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Bangkok and Other Airports - Your Recent Experience - Busy, OK or Quiet. Please Add your Experiences.


john luke

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8 minutes ago, Krapow said:

Stress levels dialed down considerably :default_biggrin:

I am at one with myself.....

Terminal departure lounge is packed. Saw a few queues at Virgin etc but Finnair was simple.

Right in the corner at area B. Were called within 30 seconds of getting in queue. Lovely Asian chap checked us in, friendly and efficient. 

Mate just told me inbound is 40 mins late but still got a 1.5 hour turn around. Not too worried. Noticed Flight Radar showed even if flight leaves over an hour late, arrival still gives you the 45 min minimum transit time.

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14 minutes ago, Horizondave said:

I am at one with myself.....

Terminal departure lounge is packed. Saw a few queues at Virgin etc but Finnair was simple.

Right in the corner at area B. Were called within 30 seconds of getting in queue. Lovely Asian chap checked us in, friendly and efficient. 

Mate just told me inbound is 40 mins late but still got a 1.5 hour turn around. Not too worried. Noticed Flight Radar showed even if flight leaves over an hour late, arrival still gives you the 45 min minimum transit time.

Good to hear all going well. Once you are aboard your connecting flight, and next stop BKK you can relax. Have a great trip 

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13 minutes ago, Nightcrawler said:

Good to hear all going well. Once you are aboard your connecting flight, and next stop BKK you can relax. Have a great trip 

Cheers mate. It's been 2.5 years since last in Thailand. I am floating right now, can't believe I am in the departure lounge.

Porn is chatting to a very tasty Thai who is on an Emirates flight and will end up in Siricha.

Me, I am eating KP roasted with a smile on my face.

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Just for info arrival last Friday was easy, no queues, not busy at immigration or baggage area.

Same when left on Thai Smile to Khon Kaen, checked straight in on a Saturday at around midday.

Roads from Khon Kaen to Sukhothai and onto Chiang Mai not busy even though they were holidays for some.

I have been to Chiang Mai 3 times previously and this the quietest I have seen it. Loving it as a tourist.

Can even get a sun lounger by the pool, no need to throw my towel down early.

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1 hour ago, Horizondave said:

 

I have been to Chiang Mai 3 times previously and this the quietest I have seen it. Loving it as a tourist.

Can even get a sun lounger by the pool, no need to throw my towel down early.

It was certainly a big bonus on our trip,  Thailand in general being as quiet as i had known it.

Apart from not being able to dive Phi Phi, but Ao Nang islands delivered.

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5 hours ago, Krapow said:

It was certainly a big bonus on our trip,  Thailand in general being as quiet as i had known it.

Apart from not being able to dive Phi Phi, but Ao Nang islands delivered.

Traffic in Chiang Mai around the city still pretty busy at peak times (could be the holidays for the King) but around the tourist spots there is a definite lack of tourists. Streets within the city walls devoid of the hordes of tourists and easy to get a table in a bar or restaurant.

Lots of mask wearing up here.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Flew out yesterday Swampy very quiet and almost no wait at security (apart from take off your shoes, expected- belt expected, laptop - expected, take out your phone WTF ..... it was in the tray already. I find women guards are the worst these days. That little bit of power thing). Taxi ride out was great but honestly and I have seem some bad ones the longest traffic jam i have ever seen around 8.30am coming in to Bangkok. Every road including airport and expressways. My driver said 3/4 hours traffic it was shocking. Try not to arrive in the morning if possible ....

Flight pretty packed to London. Time passed quickly. Brought my own red wine on board from duty free so ...helped !!

Heathrow arrived 15 minutes early parked up right away. From gate opening to getting my bag one of the first off in less than 15 minutes at Terminal 2 best ever. E-gates waited less than 5 minutes too. Strode out happy as Larry.

then ...my fucking taxi was not there ....oh 10 minutes sir !!! Can't have it all .....roads in London quiet too.

PS going out equally good from T2. How things have changed in a few months.

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Bangkok to Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai to Bangkok, Bangkok to Manila and Manila to Bangkok, all these flights gave me a positive experience. Check in was a breeze, security similar and where immigration was involved I was never behind more than 1 person.

Lull before the storm maybe when I think queues will increase as high season comes in. 

Will fly to Koh Samui on Sunday and hoping for an uneventful check in experience, I suppose I should be more worried about being on a turboprop ATR flight with thunderstorms predicted.

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I recently flew from BKK to Changi airport in Singapore and return.

I was economy for the BKK SIN leg and had to queue for about ten minutes at the check in Desk.  Security - no delay at all, joined a queue of two or three people per queue.

It was an A350 plane, which is a large plane; the wait at Changi for luggage at the carousel seemed a long time; possibly 20 minutes.  Immigration at Changi had one person being processed and one person waiting.

The return leg we were business so no wait for check in.  Immigration was electronic; one person being processed on the camera/scanner and one waiting.  No delay.  At Changi security is done at he checkout gate;  no delay at all.  Boarding was in groups, so a very efficient process.

Fast track immigration at BKK so no delay.  Had to wait for checked in luggage about five to ten minutes.

 

You do have to complete an on line form, similar to UK passenger locator form prior to flying to Singapore.

 

Although we had the documentation regarding Covid 19 vaccine we were not asked to produce it at either Singapore on departure at Check in nor at immigration at Bangkok.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Put the missus on last nights Eva flight from LHR to BKK.

Quite a long queue for check in/bag drop but no bother except for the £14.50 short stay car park charge,robbing bastards.But I had to see her through check in just in case they weighed her cabin baggage & rejected it.

I think @Nightcrawler was on the same flight.

Next week I should be joining her.

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22 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

Put the missus on last nights Eva flight from LHR to BKK.

Quite a long queue for check in/bag drop but no bother except for the £14.50 short stay car park charge,robbing bastards.But I had to see her through check in just in case they weighed her cabin baggage & rejected it.

I think @Nightcrawler was on the same flight.

Next week I should be joining her.

Not till next week for me mate

I shall get there a little bit earlier to check in luggage, I think. Did they ask to see her NHS Covid Pass at check in ?. I heard they are not asking for it at BKK arrivals?

The BR68 flights all seem to land in BKK at least 30 minutes behind schedule and depart from late from LHR. . Been looking on Flight Radar 24 recently. Good thing is, no cancellations for the last 2 months  on any of their scheduled flights to Taipai via BKK from LHR. 

Good thing about direct is that once she's in BKK it's plain sailing. She should be there by now. 

I was looking on my EVA app and it's seat choice 48 hours before flight which is free. 

I'm going to get an aisle seat where I can see the plane doors. As soon as I see them shut I will dive bomb to any nearby empty rows if available for a kip on the flight. I have a feeling though that the flights are quite full, even though EVA are now flying 5 days per week from LHR

 

 

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2 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Not till next week for me mate

I shall get there a little bit earlier to check in luggage, I think. Did they ask to see her NHS Covid Pass at check in ?. I heard they are not asking for it at BKK arrivals?

The BR68 flights all seem to land in BKK at least 30 minutes behind schedule and depart from late from LHR. . Been looking on Flight Radar 24 recently. Good thing is, no cancellations for the last 2 months  on any of their scheduled flights to Taipai via BKK from LHR. 

Good thing about direct is that once she's in BKK it's plain sailing. She should be there by now. 

I was looking on my EVA app and it's seat choice 48 hours before flight which is free. 

I'm going to get an aisle seat where I can see the plane doors. As soon as I see them shut I will dive bomb to any nearby empty rows if available for a kip on the flight. I have a feeling though that the flights are quite full, even though EVA are now flying 5 days per week from LHR

 

 

Yes they did ask for her Covid docs & yes it did depart around 30mins late & land correspondingly.

Not sure if it was full but there was a big queue.

Missus has hopefully met up with her bro & is on the way up to Korat.She rang me from arrivals.

I'm going next Thurs 8th Sept.

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3 hours ago, coxyhog said:

Yes they did ask for her Covid docs & yes it did depart around 30mins late & land correspondingly.

Not sure if it was full but there was a big queue.

Missus has hopefully met up with her bro & is on the way up to Korat.She rang me from arrivals.

I'm going next Thurs 8th Sept.

Did she have to wear a mask during the flight do you know?

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2 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Did she have to wear a mask during the flight do you know?

Each bag drop position had a notice saying masks had to be worn at all times when aboard.Not sure how you're supposed to eat & drink.

I'll ask the missus if it was enforced when I speak with her tomorrow.

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20 hours ago, Sherlock said:

On my return THAI flights, they didn't enforce that policy at all. Also, you dont need to wear a mask whilst in BKK airport either!

Yes I realised a few times I wasn't wearing a mask. Many at the airport were not wearing a mask.

On my Finnair flight out of Swampy they announced a mask should be worn but it was not enforced.

I didn't wear one.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Flew back to UK on Sunday on KLM via Amsterdam.

BKK

Check in, Security and Passport Control were no problem; I did have fast track included with my ticket.  Overall I would say less than ten minutes to complete all three.  

Air France/KLM lounge was busy.  There was a French air traffic controllers strike during the week and a number of AF flights were cancelled.  I suspect that my flight today had passengers (including myself) who were affected by that strike.  Business Class was fully occupied.

AMSTERDAM Airport

Amsterdam airport have fairly recently introduced new security scanners.  The system does not require passengers to remove lap tops, ipads or liquids.  Almost all the Security Scanners were manned and once you had placed your hand luggage on the belt the process was quick.  Unfortunately the queue for security extended outside the security area and I was in that queue for 40 minutes.  There was no fast track channel for Business Class passengers.  The forty minute queue did make a 2 hours transfer time seem tight; I had one drink in the KLM lounge and then went to the gate.  

Leeds and Bradford Airport

The flight from Amsterdam to Leeds was full and the cabin crew were asking all passengers as they entered to place small luggage items under the seat in front and use the overhead lockers only for trolley cases and large items.  The flight was over 30 minutes late in departing as they waited for all checked in luggage to be loaded.  

At LBA they discovered that there was no tow bar for a 737 so the plane parked away from the terminal but near enough for passengers to walk into the terminal.  Luggage took about 25 minutes to appear on the belt.  

Apple Air Tags

I had placed an Apple Air Tag in my check in luggage; it is quite reassuring to be able to confirm that my check in luggage had reached the aircraft flying from BKK and into AMS, reached AMS airport and subsequently reached LBA before I saw it on the conveyor belt.

  

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  • 1 month later...

I flew from Manchester to Bangkok earlier this week on Emirates Air.  It was A380 for both legs.

Manchester Airport.

I was flying business class so had priority check in and priority security.  Check in was not a problem as I was directed to the desk as soon as I arrived.  Security was very busy and overall it took about ten minutes to clear it.  The staff there are very thorough and asked for all cameras and lenses to be removed and placed in a tray along with laptops and iPads.  I had no liquids; my stuff went through and I was able to re pack it all at the end without any further inspection.  Everyone moans about security, however I would rather have a thorough inspection; they can only afford to be unlucky once.

Dubai was very busy, however I joined a queue of two persons.  Very modern scanning equipment without the need to remove liquids, laptops, iPads and photographic equipment; I was through security in less than two minutes.  Gate check in for the outbound flight to Bangkok was quick and easy with no queue.

Bangkok was as busy as I have seen it for some time.  The non priority area of immigration was packed as far as the ramp. Fast track was less congested and I was through in a very short time.  By the time I reach baggage collection my bags had not arrived.  They arrived in about ten minutes and I walked out through customs who were scanning some cases but not mine.

I had Apple Air Tags in my check in luggage; reassuring whilst waiting to confirm the bags had reached Dubai and then Bangkok.  

All literature on Emirates Web site and on the plane was saying masks must be worn.  Very few were wearing them either in Manchester, on the aircraft, in Dubai airport.  A higher percentage were wearing them in Bangkok Airport and indeed my taxi driver wore one for the journey to Pattaya.

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33 minutes ago, john luke said:

Bangkok was as busy as I have seen it for some time.  The non priority area of immigration was packed as far as the ramp. Fast track was less congested and I was through in a very short time.  

I went through several hours after you did, i.e. at 3pm. I have NEVER seen non-priority as busy. The queue stretched some 100-200 yards down the corridor before the ramp. I'm guessing that there would have been about a 2 hour wait.

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