We arrived from Clark at 9pm last night. Flight crew advised that due to very bad weather, and then a build up of planes waiting to land, we were being diverted to Don Muang to await a break in the traffic. 

We spent 2 hours on the ground at DM, refueled the plane as well, and then took off for Swampy. Eventually got there 3 hours late, on a 3.30 trip. The immigration was not that busy! 

Anyone else have hassles landing last night? 

The plane flew from DMK to BKK ?

Sounds crazy at first, but I guess the plane had to be at BKK for its next flight

Was anybody allowed to get off at DMK ?, or were you told you couldn't ?

Edited July 27, 20251 yr by jaynewcastle

No one allowed off, tho the door was opened after a while and some ground staff came aboard. 

It just sounded so crazy, low season, less tourists and they had a back log for landings! Then to see immig so quiet was a real surprise. 

9 minutes ago, biggles said:

No one allowed off, tho the door was opened after a while and some ground staff came aboard. 

It just sounded so crazy, low season, less tourists and they had a back log for landings! Then to see immig so quiet was a real surprise. 

Even half full or even rarely empty planes still need to land sometimes and with bad weather delays, it doesn't take long for things to get backed up.

Not all passengers will go through immigration, it is a busy hub, and has recently been recognized as such. 

All weather related. Evening storms roll in, and planes are put into holding patterns. Some finally divert, either to Don Mueang or U-Tapao, wait out the weather, then land. Then you have a "parking lot" of planes vying for gates and as expected, then a mass of passengers flooding in. 

11 hours ago, biggles said:

We arrived from Clark at 9pm last night. Flight crew advised that due to very bad weather, and then a build up of planes waiting to land, we were being diverted to Don Muang to await a break in the traffic. 

We spent 2 hours on the ground at DM, refueled the plane as well, and then took off for Swampy. Eventually got there 3 hours late, on a 3.30 trip. The immigration was not that busy! 

Anyone else have hassles landing last night? 

I can see two flights were diverted. One other to utapao. Few were in holding pattern for a while too. 

Yes, because we were refueled at U Tapau we may not have enough fuel to keep circling around.