Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2023

[reader]

From the Nation

2023 was an eventful year for Suvarnabhumi Airport, the sprawling gateway to Thailand on the outskirts of Bangkok. The Nation looks back on 12 turbulent months at the airport that serves as the gateway to Thailand for most international travellers.

But first, a quick introduction to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Suvarnabhumi (“golden land” in Thai), is also known unofficially as Bangkok International Airport. But Thailand’s main international airport is actually located in neighbouring Samut Prakan province, from where it connects with downtown Bangkok via the Airport Rail Link train.

Opened in September 2006, the 32.4-square-kilometre (3,240 hectares) Suvarnabhumi is the country’s largest airport and among the biggest in Southeast Asia, serving as a regional hub for aviation.

The airport is also a major global hub for air freight (20th busiest in 2019), with a designated cargo Airport Free Zone and road links to the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Thailand’s biggest economic zone across three provinces on the eastern seaboard.

Suvarnabhumi Airport reached its 17th year in 2023 with operator Airports of Thailand (AOT) vowing to restore its status as one of the world’s top airports after it slipped sharply in the global rankings in recent years.

Suvarnabhumi held 10th position in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2010 but nosedived to 77th in 2022 before pulling up to 68th this year.

In May, AOT director Kirati Kitmanawat set a goal of making Suvarnabhumi one of the world’s best airports for travellers again. The target is to break into the top 50 within two years and the top 30 in four years, he said.

To meet that goal, AOT needs to tackle the long queues at check-in, passenger screening and immigration counters, especially during rush hour, which have plagued the airport for years. The authority said it will set up around 200 self-check-in and self-service bag drop points to cut the queues.

AOT has also earmarked 9 billion baht for terminal expansion to the east of the airport, with construction expected to begin at the start of next year.

After years of construction, the new satellite terminal at Suvarnabhumi was opened in September this year, with incoming Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin cutting the ribbon.

Satellite Terminal 1 (SAT-1) cost 35 billion baht (US$1 billion) and will boost Suvarnabhumi’s capacity by 33% from 45 million to 60 million passengers per year.

SAT-1 is connected to the main airport terminal by an automated people mover (APM) train system. The terminal has six storeys, two of them underground, with a total floor area of 251,400 square metres.

AOT advises passengers flying from the new terminal to have at least 20 minutes in hand, since the APM trip from the main terminal to SAT-1 takes around 18 minutes, with services leaving every five minutes.

Passengers are also urged to check their flight information carefully, as entering SAT-1 by mistake may require them to restart the whole check-in process again, resulting in missed flights.

Continues with photos at

https://www.nationthailand.com/more/commentary/40033869

 

 

[vinapu]

In meantime friend who arrived yesterday afternoon reported very long lines to the immigration

[macaroni21]

Was in and out of Suvarnabhumi twice in the past month. I can similarly report:

Fully packed area in front of arrival immigration desks; a bit of chaos around the luggage belts as two flights had to share the same belt.

300-long queues at Thai Airways check-in on departure; fully packed room in front of security scanners in departure; fully packed room in front of exit Immigration desks in departure.

 

[macaroni21]

5 hours ago, reader said:

Suvarnabhumi held 10th position in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2010 but nosedived to 77th in 2022 before pulling up to 68th this year.

It has fallen very far, and I think the fall is totally deserved.

I also notice how the article glosses over the problems it had at the beginning, which required expensive fixes. Some board members may remember. 

1. Insufficient toilets in the terminal building. 

2. Ground subsidence below the runways.

3. Greenhouse effect from all the glass in the roof. There was a time when each immigration desk had to have a silly little umbrella over it otherwise the poor officer would be roasted in the course of a shift.

If I'm not wrong, it was designed by a European (French?) architect - who obviously knew nothing about tropical climates. In any case, looking at the perpetual mess that is Charles de Gaulle airport, I don't know if the French are the best people to hire to design airports.

Even now, there are two fundamental flaws in the concept behind the airport.

Firstly, Suvarnabhumi was designed as a single terminal to handle a large number of flights. According to this list, it handled 28 million passengers in 2022, a little less than the 32 million handled by Singapore Changi airport, and less than half of Dubai's 66 million. If you've transited through Singapore or Dubai recently, you will have noticed the vast difference. Dubai has three terminals and Singapore has four. You don't have everybody crowding into a single choke point. Those other airports are almost serene in comparison to Suvarnabhumi, despite handling more passengers.

Secondly, Suvarnabhumi is still stuck with the notion of glamour travel. Too many shops feature dutyfree luxury goods, a poor fit with the mass travel of today. Food and drink are also overpriced inside the terminal's transit areas. There was one time when I was transiting through Suvarnabhumi and I just needed a ballpoint pen. I had a notebook, I wanted to write something, but it was impossible to find a shop selling the humble ballpoint pen. On another occasion, I was flying off from Bangkok to another destination and saw on the weather report that it was raining heavily in the destination (whose airport was pretty basic, and planes are often remotely parked). I thought I would buy a water-proof jacket/windbreaker, but it took a lot of walking from shop to shop to find one under $100 without a brandname.

On a recent transit stop in Singapore, I could buy useful things like a charger, plug adapter and (if I wanted) a powerbank. I was also impressed by signs in a food court (yes, they had a food court) that said something about how their prices were not different from their outlets downtown. Sure, SIngapore prices are not cheap even in downtown, but at least you get the idea that the operators are not trying to scalp you. It only reminded me of how a humble bowl of noodles that I had in the Suvarnabhumi basement (where the airport train arrives) cost 270 baht!

[thaiophilus]

4 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

It only reminded me of how a humble bowl of noodles that I had in the Suvarnabhumi basement (where the airport train arrives) cost 270 baht!

Aha! The secret for eating at Suvarnabhumi is the Magic Food Point on level 1 landside. It's a food court catering mainly for airport employees (but open to all) and priced accordingly. Naturally it is not advertised on the airport website.

[Keithambrose]

6 minutes ago, thaiophilus said:

Aha! The secret for eating at Suvarnabhumi is the Magic Food Point on level 1 landside. It's a food court catering mainly for airport employees (but open to all) and priced accordingly. Naturally it is not advertised on the airport website.

Thanks. Good tip!

[vinapu]

8 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

It has fallen very far, and I think the fall is totally deserved.

 

I agree with your analysis but still love moment of arrival , buzz , lines , warts and all fully knowing that gates of paradise are right after leaving terminal and going down to railway station. No other airport in the world brings such promise

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, thaiophilus said:

Aha! The secret for eating at Suvarnabhumi is the Magic Food Point on level 1 landside. It's a food court catering mainly for airport employees (but open to all) and priced accordingly. Naturally it is not advertised on the airport website.

it that the coupon place beside gate when Pattaya and Hua Him buses depart from ? If yes, true, one can have tasty and filling  meal for 70 baht there and no problem exchanging back coupons for the cash

[macaroni21]

10 hours ago, thaiophilus said:

Aha! The secret for eating at Suvarnabhumi is the Magic Food Point on level 1 landside. It's a food court catering mainly for airport employees (but open to all) and priced accordingly. Naturally it is not advertised on the airport website.

Thanks, I know about that food court for airport employees, but considering it was lunch hour, I didn't want to make my way there because in previous lunch hours I have found the place very full.

And I didn't make clear (sorry) that in my earlier post, I was referring to the transit areas in Singapore's Changi airport, not the public areas. Their food court is in the transit area, whereas in Suvarnabhumi, all the transit area F&Bs are overpriced.

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

it that the coupon place beside gate when Pattaya and Hua Him buses depart from ? If yes, true, one can have tasty and filling  meal for 70 baht there and no problem exchanging back coupons for the cash

Yes, I'm sure @thaiophilus was referring to that one. 

[vinapu]

21 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

 

Yes, I'm sure @thaiophilus was referring to that one. 

by the way , there's similar place at Don Muang airport in the passage between domestic terminal and SRT new station.

[reader]

Compared to eating opportunities at western airports, I find Asian airports a bargain.

Hong Kong has an employee McDonald's on lower level near Gate 11 that's open 24-7 to the public. Some good people watching to help your digestion. Menu tweaked to satisfy local tastes.

Changi in Singapore has hawker-type vendors in Terminal 3.

[thaiophilus]

16 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

Thanks, I know about that food court for airport employees, but considering it was lunch hour, I didn't want to make my way there because in previous lunch hours I have found the place very full.

And I didn't make clear (sorry) that in my earlier post, I was referring to the transit areas in Singapore's Changi airport, not the public areas. Their food court is in the transit area, whereas in Suvarnabhumi, all the transit area F&Bs are overpriced.

Yes, I'm sure @thaiophilus was referring to that one. 

I don't think there's more than one that fits our collective description (key points being coupon and cheap!) and it's definitely not in the basement.

More here: https://thaiest.com/thai-food/reviews/food-court-at-bangkok-suvarnabhumi-airport