths are unmanned and some of the officers are exercising their turtle genes.

[Guest fountainhall]

I do agree it is annoying to wait in a crowded queue while various booths are unmanned

 

On the afternoon I refered to, just 18 out of 80 booths were manned. Queues stretched as far back as the duty free area. Other 'major' airports in the region seem to shift passengers through Immigration in much less time than happens regularly at Suvarnabhumi at peak arrivals times. I admit, though, that my experience is limited to the OneWorld west side. Perhaps they put more officers on the TG side.

[Guest fountainhall]

After my gloomy predictions (above), a quick question for those who visited Bangkok during the recent holidays. Did the surge of visitors result in any lengthy delays at immigration check-points (longer than 30 minutes) - or in flight departures?

[Guest stef]

After my gloomy predictions (above), a quick question for those who visited Bangkok during the recent holidays. Did the surge of visitors result in any lengthy delays at immigration check-points (longer than 30 minutes) - or in flight departures?

 

 

I didn't , in fact I was the first in line coming from Singapore.

To leave, there were about 10 guys front of me. That was it.

 

I've seen much much worse outside of holidays seasons.

[Gaybutton]

My recent trip out of Thailand was my first experience at Suvarnabhumi. I don't understand why so many people are complaining. I had no problems at all. One of the common complaints is about the distance you have to walk to get to your departure gate. The distances didn't seem any longer to me than at most other major international airports.

 

I also had no problems at all with customs or immigration, either coming or going.

 

When I arrived back in Thailand, as soon as I exited the customs area, there were the taxi touts. "Where you going?" To Pattaya. "Ok, we can take you there 1800 baht." Yeah, right. I decided to take the express bus. It's on the ground floor. You take the escalator or elevator all the way down, then turn to your left while facing the airport exit. It's almost at the end of the terminal building.

 

The bus costs all of 106 baht. When you get to Pattaya, it makes a stop at South Pattaya, on Sukhumvit, near the main bus terminal. The next stop is also on Sukhumvit, just beyond Central Road (Pattaya Klang) at the secondary bus terminal. You can easily catch a baht bus from there. The last stop is on Soi Chaiyapruk, half a block from the beach road. That's pretty far down the beach, in the vicinity of the Nong Nual seafood restaurant.

 

You can easily catch a baht bus from any of the stops.

 

So, there's your choice: 1800 baht for a taxi or 106 baht for the bus. However, the last bus leaves the airport around 9:00 PM, so if your flight is coming in later than that, then you're in the taxi. I don't know why the bus doesn't run 24 hours a day, but it doesn't. If you are arriving during daylight hours, the bus is a very good cost saving choice. I found it very comfortable and it is air conditioned. Obviously it is less convenient than a taxi, but to save 1700 baht I'll take a little inconvenience.

 

[atri1666]

You can also use the bus of Belltravel for 150 Baht. In pattaya they bring you with minivan to your hotel. I used it in november + december and it was very convenient.

[Gaybutton]

You can also use the bus of Belltravel for 150 Baht.

 

Can you tell us more about this? Is this bus available at the airport? If yes, where do we find the bus? Do you know what hours they run the bus?

[Guest wowpow]

Moving back to topic - I had two occasions to meet people recently on Christmas Day and 2nd January.

 

The airport was busy but there was adequate parking.

 

The poor quality and lack of toilet facilities has not been resolved. I believe they were cut back to make more retail space? The one near the Muslim Prayer room was particularly bad. One of the two urinals was broken and the floor was flooded.

 

I found the signage and floor plans very poor.

 

THey seem to always have some exit doors barred for no apparent reason and some of the revolving doors are not working or switched off. Some of the side door have to be pulled to open. With a trolley this is very awkward indeed.

 

The greeting area is painfully inadequate an poorly organized. It is very difficult to spot people arriving as they come out in two streams.

 

The people that I met were impressed and Immigration was well staffed att his peak time.

 

Apart from that it seemed to work well. Like GB I made a trip - to Chiang Mai - and found that the place was rather nice, other then toilet facilities, good shopping, nice food court overlooking lavish gardens. On return everything went smoothly. I was rather surprised to have to be bussed to and fro at a brand new airport. Taxis easy to find and quick to get one.

 

The shuttle bus to a Transport center is ludicrous. At the very least there should be information in the airport, and it's website, on bus services and times.

 

It certainly does not have the efficiency of Hong Kong or Singapore - Kuala Lumphur I have not seen.

[Gaybutton]

At the very least there should be information in the airport, and it's website, on bus services and times.

 

That is certainly true. It would have been nice to find good information about bus services posted somewhere, but it seems that you have to find these things out for yourself. I guess I was just lucky. I knew about the express bus to the airport from Pattaya, so I simply assumed there must be the same bus available for returning to Pattaya from the airport. I turned out to be right and I was lucky that my arrival time was just perfect for catching the express bus.

 

While I was at the airport I inquired about the fees for parking at the long-term parking lot. I was told the fee is 150 baht per day. Apparently you parked at the airport parking lot. Is that the amount you were charged for parking? Was there any difficulty finding the parking lot entrance or getting to and from the parking lot?

[atri1666]

For some informations http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/airport/bus_routes.php

2. http://www.thaiair.com/Travel_Destination_...transtofrom.htm

 

3. http://www.bangkokairportonline.com/node/55

 

4. http://www.yourpattaya.com/bangkok_airport_to_pattaya.htm

 

I booked bell-travel over email. Quick answer and it was working good. The lady is sitting opposite door 7 on first floor and is collecting the passengers. The bus is going every 2 hours.

 

From Airport to Pattaya 8am till 6pm

From Pattaya to airport 6am and from 9am till 7pm

 

bangkok office 027474673

pattaya office 038370055

[Guest wowpow]

Bell Travel used to offer a pick-up at your hotel or condo in a mini bus, transfer to big bus at the bust station and , if going to Bangkok decant you into mini-bus again to go to your hotel. The cost was about 350 baht.