Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

I try to limit my journeys through BKK as much as I can. On this latest occasion I decided to sit it out in the terminal. In wandering around I did notice a ray of hope for future outbound travellers - it looks as if they are expanding one of the outbound immigration areas. I observed the late night rush to Europe and Australia which was as bad as ever snaking back almost to the check-in desks. Inbound immigration was quicker than in the past but as others have commented no 'emotion' from the IOs.

We found arrivals/departures extremely seamless and stress free. Quick to get through immigration - security with no real delays. Lots of duty free and good food options. We had to spend 6 hrs waiting for next connection for flight home and didn't find the wait as bad as we thought it would be. Taxi area can be chaos but that's normal. Overall quite an impressive airport.

A huge terminal building. Clean modern well maintained facilities however the biggest problem is that they are not strategically located. If you are a Star Alliance Gold member travelling Economy class on a TG international flight the check-in counters are located at one end of the terminal which are far from TG international Economy counters with not enough signs to indicate. The departure immigration and security queues are within an acceptable length. In addition there are lots of shops in the concourse. Thai's lounge is also nice however you have to walk a few hundred meters to enter it and to get to flights you have to go downstairs and walk back another few hundred meters to the gate. As a result we need to leave the lounge more than 45 mins before departure to be safe. It is a good airport but you cannot enjoy the facilities if you only stay there for less than 2 hrs.

I used this airport a lot during my trip. International arrival. Walking distance from plane to passport control was ok the line for passport control was average but each desk has its own line. About 90% of desks were being used. In one case people had not filled out landing cards and were allowed to fill them in at the desk holding up that line. Baggage had started arriving by the time I had cleared passport control. Domestic (BKK-CNX one way) (BKK- USM-BKK) check in desks close to domestic security control no queues for my airline short line for security longer walk than expected to gates but good selection of shops and food outlets. International departure. Arrived early for my flight so was there for opening of check-in so it was very quick. However it took me over 1 hr to clear passport and security again 1 desk 1 line slowing process down. If they can sort this problem out then all would be well. Good selection of shops and food outlets but none at gate areas.

Used this airport for transit only so dont have much to say on immigration and check in. For a transit passenger sailing through arrival to transit is quite easy signs are clear enough to take you to your next flight and if you've hours to kill this is not a bad place to be. Reclining seats are a good place to kill your jet lag as you wait for your next flight. Also the Thai massage experience is a must which is not expensive. Free wifi and food court almost everywhere allows you to taste thai food. The airport is clean and staff are helpful.

Arrived from Singapore at 8am. It took me 10 mins to pass immigration and luggage was out at the belt within 15 mins after landing. The trolleys were free. Vat refund at the airport was prompt and efficient. One has to verify the purchases before check in and obtain the customs chop and signature before claiming the Vat refund in the duty free area. I have managed to check in the items before proceeding to the VAT refund in the duty free area. Queue was short and VAT refund was processed within 10 mins. There was a lot of passengers shopping in the duty free area. Was told that the boutiques in the duty free are open for 24 hrs unlike Spore Changi where they are open till midnight. Managed to get some good buys at the duty free as my flight was delayed for 4 hrs. Prices and selection of food quite reasonable. 2 FOC internet PC were available in each dep gates. However BKK airport can be improved by having more indoor plants as it appears to be rather depressing and cold in the arrival and departing gates. Overall a pleasant airport.

Flew with Qatar from Bangkok-Hanoi. Bangkok airport is a hit or miss depending on flight times. Passport control was not zigzagging from the area out to the check in counters. Officers did their job without a hint of emotion. Duty free was ignored all the way through. A rather good experience but if you need to fly from/to Europe then you are most probably stuck in the airport's rush hour and it seriously deteriorates the travel experience. Regarding the free internet wifi the signal is full but no connection. Thus assuming its the usual "we have wifi as most international airports" but the network is not functional trying to force you to get the paid gateways. a shame really.

Considering it is a new (relatively) 'flagship' airport it is poor. Design is a mess huge areas of glass in the tropics - stupid mistake which means the window areas are now having blinds retro fitted. Convenient seating sometimes impossible. Wi-Fi is a complete & utter joke you have to go to an info desk these seem to be situated at the very extremes of the terminal so this in itself involves a long walk and sign a register with personal details (which are not checked so you can put completely false info - so why bother?) and then you get a long code to input to receive 15 mins of Wi-Fi. The whole system seems like a half baked attempt but misses the point that when you sign the register the info is not checked I wrote all my details falsely! Worst of all are the ridiculous immigration queues in today's world of modern passports with "swipe" magnetic strips why does it take so long to process an individual through immigration?

Spacious split level airport with plenty of restaurants and seating facilities. Immigration can be a headache if you arrive around midday and in spite of 12 available aisles it can take around 30 mins to clear during peak periods. Departure is even worse and you'd be well advised to allow at least 1hr to clear immigration during peak periods in order to avoid missing your flight. Toilets are clean but there often seems to be a lack of paper hand towels. Also they don't seem to enforce the no smoking ban in the toilets and one is often greeted by the pungent smell of stale tobacco smoke. Navigating between floors can be a headache since the lift often skips a floor for no apparent reason and you end up at a different level than the intended one. Security staff subsequently refuse to allow you to use a walkway to get to the floor you intended to go to. So you're forced to return to your starting point and look for an escalator to go to the floor you actually want to reach. Only two banks available (Siam and TMB) which offer very poor exchange rates. On the plus side Thai SIM cards are available at either the AIS (1-2-Call) or DTAC (Happy) service desks on level 2. Staff will set up your mobile for you and extend the validity period if you wish to keep the same number for a subsequent visit. Provided you use the AOT taxi booths on the ground floor and pay the 50 Baht service charge you'll have no problem with the touts who hang around the upper levels looking for gullible travellers who don't know the ropes. Taxis are metered and unlike Phuket are cheap. There is also a non- stop rail link between the airport and the city centre with a flat rate fee of 150 Baht.

An airport of mixed experiences. Still relatively new as far as infrastructure goes and plenty of facilities to keep one distracted during a long wait. The building itself is rather monolithic and therefore lacks the bright and airy feel of terminals like HKG and the arrivals concourse can seem rather stark. My only two gripes with this airport are: air- conditioning. It never seems to be working properly and queuing at immigration outwards and inwards. Individual queues in front of each counter is a hopeless set-up. It is frustratingly slow to the point of desperation. I wonder why they haven't set up a single queue and have the first available counter call the next person in line. Also the officers at the counters processing Thai passports only when they have cleared their queues are happy to just sit and let the foreign passport queues swell. These points aside Suvarnabhumi is a good world-class airport.