My Korean buddy living in Bangkok taught me this trick that saves your taxi fare when you arrive Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. When you get off the arrival hall after stamping your passport, take the elevator upstairs to the Departure Hall.
Walk out of the main door and you will see the long line of taxis dropping off passengers and you will have time to catch them while they unload the luggage. They will be very happy to see you as they are strictly not allowed to pick up any passenger. Instead of paying the normal cut-throat fare of 400 bahts to the city, I was charged only 190bahts!! He was so happy that he offered to use the meter on his own. My hotel was along Petchaburi Road which was right in the central Bangkok, so faraway!
We can do the same at KLIA but our taxi touts would make you walk with all your heavy barang-barangs to the other side of the multi storey carpark. Oh Shit, I did that once and that was the last time ever!
My mum boasted to me during the 70s that Bangkok had purchased this land at Samutprakan area to build the world's latest international airport. Cool....I thought then. It never got to open till 28 September 2006! That was over 30 years later, Whooaa!.... What happened actually?
So many budget overruns, construction problems and endless allegations of corruption that delayed the whole airport. They were further delayed by 2 economy crisis with IMF issues and a serious university students' protest against their government.
The street protests carnage killed so many innocent lives! This rare photo showed a university student bashing an already dead motionless corpse which hung from a tree. I better not name that university otherwise I might get bashed too.
Lastly, it was haunted by spirits and sightings of ghosts by the superstitious construction workers. Ex-PM Thaksin had to invite 99 Buddhist monks to chant prayers to calm those spirits. Eeeek? Gaaaah?
Remember to catch a cab from the departure hall and please buy me a gift with the money saved. Thank you buddies!
OM MANI PADME HUM
Gaaa! More ghosts! You have to warn me at the beginning of the post!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know the airport got such history behind it. I'm suprised to hear that.
ReplyDeleteI was quite impressed with Suvarnabhumi apart from the bloody long name.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the leader or prime minister of Thailand never last long. I like Thaksin Shinawatra. I think he did a great job in building Thai’s economic but.. so unfortunately dear Mr. Thak end up being exiled.. till now.
Look at the new Thai’s Government, terrorists in the south, economic going damn slow. No matter which country, it is stupid for a Prime Minister to appoint his friends, abang adik, uncle auntie, kakak ipar, yee mak gu jie or any relatives to the nation’s top appointments.. hehee, suddenly realize i’m talking about the wrong PM.. that one is Pak.. you know who lar.
Talking about Siam, remind me of Preah Vihear temple, known to the Thai as Khao Phra Viharn which now claimed by UN belong to the Cambodian.
Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia? Or Thai? Who has the right to put it into Unesco’s World Heritage..? I read news about Cambodia and Thailand both have troops stationed at the border near the temple waiting to tembak any one who go inside first..
Hehee, in the end who that will totally suffer from all the loss. Haiz, Asean people.. talking to each other to find a solution, create a win win situation.. really that hard meh...?
Legolas - My apologies. Didn't know you've faint heart. Next time I better put a "Ghost-Logo" above just like those "Halal Food" outside eateries.
ReplyDeleteBruce - Every airport has ghosts too. They also board planes to reach places. Just that the Thai ones were angry only.
Kenlin - Most Thai names are long so is the real Bangkok's name in Thai. It could fill 1 A4 paper and gets nominated as longest name in the Guinness Books Record every year. Check it out in google. It starts with Krungthep Phrak Maha Nakorn Si Ayuddhaya.............. A4 size.
Most politicians in Asia rope in their siblings and in laws too, not just Thailand. The terrorists in the South has been there for a long time, just like a time bomb. I think Thaksin ignited the fuse. I agree that Thaksin has brought changes to Thai economy but the Thais still do not like him and his cronies. He also acted as a fall guy, that's why he fled.
Preah Vihear temple belongs to whom? I don't really know but I have seen many temples in Cambodia and they have similar architecture like Preah Vihear. It doesn't look like a Thai temple, does it?
Asians are quite greedy and bold, anything also boleh.
Regarding Suvarnabhumi Airport, I am surprised that Thailand chose eastern Bangkok because it is near the delta and therefore might be under-water in the future due to land shifting. Don Muang is toward the north and unlikely to be sinking. Perhaps Suvarnabhumi was chosen to bring more tourists to the seaside towns and cities such as Pattaya and Chonburi. After all Russian tourists love these seaside towns. KHK
ReplyDeleteKHK - Hey, this Samutprakan is my gandpa's hometown & I never thought about this sinking issue which might hit there. I always remembered that my relatives were running salt factories there which made them so stingy! Well, if BKK airport is covered with partial water, it will be fun. The farangs just need to dive from the planes in swim suits.
ReplyDeleteI really miss Don Muang airport as it has better shopping scene inside. After checking out, we could head to Chatujak airport right away.
hahaha i always do that when i go to bangkok... arrived jer straight away go to departure level! works every time!
ReplyDeleteFable frog - Why didnt you tell us earlier??? Anymore toad tricks you might know??...... LOL
ReplyDeleteHey, thks for the tip! I travel to BKK very often & usually book the hotel car. This looks like a pretty good savings! I'd some time, so I'm going blog hopping & try to cover some of your past posts too :)
ReplyDelete