New airport update

[katoeylover]

Hopefully he spent some time in chiang Mai..... and not just in the airport...

[moe666]

Who cares about leaving, as long as arriving doesn't get any worse where good to go.

As far as the gels and liquids I don't bother to put any thing in my carry on except medication I need. This hit us in the states about 8 momths ago and you had the same confusion.

[Prof Frink]

(Road Runner @ Jun. 11 2007,04:59) Hello Prof Frink,

Do I read your post above right?

You flew into BKK and then up to Chiang Mai in order to catch a flight back to Don Muang?

In order to avoid the taxi touts?

RR.

i have bussiness in chang mai i usually split my trips as follows

1 week chang mai
1 week bangkok
and sometimes 1 week somewhere i have never been before

even though toxic thaksin is a son of chang mai he hasnt managed to screw up that airport

[rxpharm]

Today's article in Bangkok Post about the new airport not being up to standard in safety.

New Airport Unsafe - Bangkok Post



SUVARNABHUMI

New airport is unsafe, checks below par, says IATA report

AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

Suvarnabhumi airport is unsafe with checks on people and their belongings in the passenger terminal falling below standard, says the International Air Transport Association. IATA's safety study of the airport found that standards are inferior to those of Don Mueang airport, said an Airports of Thailand source who obtained the report.

The study aimed at maintaining security standards at international airports will be tabled for discussion by AoT board members today. The meeting will be chaired by Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr, who also is deputy secretary-general of the Council for National Security.

The report found there are many spots in the passenger terminal where checked passengers can meet people who have not passed through security, from whom they can receive unchecked parcels or objects and then carry them on board aircraft.

Those soft spots include checkpoints D and G where checked people and outsiders are separated by one-metre-high glass partitions.

Transit passenger lounges are not completely sealed because there is space between the glass partitions through which objects can be passed.

IATA recommends AoT separate checked people and people who have not passed through security in the passenger terminal, and keep arriving and departing passengers apart.

It also suggests AoT deploy its own security staff instead of contracting out the job, and use equipment which can check large objects and animals.

AoT must take stricter precautions in issuing temporary passes for access to restricted areas in the terminal and more thoroughly check visiting vehicles, according to the study.

IATA represents the commercial airline industry with 250 member airlines.

In an attempt to address IATA's concerns, the airport authority has asked staff to secure the partitions through which checked passengers could receive unchecked items, the source said.

It also ordered its contractor, the Loxley-ICTS consortium, to step up security measures around the clock, the source added.

AoT has hired the Engineering Institute of Thailand to check fire safety standards at the terminal. The checks will take 90 days and cost 5.5 million baht.

The institute conducted an initial survey and recommended that AoT clear fire escapes blocked by shops and piles of goods.

The engineering institute will now check the physical aspects of fire exits, fire-detection systems and the readiness of fire-fighting equipment


TIT!

[SamplerDoc]

  Thanks RX, Its a Good Read  

[rxpharm]

public taxi scam - for anyone taking a public taxi from the new airport, there have been instances where the dispatcher is quoting a set fee. When I flew into Bkk, July 24 she quoted me 400 Baht to Sukhumvit Soi 11. The actual cost is supposed to be the meter plus 50 Baht airport surcharge and any toll fees, if you use the tollway. There is no advantage to using the tollway to Sukhumvit, so you can save about 60 Baht going the regular roads.

This has also been reported on the Thai Visa new airport forum. So if you are arriving and get quoted a set fare from the public taxi queue refuse and say it is suppose to be meter price plus 50 Baht - exactly as it says on the slip.

On another note - the check in seems to have improved a bit, but the queues are still long. My flight with Qatar Airways took 30 minutes to check in on Aug. 18, improved from my last flight out.

[Guest]

Took me 1.5 hrs to go thru immigration on arriving from Zurich.

What a totally fucked up airport. It's inexcusable. The washrooms are disgusting. The so-called 'Duty Free' is (and I've checked) sometimes 10x to 100x the price of something in town. There is zero color in the entir airport (100% grey). The tiles look like they are 10years old - they are less than 1yr old. The major art center piece is made of paper mache and is a Hindu myth - strange in a Buddhist country. This airport and the systems around it are a complete joke.

[moe666]

They were Hindu at one time, the entire Ramayama is painted on the wall around Wat Pra Kao.

[Tomcat]

(ziggystardust @ Aug. 20 2007,01:18) Took me 1.5 hrs to go thru immigration on arriving from Zurich.

Yes i had the same problem just now. Only three check in Kiosks open for the whole airport, the queue was way back down the approach walkway with tape and restrictions everywhere...i think there were three entry points before to immigration now there is a narrowed down small aisle at just one point. Chaos im afraid.

took  me over an hour and twenty minutes and i was near the front...if your at the back its two hours plus waiting to get your case... if its still there

Immigration at Guernsey airpot is bigger

What a joke....I can only assume that this is a glitch...

[Guest]

I have to say that I have only been through the new airport about six times but I have not found it to be a problem at all. The check through immigration and changing money have always been swift. Taxi plus 50 baht also no problem. In fact I think the airport is ok. I am very embarrassed return to LAX and its shabby welcome to the US.

[69billy]

(bohemia @ Aug. 26 2007,03:50) I am very embarrassed return to LAX and its shabby welcome to the US.

I guess you haven't been to London's Heathrowairport..

I haven't had any problem with new airport yet..I hope they'll fix it by Oct...

[SukhumvitRoad]

(Tomcat @ Aug. 24 2007,21:55)

(ziggystardust @ Aug. 20 2007,01:18) Took me 1.5 hrs to go thru immigration on arriving from Zurich.

....I can only assume that this is a glitch...

Uh...no, it's Thailand.

Thais are culturally incapable of planning. Anything here that actually works, wasn't done by Thais. They screw up whatever they touch and then, rather than assume responsibility for fixing it, spend all their time instead telling you that the mess is your fault anyway.

[kahuna]

(SukhumvitRoad @ Aug. 28 2007,14:08) They screw up whatever they touch

Well when one of these beautiful creatures touches my cock "screw" does come to mind...

[Road Runner]

As usual I dutifully followed the 'Immigration' signs to the nearest access to bet met - as usual! - by a staff member holding a sign saying to go to the next access.

Walked along with the rest of the lemmings and found a huge queue and most of the desks were unmanned!
Though f#*k this for a game of cowboys and wandered along to the next access expecting to be refused entry by another staff member - which is what happened last time I tried this.

Instead no one was there to stop me and every immigration desk was manned by a very bored looking person with no one to check.

45 seconds to go through immigration! - but 10 minutes to walk there!

As they say..... it pays to shop around!

RR.

[69billy]

So RR..
There are more then one immigration access points ..?? or are you tallking about the just the desks...
Tell as more....