8 hours in BKK
 

I have an 8 hour layover maybe more if the flight to BKK arrives early.....

is anything feasible to do ...... any suggestions is that long enough to go spend 3 or 4 hours downtown or anything?


would love any advice

thanks a lot:)

Can you give us your arrival and departure times?
Are we talking 1am-9am or 10am-6pm?

arrival is 530 AM departing flight is 145 PM and i am changing airlines and alliance in BKK

that will be rush hour time beginning. You may want to take the train into town to avoid traffic. Have you been to Bangkok before? The Grand Palace apparently opens at 8:30 so you would have time to go down and check that area out.

Are you flying economy or up front? There have apparently been some issues with time to get through security, but if you're in TG C or F there is a dedicated fast track security. But there is something to keep in mind. If you have checked bags that may end up being an issue for you as well unless you get your bag checked to your final destination.

If you are on separate tickets it's likely you will have already paid the departure tax.

Arriving at 5:45 if you are lucky you can be thru customs / Immigration/ baggage out the door in 30 minutes , but where are you going to leave your bags?

Take the Airport line into the city , but then what do you want to see ?

Shopping , Temples, the Palace ?
that will determine where you get off the Airport line and change to the either the MRT Subway or another Skytrain line.

Not much time but if you travel light it can be done

Soarer

Also the day of the week, and exact date, can help as things are different on a weekend or a state, religious or royal holiday.

If a normal weekday then expect public transport to be a bit more challenging to navigate. We are also transitioning into the rainy season, not that you'd know it this year, which can turn a simple trip into a 3 hour ordeal.

Are the arriving and departing flights domestic or international? Do you carry a passport which allows for a visa waiver exemption, or perhaps you'll need to get a visa on arrival?

Most shopping doesn't really get rolling until 11 AM so that may not be an option?

What kinds of things do you like to do? Have you been to Bangkok before?

I am interested in historical stuff

Transferring from TG F to EK J so yea...... the grand palace is kinda what i was thinking i would take the train if i go into downtown

Luggage places to check and store it at BKK airport? and how secure are they?

I am sort of like:rolleyes: why did i decide to fly emirates could have just done TG onward but yea.... that was the obessive frequent flier aviation fanatic coming out in me:)

the Day is a tuesday

how does the train work ? i heard their is one that only takes 15-20 min now?

Not having been to BKK, I'd not recommend going into town unless you hire a driver @ the airport.

You'll want to be back at the airport 2 hrs before your flight, and budget an hour to get there incase of traffic, you get on the wrong train, etc.

So that's 3 hrs of your 8.

Figure 1.5 hrs to get out of the airport into town (it's a big airport!)

You're down to 3.5 hours in BKK. You could see the palace in that time, but the palace is NO WHERE near the train, so you'll have to take a taxi and BKK traffic can go bad anywhere anytime.

I know I'm being a bit pessimistic here, but even with my knowledge of Bangkok, I'd be leery of pulling off an 8-hr layover, it's right on the hairy edge of what's possible.

Taxi's are cheap - you could hire one

This page talks layovers.

http://www.bangkok-travel-ideas.com/...t-layover.html

Let us know what happens, please!

-Ryan

Since you are arriving TG F getting out of the airport would be fairly quick and simple. I believe there are left-luggage facilities but I have never used them. Unfortunately at 5:30 there is a lot of hustle and bustle but not a lot of typical tourist attractions are open. One thing you might could do is visit the flower market. But that wouldn't kill a whole lot of time. But from there you could wander around China Town. If you then get to the Grand Palace at the time it opens you could make a quick run through.

Since you are departing EK business class your check in should also be fairly quick. You should check (maybe the EK forum) to see if EK offers fast track departure passes since departure security has been a problem for some folks. Given your schedule you would want to be heading back to the airport by 11. That should give you time for a quick shower (presumably EK has showers in their lounge? something else to find out) before your flight.

I suppose it depends somewhat on how adventurous you are, have you spent much time in crazy Asian cities, etc. It may also depend a bit on how long your flight into BKK is. I imagine it is an overnight from Europe? So even flying F there may be some jet lag. Sitting around the airport for 8 hours doesn't sound like much fun to me. You will probably need to sit around waiting to check in for your EK flight since there is no arrival lounge privilege you'll be out in the airport.

Having been to Bangkok many times, I disagree with many of your points.

TWAB747nomore, I think the best thing for you to do is to make two plans. The long plan and the short plan. Your flight could be late, immigration lanes could be long, the baggage carousel could break down or the complete opposite could happen.

Long plan, train into town, taxi to Grand Palace, lunch, taxi back to train, train to airport. Taxi time is very variable.

Short plan, Samut Prakan and go to the Ancient City. See all the famous temples of Thailand!

Just used left luggage on Monday. 100 Baht (per piece) paid when you pick it up, need to show your passport. Seemed secure enough.

Train is a piece of cake, took that to town since I had three hours to kill.

Depending on you level of confidence, you could take the train to SkyTrain, take it to Phaya River, and then take the boat to the Grand Palace - that is the easiest way to do it IMHO. No problem if you've been to an asian city before and grab one of the free maps at the airport.

Disagree. If you have any kind of travel experience, there are better ways of doing it (see above) where you won't get caught in traffic.

Do like the idea of backup plan - you never know if the plane is late or how long it taken in immigration. Can tell you the TG fast track is wonderful and really saves time if there is a line. Of course my last time through (about two weeks ago @ 9 p.m.) I was the FIRST one at immigration so didn't bother with fast track, as I had choice of four different agents and NO waiting :eek: :) ^

EmailKid

IMHO, this is the fastest route, however I didn't want to recommend it in my previous post because I wasn't sure if the OP was very familiar with the mass transportation options in BKK. This requires changing SkyTrain (BTS) lines as well, which adds more time. And the river taxi is slightly more confusing than a normal subway/train.

I think it will really depend on what time you end up standing outside of the airport. There are so many variables, but I think you should be done and outside by 7:00am to 7:45am if your plane lands at 5:45am and you have checked baggage.

People check luggage :confused:

Definitelly not for a first timer in Asia, but if you successfuly navigated other Asian cities, it's not that difficult. And English is spoken here more so than most Asian countries.

On my first visit to Thailand (and first visit to SEA) a few years ago I managed to get back to my hotel on a local bus after dark, and would think that is harder to do than navigating BTS and one boat.

Again, depends mostly on OPs level of experience and confidence.

EmailKid

OP says he is arriving TG F. If the flight lands on time at 5:45 I can't imagine he will still be in the airport past 6:30. He'll get the buggy ride from the gate to fast track immigration. Then he'll have a porter to help deal with his bags. Out through customs won't take any time. Porter should know where to go for left luggage storage.

Airport train --> BTS --> BTS --> boat shouldn't take super long, but it's a nontrivial amount of time. And he'll have to do a little research on connecting between the Airport train and the SkyTrain. Rush hour will be crowded on the BTS. Transferring lines at Siam will take a couple of minutes to make sure he gets to the right train perhaps. But I will agree that the boat can be a bit of a challenge if you don't know the system. Of course the OP will have to get some cash somewhere along the way. Easy enough with all the ATMs in the airport though.

It will indeed.

Since OP is flying F, I'm sure he/she can spring for 90 Baht for the airport Express Line to BTS ;) Express Line is not crowded, though SkyTrain will be at rush hour, and transfer at Siam BTS station is always a bit of a zoo, even during off peak travel.

Personally still think this is preferrable to fighting street traffic that time of the day. But that's my 2 Satang's worth.

Again, NOT for first time Asia visitor, perhaps even second time.

EmailKid