ARN Turnaround on TG
Time-wise, with over 7 hours between arrival and the return flight, there's no big issues in doing this turnaround. I could not get my return boarding pass in BKK, but knew from doing other TG turnarounds in Europe that it's nothing to worry about.
The only thing I really have to comment on is that I encountered perhaps the rudest immigration official ever upon arrival. She asked me how long I was staying, and I mentioned I was departing that afternoon. She wanted to know what flight I arrived on and what flight I was departing on. After hearing I was getting right back on the same TG plane, her voice turned even gruffer than it already was and she started grilling me on why I'd fly such a great distance just to return again. I smiled and said I was doing it for the miles. She then yelled at me and said something like, "Why are you smiling and laughing? This is no laughing matter. This is very serious." She asked me several more questions about my itinerary, where I lived, what my job was, and I did my best to answer sternly, without any smile whatsoever. Finally she handed me back my passport without saying anything more and I proceeded on my way. I guess if I ever want to do a MR / turnaround in Sweden again I'll find a business contact first so that I can mention it to immigration to avoid such a grilling.
Outside, I decided to take a coach into the city to spend my time there. I didn't see any manned ticket booths, but did see some automated machines, so used one of them, paid for the ticket, but nothing came out. Went inside to try to find someone but wasn't successful. Finally another customer came to try to buy a ticket. I mentioned to him I wasn't successful, but he tried his and the same result. Being Swedish, he knew who to contact and after waiting 15 minutes someone came and opened up the machine and determined it was inoperable. The worker waited for the coach to arrive and told the driver we'd already paid and to let us on, and to inform the ticket office in the city to issue me a voucher for my return.
Ate brunch in the city center, with it naturally being quite expensive as would be expected for Sweden. Enjoyed walking around for a few hours, even though the temperature was quite cold, before making my way back by coach to the airport to check-in and get my boarding pass. I wasn't at all impressed with the *A (SK) lounge there, but at least it was someplace to sit and relax while waiting for my flight to board.