thalenoi Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 for lounges who cares - don't have the gold card anymore - anyways prefer to have my last drinks at the gogos & arriving at the airport(LOuNGE) in the last minute ;-) I care, arriving by plane from Udon I can not afford to fly in less than 2 hours before international flight leaves. Will see the horror this friday. And then getting into an overloaded business lounge!!! Shame for the money and Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 so do I; the overcrowded TG lounge is just incredible! and this will probably stay for some time. on my way to the gates I passed a couple of other lounges which are still under construction and far away from getting opened soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 I hear the fire that destroyed the catering kitchen is why the food selection in the lounge is poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith doug Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 whats happend to the white thai limousines!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorro Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Arrived today at the new airport. Came from Singapore via Singapore airlines. Plane docked and it was short walk to immigration Waited ten minutes at immigration and my luggage was on the carousel when i got thru. Everything went like clockwork. I noticed thou that there was a little note with my VOA which stated that i couldn't spend more than 90 days in a 6 month period in Thailand on this type of visa. They had also marked the visa. There seemed to be plenty of taxis but i was picked up by a friend so don't kkow the prices or the service level. The airport still seemed very crowded even thou it looks bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YimSiam Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Delayed report - I arrived on 1 October from the US via Taipei. First thing that struck me was that the airport appears to have caused serious flooding to all the surrounding villages, which were all under a foot or so of water (this before the current floods picked up). Second thing was that the decorations of the outside of the terminal and gangways make Thailand look a bit totalitarian -- not so different from Burma or Nepal's choice of civic decor... Within ten minutes of arrival I was able to find a smoking lodge - the fans weren't working, which made it miserable, but a clever employee just propped the door open to let the smoke out into the main corridor (sorry, non-smokers...). It's a long walk to the customs area, poor signage by any standard (particularly on departure - long long walks without clear signage, but I'm sure they'll improve this). Immigration was fine, about the same as usual, maybe a bit slower. No photos this time. The very charming immigration woman did scrawl something illegible on my entry stamp, and highlighted the whole thing in yellow - hmmm... Baggage took about an hour to arrive, my bags were priority but the first class bags exited last. Not even a nod from customs on the way out. Once past customs, I really missed the big open space of Don Mueang - new airport is cramped, crowded and confusing, lots of people milling about in all directions, no protection from the touts and hotel guys like there was in the past. Exiting to taxi level requires going down those Big C style escalator ramps. Taxi line moved quickly, lots on hand. The two most notable buildings on the way up to Bangkok are... mosques. Better get the temple builders in action! Bet there will be temples bigger than the mosques within a year. On the way out on 8 October, lines were chaos and lasted about 45 minutes for check in - barely made the flight, running. Had to pay for excess baggage, which involved a trip to another office, payment, and return with a chit - actually worked alright, but kind of a hassle. Customs check out was definitely slower than in the past - my hangover from Marine 2 - JP Bar was not helping things at all... Security was ridiculous, I certainly should've triggered a closer search, what with my hangover and nervousness about missing my flight, but they just waved us all through. Run to the gate seemed to last forever, but I made it. Barely. Lots of friendly staff on hand to misinform and misdirect - complete idiots. I mentioned I was going to Kathmandu and was led (protesting) to the domestic check in, then had to retrace to the single line for all Thai international departures. All in all, not impressed. Definitely prefer my old Don Muang, but maybe that'll change in time. No soul in the new one, and lots of dumb mistakes. YimSiam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibblies Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 Had a much better experience on my way out than in. IN: Long (1hr+) wait for bags, 1 hour journey to Bangkok. OUT: 30min journey to airport, instant easy check-in with no queues, no queues at passport control either. Relaxed wait with decent enough shops, all still open. Maybe the time of day made the difference (late afternoon versus close to midnight). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YimSiam Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Most recent trip out was much smoother - on a weekday morning, no line at check-in, maybe ten minutes at immigration, still a bit of a walk to the gate (with somewhat confusing signs still, and lots of airline reps walking around trying to herd their passengers to the right gate). Travel from Pattaya was just over an hour, no traffic. Seems things may be working a bit better, but still much prefer Don Muang. Arrivals hall in particular very amateur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted October 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 Gentlemen , after having been there 6 times in total over the last 2 weeks I note the following almost unimprovable design errors : - arrivals B a complete mess - smoker rooms are cages . although I do not smoke I still have the idea that also smokers are paying customers and should treated somewhat better than dead bodies at the crematorium. - worst : departure gates a masterpiece of a failure . once they call for boarding the crowd assembles in about 6 queues all over the place . almost impossible to get through for people with children and high dignity passengers . the man who designed that is a total arsehole .should just have copied old domestic or terminal 2 design at Don Muang . Or Hongkong , Kanton , Singapore or whichever . absolute fucking idiots . once you have arrived at the gate after the Long March there is no cafeteria, no shop ; just sit there and wait til boredom kills you . This architect wins BuBi's 2006 fuckup trophy with diamonds . Transportation : 2 out 6 trips courtesy Thai Air using airport car . Apart from that they increased the airport car fare from 650 Don Muang to 1200 Baht Suvannaboomboom / riverside . Ridiculous , I do not use them any more . taxi cost 210 plus tollway . All 6 rides 30 minutes , samesame Don Muang . BuBi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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