Poll- Suvarnabhunmi - Good or Bad?

Opinion seems to be widely divided on whether the new airport Suvarnabhumi is good or bad. Taking everything into account including design, transport facilities, immigration queues, maintenance/cleanliness, never-ending shopping mall, lack of toilets/restrooms, lack of refreshment outlets once through the security zone, does the airport live up to all the hype and promise touted for it.

I wish I had seen the poll prior to this but, as usual, my cpu caught a severe virus and was off line for a while.
My previous trip, I arrived on EVA around 2 AM and found myself walking (it seems) forever to get to immigration with many empty gates observed during that walk. I just assumed that the airports authority was peeved at EVA for some reason and was taking it out on the passengers, both arriving, and those who were going to board that same plane for an onward trip to Germany.

This trip, I arrived on the non-stop from NY on Thai and figured that since it was the Flag carrier for the country, we might arrive at a more convenient gate. WRONG, or should I just say TIT. We came in somewhere near Sattahip and walked, and walked, and walked - I counted 9 moving walkways that I traversed. Granted, I could lose a few pounds but after a seventeen hour flight, one is not in the mood to endure a forced exercise program! Plenty of empty gates around too! As for baggage claim, again the carousel used by this arriving flight was the one furthest from customs, so another long hike both ways.

Bring back Don Meaung, PLEASE! At least there, if on occasion the plane stopped at a bus gate, the bus brought you within a few meters of immigration. And when you cleared customs at DM, everybody came out and turned left to be greeted by either friends or hordes of touts for limousines. At Subarnabhumi, I turned left to see all the greeters but the people picking me up were off to the right - fortunately I had inserted my Thai Sim card into my mobile while on the plane and was able to locate them quickly. Why not send people in one direction to avoid that confusion?

I just realized the reason for the long walk - possibly those gates were the only ones whose tarmac was not cracked and capable of holding the weight of a fully loaded plane. Forgive my stupidity!! :idea:

for me, Suwannaphum is MUCH MUCH better and convenient..... Don Mueang was ok, but sometimes a hassle to get there as there was only one artery (the tollway), and if that artery was jammed, u were lost....
Suwannaphum can reached from all directions, I dont have to pay any Highway-tolls to reach my home, and therefore, transport-costs from/to Suwannaphum are just HALF as much as they used to be from/to Don Mueang.
and I never waited longer than 15 minutes at immigration, most of the times just 3-7 minutes.... maybe I was just lucky....
nevertheless, if the new government has a brain (which on the other side, is not very much likely, considering that that violent Monster Samak wants become the new PM), they will declare Don Mueang the BUDGET airport for both domestic and international flights, and Suwannaphum the main airport for the big, full-service airlines and alliances.
that why, THAI AIR could go back to Suwannaphum with all their domestic flights without loosing face and without admitting that they made an extremely stupid mistake....

oh, and were in the world u can buy a can of softdrinks at an airport at the official mini-mart price of (14 Baht, in that case), or get a full meal for just 1 Euro...... thats unique.....

so, AOT undoubtfully still has to work hard to fix everything there, but dont make Suwannaphum worse than it actually is..... its for sure still (and will always be, due to the Thai mentality) behind Hongkong or Singapore, but much much better and more hassle-free than, for example, Manila, Jakarta, Heathrow, Frankfurt....

just my 25 satang...... ~_~

BKK airport is simply the finest I have ever set foot in & that includes a selection in UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Greece, Czech Republic, Switzerland & one trip to New York (never again).

I thought it did very well for quick customs clearance on arrival, good road links & extensive shops & cafes, in a very relaxed environment.

I believe it was voted 4th best in the world by some independant organisation.

Presumably the rail link might be completed in a year or so, which will be a further benefit.

J

[bing]

I can only say that arriving was no worse than the old one and for sure the new one certainly has a great deal more food options. I did not leave till very early in the morning, about 1:00 a.m., but having arrived early and checked bags with a degree of alacrity, I was able to wander around the various food places before choosing a ham and cheese sandwich and beer. Later before boarding I found a nice coffee shop and had a nice Colombian coffee. I was all set to be grouching about the experience, but found I enjoyed the two hours of down time before the plane took off. Since it is a rather large building, a certain amount of rubbernecking was nice as well.

[Bob]

I actually like the new airport. Easy to navigate in spite of its size.
Transferring to domestic from international - a feature I use - is easy and far better than the death march at Don Muang.

Even I'll bitch about the fact many airlines still bus people to and from the planes but this is largely done because it's cheaper for the carrier. But it still pisses me off especially when there are 30-40 gateways open. If you can believe it, they did this once to me flying from Chiangmai to Bkk on a loaded 747.

Nevertheless, an easy to use airport in my opinion.

I can only say that arriving was no worse than the old one and for sure the new one certainly has a great deal more food options. I did not leave till very early in the morning, about 1:00 a.m., but having arrived early and checked bags with a degree of alacrity, I was able to wander around the various food places before choosing a ham and cheese sandwich and beer. Later before boarding I found a nice coffee shop and had a nice Colombian coffee. I was all set to be grouching about the experience, but found I enjoyed the two hours of down time before the plane took off. Since it is a rather large building, a certain amount of rubbernecking was nice as well.

I don't see what your education has to do with the new airport, but it sounds like you have a decent upper-learning experience.

I did not leave till very early in the morning, about 1:00 a.m., but having arrived early and checked bags with a degree of alacrity, I was able to wander around the various food places before choosing a ham and cheese sandwich and beer. Later before boarding I found a nice coffee shop and had a nice Colombian coffee.
That is one of my two major complaints. Having walked through the rip-off shopping mall and passed through security there just aren't any refreshment facilities on the upper level walkways at the gates (not even a coffee trolley). In addition on the upper level walkways at each gate there are only about a dozen seats for probably in excess of 200 or 300 passengers! Also there are very few toilets once through security.

My other complaint is that the ethos at Suvarnabhumi seems to be to fleece passengers in the never-ending shopping mall and bugger them once they have gone through that area. The so-called duty-free is a farce and one big rip-off - most of the items can be bought in Bangkok or Pattaya shops for much less than the quoted 'duty-free' price.

Despite it's age and consequent faults Don Muang was at least user-friendly which is more than can ever be said for Suvarnabhumi.

[dab69]

will structural issues of runways again come up in the near future?

Despite it's age and consequent faults Don Muang was at least user-friendly which is more than can ever be said for Suvarnabhumi.

I have to say Snowcat, that I toatally agree with you with regard to the above statement.


G.

I should have posted this here instead of where I put it the first time.

At Suvarnabhumi airport, passengers go through security only to find that the bathrooms are behind them so if they need to use the bathroom they have to exit and pass through security again with the bag searches etc. Then they must wait on the long long upper level walkway an hour or more where there are benches seating only six people, for a 600 passenger flight. Fifteen minutes before the flight they are finally allowed to go down the steps to the boarding lounge where there are enough seats for all. Then they board the flight almost immediately. Incredible.

[Smiles]

" ... Even I'll bitch about the fact many airlines still bus people to and from the planes but this is largely done because it's cheaper for the carrier ... "
Apparently United has changed it's mind on the busing thing since moving to Suvarnabhumi. I didn't really mind it so much at Don Muang as I rather enjoyed observing the frenzy and of the bus loads of tired and overweight farangs as the newbies discovered for the first time that they were about to squeezed sardine-style (AKA: Thai-style) into a humid bus for a dark and eerie ride to the immigration hall. The unbelieving blank stares on those red and sweaty faces was pretty hilarious.

But I'm over that now, and was glad this time to disembark with my dignity and my body temperature at normal. Hope United doesn't change it's mind ... for cost-cutting purposes.

Other than that, my one and only arrival at Suvarnabhumi was seamless and reasonably quick. The immigration lineup was long (many closed kiosks), but luckily there did not seem to be many other jumbos arriving at the same time, and the baggage arrival was quick, and the entry into that big crazy hall of screaming touts, taxi-drivers, and boyfriends was ~ as usual ~ a great joy. I'm very happy to see that that surreal & joyous scene has hardly changed at all from Don Muang.

(by the way ~ for those who are not quite sure ~ I was informed on the ride to the hotel that the airport's name is pronounced "Soo-wan-i-poom" which was nice to know as I'd been tripping over it's pronunciation since day 1).

Cheers ...

judging by the poll - its very popular!

judging by the poll - its very popular!

Is this a sarcastic comment, or tongue in cheek? 51% is hardly 'very" popular.
However, its not hell on Earth, just has some flaws like my makeup sometimes.

Snowkat is, of course, the poster who confuses bar prices with bar profits and believes the bar owners are ripping him off. None of the alternatives in this poll reflect my concerns which are, as someone in the import/export business, the efficiency of the new airport in handling my trade. Whether it was better or worse at Don Muang is an irrelevance, since that is no longer an option. Most Forum members pass through the airport a handful of times a year and spend a few hours there at most - and judging by many posts, in blissful ignorance

Snowkat is, of course, the poster who confuses bar prices with bar profits and believes the bar owners are ripping him off. None of the alternatives in this poll reflect my concerns which are, as someone in the import/export business, the efficiency of the new airport in handling my trade. Whether it was better or worse at Don Muang is an irrelevance, since that is no longer an option. Most Forum members pass through the airport a handful of times a year and spend a few hours there at most - and judging by many posts, in blissful ignorance
Once again you miss the point completely - you really should read and understand what you are replying to first before engaging what few brain cells you possess. We are talking about the suitability of the airport for the traveling public and their experiences and NOT import/export and presumably cargo handling for business purposes. And I am not suggesting there is an option of Suvarnabhumi-v-Don Muang but just asking whether people preferred the old airport and its facilities to the new.

And you are quite right the vast majority of bar owners ARE ripping off their customers. If you believe otherwise you are naive as well as stupid.

Back onto the {Ignore} list

judging by the poll - its very popular!

Is this a sarcastic comment, or tongue in cheek? 51% is hardly 'very" popular.
However, its not hell on Earth, just has some flaws like my makeup sometimes.

If you include the 6 who do not prefer DM the % goes right up lol

Well too be honest I don't mind it. Always seems a breeze to me to get through Suvarnabhumi. Oh it takes a bit of time and the toilets etc all seem to be in the wrong place but I find some other airports far more of a pain.

I donтАЩt know if some of you guys do travel in Business or First from time to time. At any rate Thai has a specific terminal at the knew airport, with an incredible service for тАШPremium PassengersтАЩ, which makes it worth to choose Thai instead of another company.
Already when you arrive at the airport there are a bunch of really cute guys that will take care of your luggage, which you will only see back at your destination airport. A maybe less cute somewhat senior lady will take your ticket and escort you to a very comfortable sitting area. Once you are seated, she will ask for your tickets and passport. She will be back in a few moments with your boarding passes.
There is also a fast track passport control. After this you will find yourself right by the Royal Silk Lounge.
If you are travelling in First, all the time there will be an invariably pretty lady escorting you trough all this (and carrying your cabin luggage!). The First Class lounge is a little bit further away. You will be installed on an electrical car and be driven all the way to the entrance. Service there is at a very high level, there is even a real restaurant with extremely nice food in small portions, so you can sample different things. The lounge of course is very nicely designed. On the other hand the recently renovated Thai lounges тАУ both Royal Silk and First тАУ were even more beautifully designed, but they only have been in use for less than a year.
If you have the time, you can have a complimentary Thai massage at the Royal Orchid Spa, which is just opposite the lounge. I have done this three times already and have only seen female masseuses.
A few minutes before your flight departs, a lady will come and find you. She will escort you through security and all the way down to the gate, where a separate small coach is waiting to bring you to the plane.
I have only seen service at a comparable level at the Lufthansa First terminal in Frankfurt.

One might think itтАЩs extremely expensive, but if you fly a lot with Star Alliance, you can get at the Gold Level in ThaiтАЩs Royal Orchid Plus Frequent Flyer Programme easily. This entitles you to complimentary upgrades, First Class flights around your birthday for a very limited amount of miles, rather frequent operational upgrades etc. As opposed to most airlines, you will also get exactly the free or upgraded flight you want when you are Thai Gold. And if you are based in Thailand, for the low season on the Thai Airways website you can book e-tickets on the Thai Airways website to Europe for less than 2.500 тВм in Business and a little bit more than 3.000 тВм in First class, taxes included, which is very good value.