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retiredintahoe
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We went through exit passport control at around 1pm on Sunday May 20th.
The area that used to be used for exiting was blocked off, and we were shunted off to the far end where there are 5 passport booths (each able to hold 2 officers). One was foreign passports only, and the other 4 processed both foreign and Thai passports. There were no separate Thai passport booths.
9 of the 10 positions were manned. There was one line snaking until you got to the front, and then you picked the shortest line. We waited about 20 minutes in line - a lot better than we had feared.
Looks like they have fixed the exit passport control problems, at least temporarily, like Valetta noted.
No sign of those automatic passport readers that were supposed to be used starting April 16th.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:59 am on May 21, 2012
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romeland
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Quote: from Koala on 4:09 am on April 4, 2012
Romeland. Always have been given a fast track with Thai when travelling business class. Get given it when they hand out the immergration card. Cheers. K
As I thought, this is not always the case. For the past few trips I have always upgraded from Business to First, so have been escorted through fast track. Last week, after arriving from London on Business, I requested Fast Track card from stewardess, to which she replied, they don't give anymore, just show your boarding card.
When walking to Immigration, I don't think I have ever seen so many queues at the desks, with a particular increase of Indians. The signage is not particularly clear, and I was directed to a fast track desk, that I didn't think was right. another farang with a Fast Track card was at the next desk. He was refused and told to go to the normal desk. I tried my luck at my desk, and the oh so happy immigration officer did not want to let me go through, but after reasoning with him that I had been directed here, there was nobody behind me, etc etc, he let me through. I think I would still be at Suvarnabhumi now if not.
So Thai Airways do not give Fast Track cards for business class passengers coming from UK, who are told to use their boarding cards instead. It would appear that you take pot luck if your boarding card will fast track you through. Very poor from Thai.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 11:18 pm on May 21, 2012
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Koala
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Hi Romeland. Sorry to hear this. Unless Thai is been told by immigration not to to give them out. Will have to make sure next time I come over. Thanks for the heads up. Cheers mate. K
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:55 am on May 22, 2012
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SidWenes
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In February, on the plane, United told me they no longer gave them out. But ground personnel standing at the gate gave me one....
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 12:04 pm on May 22, 2012
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madfrog
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Thai airway is allway like this, saying one thing and doing something else...
Once I even got a newsletter from them starting with the words "great news for all Royal orchid plus frequent flyers" but in fact the news was that from now on you needed MORE miles to get rewards and that it was harder to get the miles.....
"great news" indeed...
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:44 am on May 29, 2012
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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated 7 July 2012 :-
Sinkholes in Thailand airport causing flight delays
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Executives in the aviation and tourism industries have called on the government and Airports of Thailand (AOT) to work together more closely to maintain Suvarnabhumi Airport's safety standards after two sinkholes were found on the west runway on Thursday night, causing delays.
Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said the problems at the airport would hurt foreign travellers' confidence if they were not solved.
"The government should have clear measures to take care of the airport and air traffic in cases where unexpected situations arise,'' he said, adding that news of problems at the airport circulates around the world quickly, hurting the country's image.
AOT closed the west runway from 8.30-9.30pm on Thursday night for repairs after two sinkholes were found. One was 60cm wide, 60cm long and 5cm deep.
Eleven flights were affected, seven of them Thai Airways International (THAI) flights, which were forced to delay their landings.
Four other flights were diverted to U-tapao, Don Mueang and Chiang Mai airports during the closure.
Suvarnabhumi Airport general manager Somchai Sawasdeepon said the sinkholes on the west runway were caused by water leaks.
Although they were not in an area that could cause rutting, the airport immediately closed the runway for repairs.
"The west runway was closed for repairs 209 times last year, and has been closed 55 times since the beginning of 2012. The east runway has been closed 66 times. Every shutdown is for a different length of time. Mostly, repairs were needed to existing cracks," Somchai said.
He conceded that the latest incident had delayed flights and damaged the airport's image. However, he pointed out that maintaining safety is more important than preserving the airport's image.
Meanwhile, the east runway is still closed for repairs, which are scheduled to be complete on August 9.
On June 22, the airport's control tower was hit by a power outage, affecting the takeoffs or landings of nearly 50 flights.
Suvarnabhumi is also struggling with a passenger load of 51 million passengers a year, compared to its official capacity of 45 million.
Airlines have reported only a marginal impact, and that the problems are largely under control.
Yongyut Lujintanon, sales and marketing manager for Thailand and Myanmar of Cathay Pacific Airways, said only one Cathay flight was affected on Thursday night.
The Hong Kong-Colombo flight was on a stopover in Bangkok. The aircraft was required to circle for half an hour before landing.
Yongyut said the airline was able to speed up its ground procedures to delay its departure to Colombo by only 20 minutes.
"Fortunately, the problem was minor," he said. However, he urged the agencies involved to keep the airport's operations to a high standard.
AirAsia's public relations department confirmed that about four of its flights were hit between 8 and 9pm.
They circled above the airport before landing. Cabin crew communicated with passengers regularly to ensure they understood the situation and the passengers had no problem with it, the firm said.
Woranate Laprabang, managing director of THAI Smile, a business unit of national carrier THAI, said the airport's runway problems are routine if fixed in time.
Imagine 100- to 200-tonne aeroplanes taking off and landing continually every day; the runway is sure to sustain damage, Woranate said.
At present, runways at international airports in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are also closed for repairs, the THAI Smile executive said.
He confirmed that THAI Smile's maiden flight to Macau today would proceed. TG750 departs from Suvarnabhumi at 7.45am (8.45 am local time) and arrives in Macau at 11.30am.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:40 pm on July 6, 2012
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated 17 July 2012 :-
More nighttime flights tipped at Suvarnabhumi Airport
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Authorities are trying to reschedule flights to relieve congestion at Suvarnabhumi airport as it enters the second phase of its expansion, which is expected to be completed in five years.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra discussed congestion problems at Suvarnabhumi with officials yesterday.
She said officials would try to decrease the number of day flights and increase night flights. At the moment, there are more flights in the daytime, when the airport is more vulnerable to congestion.
She ordered officials to speed up the 62-billion-baht second phase of the expansion of the airport's passenger terminal and the construction of a 13-billion-baht third runway to increase its capacity.
She also ordered greater use of Bangkok's second airport, Don Mueang, to help ease congestion at Suvarnabhumi.
Ms Yingluck has formed a working group to solve congestion at Suvarnabhumi and Phuket airports and wants it to propose solutions in two weeks.
Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) chairman ACM Sumet Phomanee heads the group and members include representatives of Thai Airways International, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Co and the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board.
The prime minister said transport authorities should discuss the number of visitors entering Thailand with the Tourism Authority of Thailand so they could work out airport development plans effectively.
Transport Minister Jarupong Ruangsuwan, who attended the meeting, said the prime minister inquired about the progress of runway repairs being carried out at Suvarnabhumi.
The AoT reported a 1.62km section of the eastern runway is being repaired.
Half the repaired section is scheduled to be reopened tomorrow and the rest by the end of this month.
Mr Jarupong said the AoT must speed up paying compensation to people affected by noise from the two existing runways, or construction of the third runway project is likely to face opposition.
AoT must pay as total of 12 billion baht to residents suffering from the noise pollution.
About 60% of the recipients have received their payouts, with the remainder due by the end of next year.
Suvarnabhumi airport has the capacity to handle 76 flights an hour. However, it actually serves only 55 flights per hour because the number of flights it can operate is limited on the western runway, where heavy noise pollution annoys people in nearby residential communities.
The airport says 80% of flights use the eastern runway, to minimise impacts on residents.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:01 am on July 17, 2012
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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated 19 July 2012 :-
Suvarnabhum Airport congestion eases
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Flight congestion at Suvarnabhumi Airport will ease after the eastern runway returned to service at 11am yesterday for all types of planes except A380 super jumbos.
Anirut Thanomkulbutra, president of Airports of Thailand, said the repaving of the 870-metre northern tarmac of the eastern runway from Sections B6-B3 has been completed.
This was the first phase of the project to resurface the 1,620-metre northern section of the 4,000-metre eastern runway from June 11-August 9.
The eastern runway now has 3,250 metres for use.
The remaining 750 metres from Section B3 to the start of the runway would be ready on July 31, ahead of schedule. The repairing of the runway was only one of the factors that caused flight delays. About 23 per cent of 800 flights that took off and landed at Suvarnabhu-mi a day were held up for more than 15 minutes, he added.
Prajak Sajjasopon, president of the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, said Suvarnabhumi was coping with peak traffic of 76 flights per hour before the runway was overlaid, but a limit of 68 flights per hour was enforced out of concern for noise pollution.
But during the work on the runway, the airport could handle only 37 flights per hour while 45-50 aircraft were arriving, leading to waits of 15 minutes to one hour and 20 minutes before touching down.
The situation would improve now that the first phase was done. Each flight would not be circling more than 30 minutes, he said.
Meanwhile, Suvarnabhumi Airport has seen its ranking among global airports slide from 13th in 2011 to the 25th in Skytrax's World's Best Airport Awards 2012. In the category of airports that accommodate 30 million to 50 million passengers per annum, it is ranked 10th, with Incheon International Airport in Korea holding the first ranking in both categories.
Ranked the world's second best airport, Changi Airport in Singapore is also expanding its capacity. It welcomed 20.6 million visitors in the first five months of the year and has been the most active in terms of tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia.
Changi may build two new passenger terminals at Changi Airport to cope with increasing demand. Bloomberg reported that the government plans to add 1,000 hectares to Changi, from 1,350 now. The airport started the 2036 Changi steering committee to cope with the traffic demand in the next 50 years, according to a fact sheet from the Ministry of Transport in March.
"Leading air hubs worldwide are upping their game, and are taking a long-term perspective to capacity building," it said in the fact sheet, citing expansion plans in markets like Hong Kong, South Korea and Dubai.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:13 pm on July 18, 2012
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erikE
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Quote: from Koala on 6:55 pm on May 22, 2012
Hi Romeland. Sorry to hear this. Unless Thai is been told by immigration not to to give them out. Will have to make sure next time I come over. Thanks for the heads up. Cheers mate. K
Arrived Thai Airways on business class a couple of weeks ago. Did not get a fast track "voucher", but went through the fast track - no questions asked, so I guess boarding pass is enough.
Last year they did get me a "fast track" paper.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 8:20 am on July 19, 2012
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MickTheKick
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Upps... Went to BKK with Thai on Business Class about 10 times in the recent years.. never got any Fast Track paper handed out... ?!?!?
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:25 am on July 20, 2012
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