Thailand - BKK Suvarnabhumi ~ Baggage & Associated Logistical Delays!

Regarding Bangkok's airport BKK, Suvarnabhumi

My experience is that I am waiting too long for baggage retrieval after landing. The taxiing duration to/from the various bus gates is also seeming like it is taking way too long.

Are you waiting too long for your baggage?

Are bus gates driving you mad?

The flight HKT-BKK is only 1 hour long.
Why does it take me over an hour after landing to get to the terminal and gt my bag? Are other travelers observing similar experiences?

What can we do to push for improvements?

Flight last week.

Lands BKK 11:47 pm
Taxi to neverland
Plane parks: 12:02
Bus to terminal
Bus arrives: 12:12

25 minutes from landing to arriving at the terminal.

This trip I didn't check bags, but my experience from Bangkok Airways is that it takes at least another 30 minutes at the baggage claim.

6 minutes later I was in my taxi, shaking my head and leaving Suvarnabhumi behind.

I don't check bags that often but don't usually see the delays you're talking about. Perhaps it's due to my flights typically being on a 734 (on TG), whereas you're likely on planes carrying significantly more pax. BKK also is quite good at adhering to the principle of 'priority baggage'. That is something the other domestic airports have left me desiring.

Two days ago I flew in on PG (short int flight) and we parked at D8. I'm not used to getting a gate on this segment, whether on TG or PG. Anyway, I chose the wrong immigration line, the guy was utterly incompetent. The lines around me were processing 5 in the time it took him for 2. After 25 min on line I got to the carousel and there were no pax left, maybe 7 bags still going around.

Generally I don't check a bag when flying in from Narita and have had very good luck getting through immigration fairly quickly. When flying domestic back from Phuket though I have to check a bag and it has taken longer, but not excessively. Perhaps I've been lucky?...

Yesterday Domestic arrival.

Plane Lands: 11:39am
Park ~ no gate: 11:45
Bus arrives to terminal: 11:57
First Bag to Baggage Claim: 12:16pm

So the first bag arrived 19 minutes after we arrived to the baggage claim area and 31 minutes after the plane parked.

Sometimes I really miss Don Muang ;)

I am guessing that Domestic v International will have an effect on how one answers this poll.

If you are waiting for the immigration lines then your bag is probably on the belt by the time you get to it. But if you are going through fast track or domestic you have to wait a little while.

I absolutely hate being stuck on a remote stand/bus gate. Those buses seem to just drive around a while for the sake of driving and then double back. There should be a more direct route to drive from the plane to the terminal.

I am guessing that Domestic v International will have an effect on how one answers this poll.

If you are waiting for the immigration lines then your bag is probably on the belt by the time you get to it. But if you are going through fast track or domestic you have to wait a little while.

I absolutely hate being stuck on a remote stand/bus gate. Those buses seem to just drive around a while for the sake of driving and then double back. There should be a more direct route to drive from the plane to the terminal.

What he said.

Sometimes I really miss Don Muang ;)

There's always DD (Nok Air). :D



I absolutely hate being stuck on a remote stand/bus gate. Those buses seem to just drive around a while for the sake of driving and then double back. There should be a more direct route to drive from the plane to the terminal.

The Int and Dom bus gates for entering the terminal are under D4 and D3 respectively. Adhering to the regulations of driving on the left side of the road requires the buses to drive past, turn around, and then come back.

Sometimes they can do this near D5, sometimes they're required to head down toward the E1A bus area and then turn around.

If you were able to flag down a motorbike I'm sure he'd drive you directly and not care about which side of the road you're on. :D

There's always DD (Nok Air). :D

If you were able to flag down a motorbike I'm sure he'd drive you directly and not care about which side of the road you're on. :D

Awesome and true. Hilarious.

Last time I flew into BKK (Jan after the SIN Do) I was on a CX flight in J. I was given an express immigration pass, the benefit of being One World Emerald.

So I was through immigration in seconds after taking a slow walk to the desk.
My case was waiting for me when I arrived at the baggage claim area.

No complaints at all.

Will be back there late May on a Jet* flight so will be interesting to see how long it takes if I check a bag.

does anyone know if when I fly in from USA to Korea to ChaingMai when we stop at Bkk in route will I have to take the luggage and recheck? Or will we pick it up in ChaingMai?

bus gates drive me mad. It's a brand new freaken airport! Did they make it too small?

I know nothing about the aviation industry, but why can't they drop the people off at the airport building, then park the plane out in the parking lot after we've all got off the plane?

does anyone know if when I fly in from USA to Korea to ChaingMai when we stop at Bkk in route will I have to take the luggage and recheck? Or will we pick it up in ChaingMai?

If your bag is checked through to CNX you will not need to collect it in BKK. Just go through the int-dom transfer/immigration area near the confluence of concourses C and D on level 2.

Upon arrival in CNX you will be directed to the international carousel to collect your bags and go through the customs checkpoint.

bus gates drive me mad. It's a brand new freaken airport! Did they make it too small?

I know nothing about the aviation industry, but why can't they drop the people off at the airport building, then park the plane out in the parking lot after we've all got off the plane?

Welcome to my life flying in and out of BKK. Doesn't matter if I'm on FD, PG or TG, 90% of my international, short hop, flights leave from C1A, D1A or, occasionally, E1A.

Domestically I'm 50/50 getting a bus.

Often, with TG, I'm flying out first thing in the morning or arriving later at night on 737 or AB6 which are getting their first or last flight of the day respectively. For these I can undersatnd not parking at the gate all night. That's not to say I like the bus.

TG could do well to take a page from VN and bus the C pax in separately.

thanks for the info. It will make it a little easier to pick up the bags in CNX

Pulled into D5 on a domestic arrival yesterday. Bags started coming out at the 12 minute mark. Due to awful service in UBP, where TG no longer has any staff but uses DD's who are wholely not capable, we didn't get tagged priority and it was a good 7 minutes later before our bags arrived.

Overall not bad though.

I'd forgotten about this thread... but it's timely for me to share my experience this week.

TG Chiang Mai - Bangkok:

Boeing 777 Plane FULL
Wheels touched down 18:39
Remote/Bus Gate
Poaring Rain
Between the taxi to the remote bay, and the bus ride to the terminal, a good 20-25 minutes passed by, and I was in the first bus.

I seriously question the logistics of bussing hundreds of people (and transporting their luggage behind the scenes) back and forth... the fact that it was in the poaring rain and it took quite a while to get to the terminal has me wondering how this can be an effective method. The airlines cannot be happy about it. The customers cannot be happy about it.

Nevertheless, luggage came out relatively quickly, within 10 minutes of our arrival to the baggage claim (although still a good 20 minutes from the plane parking). It was no longer than 5 minutes after that that my bags came out (priority bags were on the 2nd set to be sent up)

Once in the main terminal, after baggage claim, everything else was a zoo. Lots of people, full elevators, and at least 100 people in line for taxis (at the various taxi queues). After 5 minutes in line, and not one person moving, I headed up to the departures level and got my own cab.

Many taxis waiting (for their next victim), but I grabbed one that was unloading a passengers bags, and hopped in their cab, 1 hour and 4 minutes after landing... and I was finally on my way to the city.

205THB on the meter, no tollways, no airport fee. I gave him 380 and we were both happy.

My last three international arrivals on BR (connecting through TPE) saw my bag waiting for me when I finished with immigration. Immigration though was anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes.

That was an extremelly generous tip, $6 for a $7 taxi ride from someone who lives in Thailand. This kind of tipping causes problems for future passengers who happen to catch a cab upstairs. Now all the taxi drivers will be expecting big tips from farangs.
The reason some of the airlines bus passengers to the terminal is the gate cost for airlines are very expensive. Cheaper to bus than use the gates.

That was an extremelly generous tip, $6 for a $7 taxi ride from someone who lives in Thailand. This kind of tipping causes problems for future passengers who happen to catch a cab upstairs. Now all the taxi drivers will be expecting big tips from farangs.

A bit of hyperbole, but I agree with your underlying belief.

The reason some of the airlines bus passengers to the terminal is the gate cost for airlines are very expensive. Cheaper to bus than use the gates.

That is true, but there is also the aspect of domestic vs international needs for specific aircraft. it's possible to get a bus when you arrive at a jetway because of this.