I have gained the travel bug in the last few years and have had the chance to discover many new and ...
I have gained the travel bug in the last few years and have had the chance to discover many new and wonderfull places. Some I have already written about and the others no doubt I will get round to them at some point.
I enjoy many forms of music and...
Member since:03.08.2000
Reviews:86
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The first sight people sometimes get when landing at Don Muang airport – code BKK - is the strange sight of people playing golf in between the runways. This is just the first of many quirks you will either love or hate about Thailand and Bangkok.
The golf course is actually owned by the Air Force which shares the airport. Depending on your taxi route to / from the runway you will see the military planes and hangers. The airport is actually due to be replaced by a new airport - Suvarnabhumi - being built to the north east of Bangkok which is due to open in 2004. Well, the Prime Minister said it would, so it must be true!
Transport The airport itself is about 25km north from the “centre” of Bangkok. It is easily reached by car, bus or train. There is no link to the BTS Skytrain but the new one supposedly will have a link to it or the new underground system, they just haven’t made up their minds what it will be yet.
There is a railway station accessed by a sky bridge that can take you into town – Hualampong Station – or to further afield. It will take around
80-90 minutes though, the trains are not quick. There is a special Airport Bus, costing 100Baht flat fare, which has 3 routes covering the majority of tourist hotels – Silom, Sukhimwit and Khao San areas- perhaps taking between 30 – 60 minutes depending on traffic. Numerous taxis are available in the ranks outside the airport. It will cost around 190Baht to get to Silom, if you take the expressway, you will be expected to pay the tolls – 70 Baht. It is worth it as it is far quicker. If you are taking a taxi from the airport, make sure you avoid all the touts and only go to the taxi queue. At the front of the queue there is an official desk which will ask you where you are going and give you a receipt to give to the driver - this is also your destination written in Thai. You can also hire a Thai Airways Limousine to take you where you want to go. There is a desk outside of customs, this does cost more and will obviously depend on your destination. The cars are usually Mercedes C class.
Layout There are two separate buildings for International and Domestic departures, so make sure your driver knows which one you want. If there is a mistake, it’s only about another 2 km to go. The International building is long and flat – it is also split into two, so again, tell your driver which airline you are on. It could save you a 1km walk! There are quite prominent signs outside with the airline logos so if he drives slowly you won’t have too much bother finding the right place. For those on a late arrival or early departure who don’t want to stray too far, there is an Amari hotel attached to the airport.
Departure Procedure Check in. On entering the building, first thing of course is to check if you are leaving on time. There are plenty of information screens around. Next step is to have your bag screened by security, after this they put a sticker on it ( not as good as the old plastic strap that was bound around your case ) and you proceed to check in. These are islands in the main floor space and produce average check in speed. Then you have to go and pay your departure tax of 500Baht – you did leave enough Baht, didn’t you? If not, it’s a trip to the currency exchange. They do not accept plastic. There are booths next to the entrance to passport control and they will give you the receipt, which you give to immigration. No receipt and they send you back out. A couple of stamps and you are in the main departure lounge. Again there are plenty of information screens to announce boarding. The departure gate numbers are clearly visible from afar, so you should really get lost. On boarding, you go to your gate where you go through the security check and they are removing all objects like scissors, pen knives, tweezers etc and putting them in a bin. Just make sure things like that are in your main luggage. Then to the final holding area and boarding card check and onto the plane and home – booo hisss!
Arrival Procedures Arrival is fairly straightforward, if a bit of a long walk. You walk from your arrival pier following the clear signs to immigration; give them your passport and arrival card, then go immediately downstairs to pick up your bags. Reclaim is usually quick and no more than 15-20 minutes. You then proceed through customs, giving them your customs declaration, which you got on the plane and into the arrivals hall where you will be picked up by your tour company or proceed to your preferred method of transport. This is where the signs become a little bit confusing for some people. But take a breath, get your bearings, put your warm clothes into your bag and go out into the sauna that is Thailand.
Facilities Airside
The customer areas of the airport are split over 3 floors. The ground floor is the main shopping area with duty free, restaurants, frequent flyer rooms etc, upstairs are more restaurants, short time hotel rooms, prayer rooms and frequent flyer rooms, downstairs are only frequent flyer rooms. The restaurants range from KFC to a high class restaurant, there are also many separate snack trolleys selling various hot dogs, sandwiches and so on. As is common with other airports though, you do pay more for the privilege. There is also internet access at an outrageous price of 5 Baht per minute compared to the 20 Baht per hour you can pay in town. For those feeling tires and want refreshed, you can also have a massage or a wife of pure O2 at an Oxygen bar at US$7.
There is not one duty free shop but several spread out over the concourse – like AmsterdamSchipol – the prices though are not great. You can do better in town. Warning, the prices in the Duty Free shop in the World Trade Centre are just the same as the airport. Toilets are numerous and clean. The building is a no smoking one apart from small designated smoking rooms. The decoration is a mix of Thai and western which only has the effect of blanding it out.
For those wanting to have a look, there is a web site that is clear and in English
www.bangkok-bkk.com
Complaints? Well, if you have time to kill, the seats are not comfortable. If you want to wander from one end to the other or come in the wrong entrance, it is a long walk – especially if you have kids or a walking difficulty.
Summary To sum up, it’s not bad as airports go, the direction signs are clear, baggage reclaim is quite fast, transport links are quite good but it’s the little details that make it only good.
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