Author

Topic

My trip next month takes me through the new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport - anyone know what its like, facilities etc ?

Googled it but could not really find much real information or passenger experiences.

Hi fodor - passed through Suvarnabhumi twice last week myself. Its certainly big, long distances to walk and as many have said, very bad signposting. Full of the same shops repeated over and over again.

To be honest, found the passenger facilities you are probably looking for to be rather poor, and the place is still in chaos - workmen everywhere trying to repair broken flooring, lights, toilets etc - still a long way off being ready I think. Try this Skytrax link for Suvarnabhumi Airport and you can find many passenger comments as well.

Another disappointed punter for this long-awaited airport. A concrete building that is real depressing.

Walking distances are very long, and have to concur that signposts are poor - white signs that are difficult to see, and I must have back-tracked several times trying to get around. Biggest disappointment was to follow in visiting the THAI biz lounge - crowded, no showers to use !!?

Have to concur with the opinions already posted. Lots of long walks, shops repeated in every direction. Flew on All Nippon arriving from Narita, and on Thai leaving for Narita. If you are a smoker you will appreciate the lounges which seem to be pretty close to the gates. Just be sure to get that cup of coffee before going through security as there was nothing at all after the last security check prior to the gate.

Outside the airport is chaos. I counted six lanes of traffic on the arrivals level with five of the six lanes plugged with parked cars. After finding my driver I had to wait for him to fetch his vehicle from some unknown spot. I can't compare the old airport with the new, but this place needs a lot of tweeking. Not having a rapid transit link with the city making getting around an adventure via taxi. Be sure to get an AOT limo for your drive into the city as they include all taxes and tolls. Sure you pay a bit more but better to have a set price than get a grand tour of Bangkok.

While looks are better than the old airport, very long walk arriving and departing. Lines with immigration were awful. Especially leaving. At least a 45 minute wait departing, possibly longer.

They seem to have cut back drastically in this area. Signs are poor to non existant.

I have been through Suvarnabhumi on several occasions now - departing, arriving and transiting and have had no trouble - true, the signage is sparse and needs improving, but this is minor. All that you have to do is allow plenty of time, go to the lower floor for the metered taxis, not the rip-off limos, and enjoy.

If you have a connection to make - make sure it's not too tight. If you're arriving in BKK it's fine. Depending on your arrival gate distances can be lengthy so don't be carrying too much. Immigration and Baggage are very swish but not any faster than the old airport. Arrivals is a bit of a zoo with many Taxi touts prowling. Plenty ATM's and Money Exchanges in Arrivals. Go straight down to the bottom floor and get a Public Taxi for about THB 300 into town. Departures is spacious but not many people really like the new terminal that much - bit too sterile and not that well designed with passengers in mind.

I have been through this place on five occasions since it opened. Had to depart from D1A gate the other night. It was only a short walk from the main THAI lounge on D concourse, that was OK, and I was the only person going through security. However, they are saving money on lighting in the area, and I feel that only 50% of lights were illuninated. I could see that every light fitting only had one bulb working. As usual, a scrum when trying to go through with boarding pass to get on the bus downstairs - memories of gates 1 to 7 at Don Muang. I agree with Jim ( November 26th) about the parking outside the terminal. I always have a car pick me up from my hotel , and even finding the hotel representative in the darkness of the arrival area is difficult. At least, they have cordoned off the area a bit, so you dont get swamped by people once you want out of immigration.

It's a beautiful facility, with some flaws that need to be ironed out. I agree with other posters, that walks to and from the gates are very long, and meeting areas are very congested and ill designed. Long-term parking is a bit far from airport. But short-term parking is convenient, traffic in and out is no problem and it's a relatively short and painless drive into the city, especially for Bangkok. Taxi's are plentiful, too.

Went through the " sausage factory " again this morning on the way to Taipei. One thing that I noticed, was that they have turned the lights around in the main check in area. Instead of the lights shining up to the ceiling, and expecting them to " bounce" the light from the roof, the lights now point straight down. An improvement. However, the place is still a disgrace . I was doing some duy free shopping, and noticed that much of the floor tiles are really dirty and discoloured...All in 5 months of operation. Boarding is still a bun fight. I was departing from C2 gate, and, at 7:00AM, it was stuffy . No places for people to sit and wait to board, and everyone just congregates around the doors, waiting for them to be opened. I had to meet a friend in the domestic section on Friday night, and it was more pleasant than the international area. Still not enough chairs though. Went down to level 1 and took a taxi from there. Not nearly as civilised at Singapore in the operation. When I came into BKK a couple of weeks ago from ICN, the difference is unbelieveable. Another area that needs attending to, is the section where you go to get the limo to the hotels. Chewing gum, and spilled soft drink everywhere on the concrete. A good high pressure hose, or steam cleaner would not go astray there.

Been in and out a few times. It is a vast improvement on the old airport, and impressive in terms of size and transport links in to the city are better. Downsides are that there are snagging issues, you do have to walk a bit, and finding the smoking rooms are a bit of a challenge. Compared to my recent experiences in LAX and Heathrow (both in biz class) vs economy in Bangkok, Bangkok wins hands down. Whilst not quite up to Singapore or Hong Kong, it is better than NRT or Kansai.

Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok must have the worst check-in facilities for people with gold card in Star Alliance in the world! At the old Don Muang airport, as well as all the other airports in the world thjat I have been travelling from, gold card-customers travelling on economy class can use the Business counters for check in. But not so in Bangkok! It took me nearly 40 minutes checking in this April. I was ther at the same time as a mile long row of people!

I too found the place a concrete disappointment with long walks down dull passage ways. What was worse was the total scrum at immigration. Arriving at midnight I had to wait in a line (well more of a crowd than a line) for more than an hour which is not good after a very long flight.

I left Bangkok on 2 occasions in the last 10 days.The immigration was good on the way in,but quite quite long waits on the outer legs. Extremely long walks on both departure gates D3 gate first time out,C8 gate on BK-AUK return home. Be warned, do not enter departure gate area security check to plane if your needing food or a drink,the food and shopping areas are outside,once inside departure area its almost impossible to get back out.

Been to this airport 6 times so far, the first time being a week after opening. Alot of the airport needs finishing off, but it would be quite impressive when it is finished. The bad thing about the airport is that there is still not enough room for all flights coming in and out of Bangkok, therefore they still use Don Muang for some domestic flights, such as 1-2-Go, Bangkok Airways, Nok Air etc. This means that if you have a connecting flight after you land at Suvarnabhumi, and your connecting flight departs from Don Muang, a few hours later, it doesn't give you much time to collect your luggage and race across the city, especially in rush hour traffic jams. Ask your taxi driver to use the toll roads, it is a lot faster than the normal roads underneath!

I have had to use this airport almost every month since its opening. The two main irritants I have consistently experienced are: huge queues at immigration – both departing and arriving, with more than half the counters closed at all times, even at peak periods. Huge walking distances – not only is the airport huge, but ridiculously designed in such a way that you’d often have to walk a long way in order to reach a nearby gate. May I correct a previous comment - Bangkok Airways uses Suvarnabhumi and not Don Muang.

I have travelled through Suvarnabhumi four times in last 12 months....daunting at first, but used to it now. I generally arrive to check-in with lots of time to spare, so plenty of "window-shopping" opportunities. Prices are expensive in up-market retail shops, as is food. Eat in the downstairs food areas before checking through Customs. Beware of taxi touts on arrival!

Its looks great from the outside. On entering check-in there are very wide aisles which is positive. There are 9 entry doors to the airport so check your airline door number and tell the taxi as the airline signs are small and not easy to see at night from the taxi on arrival. After check- in the huge queues at immigration are disconcerting and frustrating and the poor air conditioning makes the place humid. Generally the place is looking grubby - especially the windows and floors. The public toilets are clean and well maintained. Overall not enough space was allocated to the business class lounges (especially Thai ) which are a little cramped. The extremely long walk to the gates before your flight is terrific exercise although not always appreciated at 1am.