So BTE has landed. Here is a first report on my trip, about getting from the Suvarnabhumi airport to your hotel. I've developed a rather efficient process IMHO. The times mentioned are mine for today, at about midday. Of course, time of day will highly impact anything here. Sorry it is rather detailed (just my style), but you can always skip the part when I'm going to the toilet.
Landing +0 minutes: waiting at the gate. After our plane arrived exactly on time and docked at the gate, we had to wait 25 minutes before the doors were opened. This is the first time I experience this in Bangkok (I think normally the airport is quite efficient), and it may well be the case that for you this problem does not come up. But anyway good to factor in the possibility that this may happen. Total time spent: 25 minutes.
Landing +25 minutes: walking to immigration. This time we were parked quite far from immigration, so we had to take a walk. I don't go to the toilet here, but I try to hurry a little bit more than the other passengers. That way, I get to the front of the line at immigration. Well at least for this airplane. Plus I like to stretch the legs a little after a long haul. Total time spent: 10 minutes.
Landing +35 minutes: immigration. At immigration foreigners need to go left, Thai can go right. Thai have almost no line at immigration, but the line for foreigners can be huge. And if you did not fill out the white / blue visa form correctly, then you may get sent back to do it again (and stand in line again). This time I had the disadvantage of a slow officer, so it took some time for me. Nowadays they are taking fingerprints and a photo, but typically they don't ask any questions. Total time spent: 15 minutes.
Landing +50 minutes: toilet and luggage. Directly after immigration, I go to a toilet first before waiting for my bag. One of the things for me to do there, is to take off any sweater or extra shirt, so that I'm dressed for Thai temperatures. Having too much clothes in Thailand can be very annoying (so I keep telling the girls as well). After toilet I go to the baggage belt and pick up my luggage. This time all luggage was already on the belt, as we had spent so much time waiting in the airplane. Normally, the wait is not long either. Indeed an efficient airport! Total time spent: 5 minutes.
Landing +55 minutes: customs, money and sim. After getting your luggage, it is straightforward to go through the green lane at customs ('nothing to declare' I've never had anyone checking my luggage, fingers crossed for the annoyance it would cause. After customs you get in the arrival hall, which can be overwhelming for first time visitors. At times it is very busy with many people selling limousine services, sim cards, etc. Just walk through and head straight for the lowest floor (I believe it is called floor be for basement). Following the directions for the airport hotel, you come across various booths for money exchange and sim cards. I always go here, for the better rates, instead of going for the first booths that you see in the arrival hall or even at the baggage belts. The rates are different, just compare for yourself. Here I always look around for the best exchange rate available, though often many rates are similar here in the basement. Some people claim that [URL]https://www.superrichthailand.com/[/URL]#en has always the best rates, but I did not find proof of that.
After the money exchange, I get a sim. This time from AIS, but I actually don't care about the network if the trip is only short. I never had any problem with sim cards anyway. Pick your plan and give the phone + passport. They will put in the sim for you and change sim settings to English (otherwise you get text messages in Thai, with statements on the amount of value left on the sim). Make sure you get any sim back that was in your phone before. I made a mistake once (my fault entirely) and lost my own sim card from home. Not very handy!
Had a nice flirt with one of the ladies at the AIS booth, she was lovely. Smile and be kind in the LOS, and the people will return the favor tenfold! I did not ask for her number, with too many of her colleagues around and also other plans. But hey, I guess she has my number! LOL Total time spent: 10 minutes.
Landing +65 minutes: airport link. Also in the airport basement, close to the money and sim booths, there are the vending machines for the airport link. Max cost is 45 baht to the other end of the line (Phaya Thai), which I think is very cheap. You get a plastic coin from the vending machine, which is your ticket. Use it to pass the gates and go one level down for the train. At midday the train was not too crowded, could sit easily though some people were standing.
Why go with the airport link and not with a taxi? Because it is clean, airconditioned, faster, cheaper, and there's more to see LOL Disadvantage is obviously that you're not being brought to the doorstep of your hotel. I don't buy the argument that the airport link is very full at rush hour, after all at this exact same time taxis are very likely to be in a traffic jam. And then I would rather be in a cool train with a predictable schedule than in a hot taxi in a traffic jam that will never end.
Now I prefer to get off the train at the end station, Phaya Thai, but this may depend on the location of your hotel. At Phaya Thai you can switch trains to the BTS, which is easy enough also with luggage. The BTS is bringing you to stations like Siam, Nana, Asok, Phrom Phong, and further along Sukhumvit. The alternative to getting off at Phaya Thai, is an Airport Link station called Makkasan. Here you can change to the MRT, though the walking is more difficult between those lines. The MRT will bring you to Asok (close to Soi Cowboy and Terminal 21), but doesn't go to other top mongering places.
This time I'm staying close to Siam, so I got off at Phaya Thai and took the BTS. Total time spent: 30 minutes.
Landing +95 minutes: walk to the hotel. So from Siam BTS station I took quite a detour, my fault. So the walking took longer than necessary. When I make hotel reservations, I look closely at the location of the hotel compared to any BTS. If it is just easy to get around, then it saves a lot of hassle and tired feet. Even more so important if you plan to walk with your luggage, because the sidewalks in BKK are terrible. What I like about Siam is that there are several shopping malls connected to each other. So you can walk in airconditioning to your hotel, if you prefer. Total time spent: 15 minutes.
So all in all about 1 hour and 50 minutes from landing to hotel lobby. Not bad, I think, if you consider that there were some unnecessary delays as well. Minimum with these steps would be about 1 hour and 10 minutes if everything goes very very smooth.
