JVPhoto

I can only speak to what I have experienced but...
TG F ex-BKK is better than LX F ex-ZRH, NH ex-NRT & OZ ex-ICN. It does not beat LH F ex-FRA, depending on what you value I could say it's tied LH F ex-MUC.

I have no need to, nor desire to, fly through the Middle East.

BinSabai

IMHO TG competes re overall F ground experience (not just with the F lounge, where there are certainly better ones) with the best, LH, LX, SQ, AF, CX; certainly better then any US carrier, better then other *A carriers in Asia or Europe (NH, OZ, CA etc.). not much experience with mid east carriers...

5khours

Agree with your distinction between overall ground experience and the lounge itself. Think I have been pretty careful in my posts to draw this distinction. That said, in addition to overall ground experience (where for me TG is the best,) the TG F lounge while not the best is certainly one of the best.

Tokyoite

>Why is Suvarnabhumi Airport and Thai on the ground so awful?
IMHO, this is relative to where you have traveled, what airports you have been through, and what you expect at destinations.
Debating it to death doesn't change anything, and the constructive way forward should be "how to survive it".
The AC, the lounges, the immigration crowds, the wifi, the F/C ground experience, the immigration/security fast lanes, the boarding bridges etc...
We can't really change anything by ranting here.
But, we can Identify ways of lessening the bad experiences and hopefully get a better experience at the airport.

Personally, I have been to over 70 countries in Europe/Africa/Asia/North America/Australasia, and I can come up with information why each airport is "awful on the ground"
Even the highly praised airports have their awful experiences. Just go with the flow!
(SIN and the "holding pens" after security check at each gate, ICN/NRT and their "drab and uninspiring" *A lounges, NRT/KUL and their lack of airside terminal connectivity..thats just my backyard in Asia).

CPH-Flyer

I can quickly fix the airside terminal connectivity in Narita for you. There is an airside bus available for transit betwbet the terminals.

All airports have their positive anf their negative sides. Individual aspects are maybe awful in many places, but while I do complain about certain airports I can't think of one that I would say is truely awful. Though the candidates for such a tittle would more come from inefficiency and unnecessary long waiting times rather than a dull lounge, or less than perfect cleaning. (Hello Heathrow Terminal 5 I am looking in your direction)

Tokyoite

Airports have now become more like bus stops and train stations, where the objective is just to move people.
Having lounge access (the 1%?) is a luxury that many suddenly consider a right and start complaining.
Frankly, as long as the airport deals with the usual issues relatively ok, then I just chuck it up to the pains of travel.

shevboyz

With regards to Chryslers and Benz, it's not a rip-off if fares are published publicly. Moreover, you can have the choice of not taking them. By the way Benz taxi is not much more expensive than the usual ones, just avoid the Chryslers. I strongly recommend to skip the que and use grab or uber instead.

BinSabai

of course it is a rip off!
- nobody is telling you that they are more expensive (I have seen somewhere some hidden sign board about that, but who is looking at that? it's like the small print in a contract...)
- the guy at the end of the queue assigns you to a Chrysler or Benz without telling you that it is more expensive..and I have more then once observed that they assign westerners or tourists from other Asian countries (like China or Japan) to those (outside the normal one after the other number assignment)
- you have to actively refuse to take a Chrysler or Benz if assigned
- some years ago I made the mistake (as I did not know) and was assigned to a Chrysler. The driver did not tell me upfront, but drove off and after I asked why he did not turn on the meter, he told me that there is a fix price (I can't remember the price but it was nearly double of what I usually pay). I told him to drive back to the airport and he dropped me off at the taxi booth without paying anything. Many people are after a long journey too tired to pay attention or don't dare to refuse.
- Benz also use meter and they even lie to me, that the rate would be the same. But actually it's significantly more as the normal Taxis!
- so they actively pray on passengers from abroad!

shevboyz

As a local, I would avoid the Chrysler at all cost. And the experience is nothing special at all as well. However for the Benz, its not significantly more expensive than the usual cabs, the rate are really about the same. But from Changi, grab and uber are the way to go, you avoid the que and the obscene $5 surcharge.

BinSabai

most of the locals avoid both and are not assigned by the staff to those (those seem to have an eye for that, who is Singaporean or from Mainland, Taiwan, Hongkong).
I had the Impression that Benz is around 15-20% more expensive (if you call one even more).
where would you recommend to meet the Uber Driver?

Dalewood

I will admit I was traveling light, but why not take the Metro? It worked beautifully for me.

Dalewood

Alright, I will lead with my chin here.

I have no problems with Swampy at all. It is clean. It is cool. I have had no undue delays at immigration (maybe lucky here). Whatever lounge CI uses has been fine with me. There are some salespeople that hog a lot of the seats at the bus departure area---my only complaint.

BinSabai

only if your final destination is very close to a metro station and you do not have to change the line.
Otherwise I would really recommend Taxis as they are so inexpensive (with the exception of the Chrysler and Benz rip off) and distances small

Transpacificflyer

I suppose if one wishes to compare BKK to the world's top 10 airports, then yes, it comes out towards the bottom. However, if I were to compare to all 44,000 ICAO/IATA coded airports, I'd say BKK comes out in the top 20, and that's quite something. My waits at BKK immigration or at the baggage carousel have always been superior to what I have experienced in North America and most EU countries. I don't know if the OP has been through HKG lately, but it too is getting a bit dirty and on some days, there is a pretty long line at immigration. I say that as someone who considers HKG my favourite airport.

My interactions with Thai ground staff have always been better than what I have experienced in North America and Europe, Even in Japan the land of politeness, I have had some rather useless airline personnel from NH. And as for top rated Incheon with its grouchy robot people, no thank you. I like BKK because of its humanity. It is an airport with the energy of life.

One item that sticks out is the comment about the air conditioning. I found it to be unreasonable, and irresponsible. The reason I say that is because Thailand is located in the tropics in a country given to high temperatures. The ambient exterior temperature once the humidity factor is included can hit 40C. Add in the thousands of sweaty people in a building and it becomes quite a task to cool the building. It is unreasonable to expect the airport temperature to be cooled to east coast North American standards. The locals get cold when its 25C. It is one of the reasons I have to pick my air carriers wisely on my TPACs as I despise a warm cabin. It is both environmentally and fiscally irresponsible to expect the AoT to spend large amounts of money on electricity to cool the building an extra degree or so to ensure a more consistent indoor temperature. My advice is to deal with it or to avoid Thailand because it is a hot country.

timster

I agree with some of what you say. Modelling air conditioning performance is a standard architectural engineering methodology, well within the capabilities of BKK's American architects. It may well be that they knew it was going to be hot inside and that Taksin said we're not paying for aircon to suit the millions of westerners who come through BKK yearly. My memory is that the floor-standing aircon units were less prevalent when BKK opened, and began to appear in greater numbers as the temperature did prove too oppressive. Which would indicate a change of heart / design flaw. The latter would be consistent with other known stuff-ups, such as the extensive re-laying of collapsing tarmac in the first year or two.

But firstly, one must question why one would design what is effectively a giant incubator in the tropics, that would be so hard to air-condition. SIN looks way more sensible by comparison, with much less glass. I haven't been through KUL so others can comment on that and other recent generation tropical airports.