BKK Airport Connection
 

Good Morning!

Please, I think I just need confirmation that this plan will work. We will be arriving in
BKK in late September, flying SIN from IAH - BKK. Rather than go immediately into the city, we want to fly directly to Phuket for a few days.

Exactly what is the procedure for switching from international travel to domestic travel without leaving the airport? Will three hours be enough time between flights?

This sounds like we have never been to Thailand before, but that's just not true -- just a new itinerary.

Thanks!

Sandra (McBeanie)

I think 3 hours should be plenty who are you flying with though as it "could" involve a change of airport

Also if you are coming from SIN can you not fly straight from there to Phuket? _ tiger airways does that route.

Make sure you choose a flight to Phuket that leaves from BKK (some leave from the old airport). Three hours will be fine. If you are flying on Thai Air to Phuket, you can have your bags checked through all the way to Phuket from IAH even though the flights are on two different tickets. If your bags are checked all the way through, you should be able to clear customs and immigration in Phuket, which would mean you simply follow the transit signs to domestic departures. It will be qucik and easy.

Thanks -- I thought we would have to get our luggage in BKK and check in again for Phuket. Checking it through in Houston would make things a lot easier.

Yes, we could fly directly from IAH to Phuket, but we got a good deal on our tickets -- have had them a while -- and the cost to Phuket would be more than just purchasing a separate ticket.

This is the reason I post these questions. Fodorites have the answers!

Sandra (McBeanie)

Just one thing. Althrough your bags will be checked through, you wiill probably clear immigration at Bangkok. Not through the normal lineup but at a special check point between international and domestic terminals. Also in Phuket your bags will be in the internationl baggage claims section.

Kathie,

Just an update - all TG domestic flights are now from and to BKK only. Don Muaeng only service charter flights and a couple of low cost airlines.

Hi Sandra!
Which airline are you taking to Phuket? That might have some bearing on how you enter BKK and fly on to Phuket. Is it SIN all the way to Phuket? If it is all Star Alliance, then your bags should be tagged to Phuket. If you are arriving in BKK and then transferring to one of the "other" airlines, like one of the cut rate ones, it might be a different situation.

I thought one always went thru customs/immigration at the airport where you first enter a country. I would have assumed you would collect your bags at BKK, then clear customs and Immigration and then proceed to re-check bags to Phuket. But I've not done it this way before, so I have no experience in Thailand. I know that when I return to the US (unless from Canada) I clear customs at the first airport, and then transfer bags for an onward flight.

Carol

Carol, I know what you mean, you've described the way it works in the US.

The times I've done an international to domestic transfer in Thailand, we just transferred planes, then cleared both immigration and customs in our destination city. I was surprised the first time. In my experience, any full-service airline will transfer your luggage, no budget airline will. And that has been my experience world-wide.

Again, Thanks. Call us "paranoid," but I hate to check my luggage through with multiple stops. We will be changing planes in Singapore, so I think we are opting for picking up our luggage in BKK, clearing customs, and re-checking to Phuket.

However, I am glad to know that it is possible to check everything through from Houston and we just may change our minds. I did call SIN yesterday and the reservationist wassn't aware that it was possible to check everything on two different airlines. At this point, Carol, we will probably fly Bangkok Air out of BKK. Their times work better for us.

I am ready to leave NOW, but still have eight weeks to anticipate. There are some reservations that I still need to make, Adelphi Suites, but I keep hoping the rates will go down -- and they don't!

It looks like we will miss others who are headed to SEA this year. All of you -- have great trips!

Sandra (McBeanie)