Bangkok Don Muang Airport

Yes it's a bit tatty and some of the signs are slightly confusing. There are a good selection of shops and cafes although the restaurant selection is much worse than the new BKK.

We travelled through Don Muang several times in September both domestic and international. Check in at Air Asia can be hectic early morning but airport staff open up additional check in kiosks immigration took an average 5 minutes so long as you had filled in and signed your departure slip. Baggage pick up again very efficient within 5 minutes of arriving at the carrousel the flights bags were arriving. Plenty of fast food outlets coffee shops duty free seating at the gate is adequate public announcements in English there are smoking rooms after immigration for those with a craving. Taxis have a 50Baht extra charge but you have a guarantee that the meter will be used trains station is close by and a bus at 35 baht will take you to the nearest MRT. Its an older airport which shows in certain areas but not the worst in the world.

While the airport was clean and staff friendly and ease through to gate simple there were no indoor smoking area at all. I had to go all the way back through the check-ins to nearest smoking are outside where there were no facilities food drink or airport information. This is a great shame that the air port treat it's customer with such contempt. The main airport although poor does have handy smoke rooms to stop. If you really care about customer service you to think about all your customers.

Using the airport for domestic travel I found it to be excellent. Check-in at Air Asia was done within 5 minutes no queues at security and unusually for an airport a very good selection of eateries and shops airside with non- inflated prices. There's even a 7-11 selling the usual fair for those wanting a cheap snack or drink. The only downside was the bussing in on the return flight from Phuket despite a lot of free airbridges and a subsequent wait of 20 minutes for the bags to arrive.

It was like visiting an old friend again! The check-in area was a little tatty and run down but once through immigration it opened up to plenty of space good seating and runway views. Sufficient choice of restaurants and services and very quiet compared to BKK. Very little queue time and small distances to travel compared to a far gate at BKK. Well recommended for ease of access and ease of usage.

Huge airport not a lot of flights its a joy to use. Only downside was bussed to the plane on departure found that odd with so many empty stands with jetways. Flew out to Singapore with TAA and back in from Phuket with TAA. No lines for check in passport control or security. Lots of seating both air and land side. Good selection of shops and places to eat on international departures. All in all I look forward to the next time I can use this airport.

Had to fly into DMK with Thai Air Asia. This was like visiting an old friend. In the old days DMK always functioned well unlike its new big brother. Now its even better. The domestic area had plenty of fast food eating options at prices better than BKK. Plenty of seating in gate area. Really pleased with what they have done in refurbishing DMK. Now bus connection to Mo Chit BTS station and also shuttles to BKK airport.

Found recent comments on Don Muang very interesting. Used this airport many times in the past when I lived in Bangkok and this was the only airport in town. Back then late night departures were unpleasant. At least a dozen 747s left between 11pm and 1 am. The departure area was packed to capacity. Some staff were stressed to the limit and consequently foul tempered. Immigration staff were rude too!! The airport was a shame. All that seems to have changed for the better. The airport went through an expansion plan in the 80s and grew to be a thoroughly modern airport. Still it couldn't keep pace with traffic growth and overcrowding persisted. The international departures area was great. Great food superb view of the tarmac excellent shopping. Don Muang to its credit never slipped. Just about every airline flew to BKK. I will fly to Suvarnabhumi and will probably never get to see Don Muang again.

Good to see this airport back in operation. Security was quick and efficient. Check-in on Air Asia was a matter of a few minutes. Plenty shops and eating places both landside and airside. Obviously the airport is huge for the volume of passengers going though it. The worst parts were the somewhat lengthy walks to and from gates and the lengthy and poorly organised Taxi queues which were always a problem with this airport before. Overall a good move for the budget carriers who are using Don Muang and a good service for the passengers.

Used DMK twice and was impressed. DMK is light and spacious and has room for growth. Toilets are clean throughout and several food options exist. It's a standard 300 baht or so to get there from the centre of Bangkok. Hopefully ground transport options from DMK to other parts of Thailand will grow. Otherwise we really liked this place.