Thursday, October 02, 2014

Transit in Bangkok 1st part; Suvarnabhumi(BKK) to Don Mueang Airport(DMK)

4-days Self-guided Solo Tour in Myanmar (Burma)
February 02-08, 2014

Country of Myanmar; the Golden Land

Bangkok is my chosen transit airport to Yangon, Myanmar due to no direct flights offered to Yangon, Free Visa Arrangement and very cheap round trip flight fares offered by Air Asia Thai.

AirAsia affirms its readiness to transfer all operations to Don Mueang International Airport by October 2012. The airline's flights will retain their original schedules. The uncongested Don Mueang Airport is sure to prove a benefit to AirAsia when it boosts its fleet of Airbus A320s to a total of 48 and welcomes more customers. 
http://www.airasia.com/ot/en/press-releases/don-mueang-airport-transfer.page

Assuming standard flow of traffic, travel from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Bangkok Don Mueang Airport (DMK) has around 45 minutes with distance of 49,5 kilometers. During peak hours can take up to 1.5-2.0 hours. Make sure you allocate as much time as possible. For more information, please check http://www.airasia.com/ask/template.do?id=548

Give enough allowance time to departure and arrival flights from this 2 Airports for unfortunate events such as flight delay and traffic jam. As what happened to me, my flight departure from DMK was delayed by 1.5hr.

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (Air Asia boarding Pass)

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (visa stamps inbound)

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (Air Asia Self Check-in Booth)

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (inside DMK Airport)

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (inside DMK Airport)

From Suvharnabumi Airport (BKK) to Don Mueang Airport (DMK) at Night
 

My 1st flight non-Asia arrived in Bangkok BKK at 2200H and departed from DMK at 0700H the next day via Air Asia Thai to Yangon, Myanmar. Upon arriving in BKK, passport control officer did not say any single word even though I wrote transit only in disembarkation card. Since I arrive around 2230H local time and my departure time sked was 0700H the next day, I decided to stroll the night in Silom road where the Red light district and Night Market can be found. From BKK airport, I rode the airport rail link (0600H-2400H) going to Makkasan Station for 35THB then transfer to Subway Metro (0600H-2330H) going to Silom Station for 25THB via Petchaburi Station transfer. I just walked the streets around Silom Road particularly the Patpong streets where I can free sightsee the Red Hot Bangkok can offer. This place was almost the same as I last strolled 4 years ago where Thailand was my 1st solo international trip.

On early morning flight departure, the only choice I had is taking a cab from Silom to DMK Airport. Before I left the BKK airport, I asked the Tourist Information helpdesk that how much is the cost of taxi fare from Silom to DMK airport. He told me its around 500THB but when I waved the 1st taxi I saw, cab driver immediately responded 300THB. Pretending to be surprised, I paused for a couple of seconds then agreed on his price. Travel time from Silom to Don Mueang Airport in early morning was around 20 minutes only with one toll gate passed (I saw the driver he paid 50 thb for toll fee). This means the actual fare only was 250 thb.

Upon arriving to DMK, I saw the Air Asia self-check-in booth just outside, between Gate #2 and #3. In a matter of less than a minute I had my boarding pass. Next I did was the usual security check then went directly to passport control. I only have my back pack with me, no check-in luggage as there was another manual lane for this which I skipped. In a matter of around 10 minutes, I'm already inside the boarding gate.


ITINERARY FROM BKK TO DMK AIRPORT AT NIGHT


2200H eta Bangkok BKK
Airport link 35THB to Makkasan Station (0600h-2400H)
Transfer to Petchaburi Station to Silom Station 25THB
(0600h-2330H)
Silom Night stroll
0330H ETD Silom Road taxi to DMK Airport 300THB
0400H ETA DMK airport
Total: 360THB minimum


Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (visa stamps outbound)

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (Bus A1 Express bound to downtown)

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (shuttle bus service schedule)

From Don Mueang Airport (DMK) to Suvharnabumi Airport (BKK) by Day
 

Upon Arrival to DMK Airport from Mandalay Airport, I saw there was a bulletin scheduled shuttle bus service as seen in image above. Since I provided enough time allowance just in case of flight changes, I decided to spend the remaining time in Silom road again for its street food trips, red light and night market district. By the way, during my Silom short-visit, I saw the crowd of Thai Protesters regarding the alleged corrupt government. They practice their protest peacefully and very cooperative to Police, they have also full respect to all tourists.

ITINERARY FROM DMK TO BKK AIRPORT BY DAY

1500H ETA Bangkok DMK Airport
1530H ETD DMK Airport
Gate 6 Exit Bus A1 Express going to Chatuchak Park BTS 30THB
1550H ETA Chatuchak Park Station 40THB for Subway Metro
1630H ETA Silom Station

Silom Road Red Light, Street food trip and night market stroll
2230H ETD Silom BTS to Petchaburi 25THB
2250h ETA Petchaburi Station then transfer to Makkasan Airport link 35THB
2330h ETA Suvarnabhumi Station

Total: 130THB minimum

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (Silom food trip)

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (Bangkok Shutdown, Restart Thailand)



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