Originally Posted by transpac
Most people, based on posts on several forums, seem to be experiencing significantly shorter immigration lines at the new BKK. I've had two international arrivals to date. For one there was no wait, for the other my wait was 120 seconds. From stepping off the plane onto the jetway to stepping into a cab I'm averaging 10 minutes, this includes a stop for a duty-free purchase, and no checked bags. Taxi time is also a bit better for me, ~ 25 minutes vs. 30 minutes, even though the new airport is 3 kM farther. The shorter travel time is due in part to easier access to my street coming from the new aiport.
My experiences echo yours. For me, 8 minutes from the plane to exiting the airport, also with no checked bags and no stop at duty free. I think Suvarnabhumi is just great for speedy arrivals - the best of any international airport I've been to. Hopefully it stays that way.
Rhodeswood, I've never had a wait at immigration, always plenty of lanes without anyone in line. Though if you just take the first line available you will likely have a bit of a wait. Just walk further along and find an empty queue or one with a shorter line. Processing time has been under 1 minute each time for me. If you looked for the lane with the shortest queue, then maybe you just got unlucky and hit it at a bad time when a lot of flights were coming in. Virtually all other reports I've seen say the immigration queues are always small to non-existent.