Airport Queues

[Luv2Phuket]

2 hours ago, geezerrb said:

 

When I arrive as I am now over 70 I hope to use the fast track through immigration and have booked Nams taxi to meet me hopefully no problems.

I get fast track, but heading into Bangkok, so I can't use Nam.

Any suggestions on Bangkok car services/taxis?

[little_me]

18 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I get fast track, but heading into Bangkok, so I can't use Nam.

Any suggestions on Bangkok car services/taxis?

I think the will do some areas of Bangkok from the airport? I used them from Pattaya to Bangkok.

I've always used the taxi stand from swampy to sukhumvit, and have never seen more than a short wait.

But if I saw the line in that picture, I'd head to the left and down to the airport line rail stop.

[bazkashmir]

3 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Crap!

Assuming my November trip comes off, I'll be starting in Bangkok, so expect me to be at the back of that queue! 555

Same here ,landing 3rd November morning 6.00 am, I hope not too many flights that time of morning.

[Bonkabit]

34 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

...heading into Bangkok...Any suggestions on Bangkok car services/taxis?

Easy. From Baggage Collection, take lift/escalator to ground floor. Follow signs to taxis. Many there.

If it is 'fixed price' negotiate before getting into taxi. Meter is always cheaper (plus toll fee and airport charge).

Depending on time of day and on traffic, worthwhile paying the small toll fee for the fast overhead road into town.

Your hotel: have printout of hotel name, address and of phone number in case driver does not know it. Happens on occasions.

How much? Forget just what I've paid in the past: think there was some change from 500 bahts. Tip not necessary; this is not USA!

12 minutes ago, little_me said:

>But if I saw the line in that picture, I'd head to the left and down to the airport line rail stop.

Station is at basement level, follow signs. Frequent fast trains into town, think 40 bahts, 15/20 minutes. Then taxi from e.g. Makkasan station to hotel. To Sukhumvit Road area, less than 100 bahts.

If you arrive at night, think train does not run at night, but check Google/ Suvarnabhumi airport web site for timetable.

Daytime trains are frequent, no need to check timetable: just go.

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Bonkabit

[geezerrb]

37 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I get fast track, but heading into Bangkok, so I can't use Nam.

Any suggestions on Bangkok car services/taxis?

Sorry can't help it's been a while since I included my Bangkok diversion on arrival, I now go direct to Patts. In those days you could book with MrT it was more expensive than a rank cab but I could afford it those days.

After MrT stopped that service I just got a rank cab.

4 minutes ago, bazkashmir said:

Same here ,landing 3rd November morning 6.00 am, I hope not too many flights that time of morning.

It can be a bit of a lottery depending on when you arrive, the majority of my flights from the UK have usually arrived between 14.00-17.00 and sometimes I have walked almost straight through (usually waiting ages for the luggage) and other times it has taken over an hour to get through immigration and even seen a fight when some guy decided he wasn't going to queue.

4 minutes ago, Bonkabit said:

Easy. From Baggage Collection, take lift/escalator to ground floor. Follow signs to taxis. Many there.

If it is 'fixed price' negotiate before getting into taxi. Meter is always cheaper (plus toll fee and airport charge).

Depending on time of day and on traffic, worthwhile paying the small toll fee for the fast overhead road into town.

Your hotel: have printout of hotel name, address and of phone number in case driver does not know it. Happens on occasions.

How much? Forget just what I've paid in the past: think there was some change from 500 bahts. Tip not necessary; this is not USA!

Last time I used the airport taxi rank if memory serves correct (it was a few years back), there were desks for different destinations, you queued got a ticket then were directed to a parked cab handed over the ticket and it was all by meter. Has it all changed?

[Bonkabit]

5 hours ago, geezerrb said:

Last time I used the (Suvarnabhumi/BKK) airport taxi rank, if memory serves correct (it was a few years back), there were desks for different destinations. You queued, got a ticket, then were directed to a parked cab, handed over the ticket and it was all by meter. Has it all changed?

Certainly it is all very efficient at (BKK) airport, unlike years and years ago.

Similar at Don Muang, where it used to be a dogfight. (DMK now has Skytrain into town, see YouTube).

Last March I took an electric taxi from BKK airport to Pattaya. Cost 2000 bahts, more than the usual 1500-1600, but I wanted the experience. Quiet, smooth. Car was Chinese, about same size as a Camry. Driver said electricity cost about one third of petrol for the same trip and servicing is very economical.

[vivid2]

On 21/10/2022 at 15:49, Luv2Phuket said:

I get fast track, but heading into Bangkok, so I can't use Nam.

Any suggestions on Bangkok car services/taxis?

Her website shows that she does that route (but not in a small sedan)….800 baht and up depending on what type of vehicle you want.  👍👍

https://www.namstaxiladydrivers.com/services

[Luv2Phuket]

2 minutes ago, vivid2 said:

Her website shows that she does that route (but not in a small sedan)….800 baht and up depending on what type of vehicle you want.  👍👍

https://www.namstaxiladydrivers.com/services

Thanks! To be honest, I was lazy and didn't check! 555

Thanks to others who detailed where to grab a taxi into Bangkok - well aware and have done it many times. I am arriving late and don't particularly want to fuck around with a long line to get into a taxi.

[Leo_Bia]

Bangkok airport appeals for more cabs

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2421608/bangkok-airport-appeals-for-more-cabs

 

[Leo_Bia]

Thailand airports congested as 50,000 foreigners arrive daily

https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/thailand-airports-congested-as-50000-foreigners-arrive-daily-415892

[Baxidar ba]

Landed sauaranbhumi 15:45 & was at immigration about 16:00, yes there was a queue but it barely stopped moving, queued no more than 20mins.

Immigration on top of things & were processing people every 2 mins, mine went incredibly quickly.

Can't say on another day at another time, but things running very smoothly ATM.

[Key Master]

I arrived yesterday around 1530 and maybe only lined up for about 10 minutes at most.  I was also mindful about the lines.  As I entered in, there seemed to be a break.  Everyone was going left at it, and I'm looking at some foreigners in a line to the right with much much smaller line.  I asked staff if it's ok for the line on the right and he said yes.  So I'm glad I didn't follow the herd but even if I did, I don't think it would be that extensive as it just went very smoothly and quickly.

[ctp2018]

Even though the long lines through immigration move apparently very quickly, I think I’d still rather use a fast track pass and avoid the whole thing if possible. Although, if one is 70+ I assume that line is quite short.

Edited November 18, 2022 by ctp2018

[daytripperz]

I used fast track yesterday when I arrived. Sadly a waste of 1250 baht as normal immigration was empty. But having piece of mind that I wouldn't need to queue regardless was worth it for me I guess. I just want to get to Happy Town ASAP lol.

[Key Master]

In regards to how fast things move at the line.  Even though I went and found the fastest line, I had stopped at the Sim card place prior to immigration and had to wait behind others to get my card and activation.  I got to the immigration line like I said above but the luggage for my Thai Airways flight hadn't even started rolling for like another 15 minutes after I cleared immigration.  I guess if you aren't needing a sim card and you are carry on only you could really speed things up, but otherwise I'm not sure about the money spent since you can't control when your check in luggage comes out.

[Kickoff]

On 18/11/2022 at 01:18, daytripperz said:

I used fast track yesterday when I arrived. Sadly a waste of 1250 baht as normal immigration was empty. But having piece of mind that I wouldn't need to queue regardless was worth it for me I guess. I just want to get to Happy Town ASAP lol.

What time did you arrive?

[daytripperz]

5 hours ago, Kickoff said:

What time did you arrive?

Landed just after 4pm.

[Leo_Bia]

Seemingly it's Departures that are rammed at the moment.

[striderman]

as "high season" tails off it is understandable that more tourists are departing than arriving

[bangna]

With a 16.30 arrival my pal claimed huge queues at BKK for immigration 

[jaynewcastle]

20 Feb 2022, took just 12mins from getting on the escalator up to where security is & then passing through immigration into airside of BKK

Feb 2020 took 45 mins

I'm flying out tonight, expect the security & immigration queue's to be  back to normal, just as immigration queue's were upon arrival early Jan 2023

[Leo_Bia]

https://www.facebook.com/100064879534404/

Suvarnabhumi Airport confirmed: Passengers did not spend hours waiting in line for passport checks both upon arrival and departure during peak hours.
The image of passengers queuing for service in front of the passport checkpoint appears only during peak hours,  at the most 1-2 times per day, and the passenger line can be cleared within 30 to 40 minutes.  Suvarnabhumi Airport, however, would like to apologize to passengers who may have experienced inconveniences during this time.
Suvarnabhumi Airport continues to operate in close collaboration with Immigration Division 2 on a daily basis. The workforce has been organized to accommodate the increased number of passengers, including Airport Help staff who assist passengers with queuing and moving to less congested passport control zones, which will help speed up and effectively reduce the waiting time.
Suvarnabhumi Airport is dedicated to serving passengers with the goal of providing the highest level of comfort and continuing to improve the service's efficiency.

 

 

[jaynewcastle]

Well yesterday, at 10:20pm,  from the bottom of the escalator up to security & back down & through Passport Control took exactly 60mins

15 mins to get through security, from where there was a 45min queue for Passport Control, along to the escalator going down again, and then winding back & forth several times. before eventually reaching the desks

At 11:00pm, only 7 of the 16 Passport control desks to the right side of the escalator were manned

There were as many staff rushing about with Last boarding call notices for various flights, as staff actually processing tourists leaving

[cbmgolfer]

Took me over 2 hrs to exit on 13 Feb.  Never seen it like that.  
 

Not enough immi officers working was the root cause.

[Luv2Phuket]

“Fast Track” is anything but today

Been in line 7 minutes and moved about 2 people