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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Friday 15 September 2006 :-
Economy flyers get a lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport
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Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) will provide its first economy-class lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport, consisting of entertainment facilities, shower rooms, e-service and resting corners.
At the new airport, passengers will be surprised with several new services never before available in the Kingdom. The economy-class lounge is rare among airlines, most of which operate only first- and business-class lounges.
But THAI is following a trend at other new airports which have started offering economy-class lounges.
Charnchai Singtorij, vice-president of the cargo and mail commercial department of THAI, said the airline faced tough competition in the aviation industry, forcing it to find new ways to please customers.
The lounge, he said, would include televised entertainment such as films, music videos, sports, documentaries and world news, in addition to Internet services.
Passengers will also have a rest area that includes plenty of seating and showers in 18,000 square metres of space.
Apart from the economy class lounge, the airline will offer first-class and business-class passengers a traditional Thai spa, private movie theatre and shower rooms.
"We hope that all the lounges will convince passengers to use THAI," said Charnchai.
Although there is reason to feel excited about these innovations in Bangkok, Singapore's Changi Airport already has them.
THAI hopes to solicit feedback from travellers on how to improve services.
The carrier predicts that the number of transfer passengers going through Bangkok will increase 20 per cent in the first year of operation. Each year, Don Muang Airport receives three million transit passengers.
To reach that projection, THAI plans to add more international flights, such as a Bangkok-Johannesburg route, by the end of the year.
The airline also plans to start operating more flights to India and long-haul destinations.
THAI will operate a few international flights from Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 22 to Seoul, Beijing, and Guangzhou.
The company begins domestic flights from the new airport on September 15. All other international flights will officially operate on September 28.
Today THAI will start flying from Suvarnabhumi to Phitsanulok, Chiang Mai and Ubon Ratchathani.
Not only will THAI start using the new airport today, Australian budget airline Jet Star will commence flights to it from down under.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:35 pm on Sep. 14, 2006
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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Friday 15 September 2006 :-
Not enough toilets!
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The new airport has its soft opening today, but bosses must face some huge concerns - the main departure hall has only 100 seats and just four restrooms for men
The people behind the new Suvarnabhumi Airport love to boast about its numerous and impressive statistics and they have been doing so with some gusto for the past few weeks.
With the Bt150-billion airport's soft opening for some domestic flights by Thai Airways International starting this morning, here are some statistics that they don't want to boast about.
Question 1: How many toilets for men are there in the main departure hall, which is 444 metres long and about 50 metres wide, and a place where domestic and international passengers have to check in their luggage and get their boarding passes?
Some experts have told The Nation that given the volume of people passing through, there should be 200 or even 300. Are there that many at Suvarnabhumi?
The answer: there are 12 toilets and 16 urinals in four restrooms.
In fact, make that eight toilets as four of the 12 - one in each restroom - are set aside for the physically disadvantaged.
So if you're in a hurry, you might have to hop across to the nearby Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel, which has 19 toilets alone on the ground floor.
In the words of Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, Suvarnabhumi is "one of the most modern airports in the world with multiple distinctive features".
With tens of thousands of people departing each day, one of those "distinctive features" is bound to be long queues at the restrooms.
With the other three floors having about the same number of toilets, Suvarnabhumi is in danger of being labelled a farce come September 28.
Now on to question 2: On that very same fourth floor, the only departure hall, how many seats are there for the public to rest their weary bones?
A couple of thousand would seem reasonable, you'd think. But if you said 100 you'd be spot on the money. Not bad for a place where thousands will congregate each hour. "There are hardly any seats because passengers must stand," huffed an Airports of Thailand (AOT) information officer. "We want them to check in quickly and get to the retail space."
The uniformed staffer added: "We have received many complaints that the duty-free space is too large." At an enormous 20,000 square metres or more, that's a lot of ground to cover. You'll definitely need a seat afterwards.
A female Thai Airways ticket staffer complained: "There are too few seats and too many shops. It's not like an airport but more like a shopping mall."
When the chairman of the AOT board, Srisuk Chandransu, happened by just at that moment, he quickly shied away from The Nation's questions about toilets and public seating, saying he was a bit too busy. The Thai Airways staffer then aired some more concerns as the hours count down to the soft opening of the airport today. "We don't even know what number to call for a wheelchair or any other units for that matter. They haven't handed that over to us yet."
The complaint list began to get bigger: the central conveyor belt should automatically read a check-in tag, but if the tag is not attached properly the computer won't be able to read it and the bag most likely will end up in the wrong terminal.
"For every 50 pieces of test luggage, 20 went missing," said the staff member, who did not want to be identified. So, if a piece of luggage goes missing, what happens next, she was asked. Well, with the new centralised single conveyor system, it means more of a headache to trace it and re-channel it back to the right place. "We're trying to fix it," she said.
The woman staffer added an even more ominous note to the list of complaints. It seems many who will man the airport have not been trained yet. "Training is not completed yet," she said, in an echo of the many critics who feel the government wants the airport opened as soon as possible and at all costs so that it will reap a feel-good windfall ahead of the election.
And what about that most controversial of purchases for the airport, the state-of-the-art CTX X-Ray bomb scanners? Well, the consensus is that they may be good but they only scan luggage after it goes through the conveyor belt, meaning there is still a risk of a bombing, said another Thai Airways staffer.
One major difficulty for passengers boarding public buses to and from the airport is that they will have to off-load and re-load their luggage at the public transport centre. If you are a departing passenger, you will have to grab your bags from the bus and drag them to where your bus is specifically parked. Then you load on the bags and head to the main departure hall.
Oh, you should know that there are no trolleys to help you with this task. Nor air-conditioning to make it more comfortable for you. The AOT claims the shuttle service is "free", but passengers still have to pay airport fees.
"Yes, it's a problem," admits Kaetsuda Ho-morb, a driver on the new public bus link. "Nobody is talking about it... but we do need the trolleys."
"It looks convenient but in a way it's not," said Darunee Suknakorn, one of the many "airport tourists" who have come to admire the new pride of the Kingdom.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 10:42 pm on Sep. 14, 2006
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ColoradoGuy
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The chicken-little's are grasping at straws when they complain about the number of toilets and seats near the check-in desks. If you about to check your luggage in, why do you need to sit down? And do you want to take a shit with all your bags in the toilet? Wouldn't you just check-in, get rid of your bags, get your boarding pass and go thru security? When you can have your shit in a spacious toilet. 
In Don Muang, I don't even know where the toilets or seats are near the check-in counters.
When the airport opens with only minor incenveniences to the majority of passengers, these whiny little bitches will fall back down into the cracks.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:52 am on Sep. 15, 2006
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China Sailor
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CG is spot on.
In Chengi there are about 20 seats in the Departure Hall and those were in front of the Standby Counters. As for men's room's there are two at departure level and two on the arrival level.
Bottom line is that for security reasons you do not want passengers loitering in the Departure Hall, you want them to get checked in and past security as soon as feasible.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 8:09 am on Sep. 15, 2006
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Basil Bush
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CS & CG
I agree, I am rather feed up of the “Dom & Gloom” merchants who have being saying for months that Suvarnabhumi Airport will nether be ready, just seems some people do not want it to open.
BB
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:01 pm on Sep. 15, 2006
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Gyaos
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Very nice for transportation issues:
http://www.bangkokairportonline.com/node/13
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:29 pm on Sep. 15, 2006
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shamas
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Hay guys, I'm not saying this to start an argument, my posting is ment in a light hearted way, tongue in cheek
Lets not get tooo down on the Doom & Gloom guys, as of now we have a lot of ammo on our side, the endless opeing delays, miscommunications on what can be moved from the old airport to the new one and lack of infrastructure around the new airport.
In a few days us Doom & Gloomers may have to eat some crow or we might be proven right and then we can crow about being gifted visonaries
If in fact the airport opens with very minor problems, I'll gladly buy a beer for Colorado Guy, China Sailor and Basil Bush - thats one beer for each.
Got to go, it's Friday night and I got to get drunk.
Again, posted in a joking manner
Shamas O'Dognasty
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:30 pm on Sep. 15, 2006
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Yurune
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It is standard part of airport design in the modern wold to get people through the gate as soon as possible and not allow them to sit outside talking to loved ones.....
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:36 pm on Sep. 15, 2006
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Lofty
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Does anyone know if pick up is allowed directly outside of the terminal rather than you having to be shipped to a collection point.
eg if a poo ying comes and gets me in a private cab?
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 6:43 pm on Sep. 15, 2006
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harold444
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people congregating...........so whats new.
seems every time I depart and arrive at don airport, there seems to be a whole lot of people inside departure and arrival areas who dont look like they r airport employees or passengers.
everytime I deplane from nw air, right outside airplane door there r people with signs looking for their clients.
updates on taxi s situation. and whether a1, 2, 3, 4 bus is operating would be great.
although if you arrive at midnight 1-4 bus already closed.
come on shamas, be a man. if you feel one way dontwaffle. of course I post this in a joking manner...lol
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:48 pm on Sep. 15, 2006
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