Thai smile check in online or in transit BKK
 

Hello,

We are landing in BKK at 11:55pm with Korean Airlines. Our next flight is a separate ticket and it is with Thai Smile at 7:25am to go to Siem Reap. We only have carry ons. Is there anyway we can stay airside? In other words does Thai Smile permits online check in or has a check in counter in transit? On the Thai smile website it says you can check in online 24-2 hr before but when I do a Google search, multiple reports from 2018 indicate that you have to exit completely and check in again.

I was hoping to book 6 hours at the Miracle Transit Hotel (airside); but now I think that we won't be able to get to it, since the check in counter for Thai Smile will probably not be open at midnight in the main departure hall, and we will not be able to get to the hotel.

Is my best bet just to get a land side hotel (and pay a departure tax) for these 3-4 hours of sleep? I am traveling with my daughters 3 and 6 years old, so a place with a bed and a shower, no hopefully no mosquitoes, is key.

Thank you for reading.

I would imagine that you would need to go through immigration and exit as your two tickets are not linked together and you won't have a Thai Smile boarding pass. I fly Thai Smile, but am already in Thailand on my way out, and get my boarding pass at the airport before going through immigration and to my gate. As for Thai Smile having a counter and one open that late, after you have landed, I doubt it.

Below is part of a review on Tripadvisor about the Miracle Transit Hotel that you've mentioned and needing a boarding pass. That review was written in Feb 2018.

"The problems are that (1) the sound proofing is limited and airport announcements go on through the night, and movements down the hall are audible. You may need ear plugs. (2) Air conditioning does not allow for easy adjustment, (3) the hotel entrance is poorly sign posted, on a top floor, and difficult to find, and (4) you cannot leave the secure area and must use the transit entrance to stay in the area with access to the hotel and/or have a boarding pass to enter the secure area."

Happy Travels!

Thanks for confirming what I am already suspecting. I even texted Thai smile without any success. So in an effort to minimize a long trip with two young kids, we decided to book instead a night at the Novotel. Overpriced but it has a bath, it is close by walking, on the land side. My sister, who is also traveling with us but on a even later flight, elected to go to the Boxel hotel (a pod where there is only a bed) and use later a shower on airside, with her priority pass.

Now the irony will be that we don't have to exit landside, and that the online check in will work. Oh well!

With Thai Smile, be ready to be flexible as they can run late in boarding and I’ve always had to take the airport shuttle very far out the runway to the plane where one needs to walk up the stairs to get into the plane so if it's pouring raining, be prepared. Plus, they can change the flight time. I’ve been flying them from Bangkok to Penang, every year since Jan 2015 and on this past, recent trip the arrival time into Penang was to be after noon, during the day time, so I bought the ticket as I would only have 2 nights instead of my normal 4-5 nights in Penang. Well, they changed both the departure and arrival time and I got there late at night and the day was over. So, I ended up with only the next day to go out into Penang before having to fly on to KL to meet up with some Malaysian friends the following day. Usually that flight leaves Bangkok at around 7:45PM and arrives into Penang at 10:30PM, but I was really happy when it popped up that it would leave earlier and get into Penang much earlier. But, so much for that thought and there’s only one flight a day. So, I didn't get all done that I wanted to do in Penang with only one day.

Happy Travels!

Thanks for the heads up on Thai Smile's lack of punctuality; I only have 3 days in Siem Reap. It would such a pity if I can't see everything that I have planned. But I can always come back! We will see how it goes...

If you haven't already purchased your ticket, consider Bangkok Air. IME, they have been quite reliable.

Thanks Kathie, but we leave the United States on the 11th of March, and tickets have been purchased. I am very excited for our first South East Asia trip!