Bangkok Warning or Danger Tips by gaolei

When you pick up your bags in the international arrivals area, you will see a big yellow sign warning of taxi scams. It was put up by the airport's endorsed taxi and limo service. When you walk out the middle level, outside baggage claim, you will be approached by people wearing the official blazer of this service. One asked me if I was going to a Bangkok hotel. They offered to take me for 900 Baht! I laughed and him. It only cost 300 Baht to get to downtown Bangkok with tolls. The tolls are 65 Baht. And, always give the driver a tip, they are poor, have kids that want an education, and work hard for their Baht.

Update! The Taxi-Meter service has been moved to the second floor all the way down on to the left as you leave the arrivals area. The bottom floor is for buses only now.

The official Taxi-Meter stand adds an extra 50 Baht to your taxi bill, but with tolls and traffic delays it was still under 300 Baht to get to my hotel in town! Another official's brother-in-law probably got the franchise for the official limo service, and with airport support, he is cheating tourists.

If you want the cheap ride into Bangkok, use the arrival area taxi on the second floor. For a cheaper ride, go to the top floor, departures. Catch a cab that is letting off a passenger and save 50 Baht. Taxis are not really allowed to stop here for passengers, so you have to catch one in the act of unloading a passenger. Put your bag inside the trunk and get in. He won't refuse you.

Also insist on using the north motorway, not the southern Bangna-Trad road. There is no traffic on the north road and the Bangna is usually stopped. It is also a longer ride out of the airport. The terminal is at the north end of the airport, so you must go the length of the airport and runways to get to the southern road. You can spend 100 Baht just to get to the Bangna road.

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The new airport is extremely large, the immigration lines are long and so are the check-in lines. If you expect to arrive at the last minute and get to a plane, forget it! Remember, most airlines cancel your ticket if you arrive too late to get to a plane.

Immigration backs up rather far during peak travel times. It can take 20 minutes or more to get through. Once through immigration, you must walk a substantial distance through the large airport shopping mall before you can get to the gate area. Some of the gates are rather far out, so plan on 15 to 35 minutes to get to security at the gates. Then you go through security, and everyone knows how long that can take.

My last trip to Cambodia, I left the hotel 3 hours ahead. I got to the gate with 10 minutes to spare, before boarding started. Since I was on the small Bangkok Airways flight, it boarded early, because we had to take the bus to the plane.

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