Wednesday, April 25, 2007
8th March. Bangkok Airport and Home.
Suvarnabhumi Airport
Pronounced su-wan-na-poom.
This is the new airport for Bangkok - the second largest terminal in the world (Hong Kong is bigger).
I was not impressed when I arrived, exhausted, after my flight from London. There was a long, long walk to domestic departures and the building didn't seem built to impress, though I had heard otherwise.
But the departures areas proved to be much more interesting and I enjoyed the couple of hours I had there between the flight from Phuket and the flight to London.
It is no wonder that I slept for much of the next day. The cats were pleased to sleep with me.
Pronounced su-wan-na-poom.
This is the new airport for Bangkok - the second largest terminal in the world (Hong Kong is bigger).
I was not impressed when I arrived, exhausted, after my flight from London. There was a long, long walk to domestic departures and the building didn't seem built to impress, though I had heard otherwise.
But the departures areas proved to be much more interesting and I enjoyed the couple of hours I had there between the flight from Phuket and the flight to London.
This picture, from the official website, was the prize winning entry in a photographic competition, showing the exterior and the tallest control tower in the world.
This photo of the exterior shows one of the long arms - there are 4 such arms altogether, forming a huge cross.
You can see a short video about the airport on
The video does not tell of some of the initial problems found at the airport or that some low cost airlines and cargo companies have opted to move back to the old airport, which officially re-opened in March.
But I enjoyed the architecture and wide spaces and the feeling of openess.
This is a view into one of the arms of the airport. This area seemed particularly empty and maybe these departure lounges are not yet in use.
At the centre of the building is a structure looking like a Thai temple. There are shops and cafes along each arm of the departure area.
This shop was just across where I stopped for some prawn fried rice. It is an "everything you would ever think you might want for your dog" shop.
I was pleased to get to some points where I could see out to planes on the tarmac.
This is my plane. What a pity that it didn't move from this spot until two hours after we all boarded the plane.
The flight back to London is 12 hours long.
But altogether I was travelling for almost 24 hours.
It is no wonder that I slept for much of the next day. The cats were pleased to sleep with me.
