I thought I might write a little about the airports of Bangkok.
Not in a promotional sort of way, of course (I wouldn't be able to do that) but in a sort of wide-eyed touristy kind of way.
See, it isn't every time that I get to experience two different airports of a city in one go.
But this time, having arrived via Thai Lion Air, I landed at Don Mueang International Airport, whilst, because I departed via Thai Airways, I ended up leaving from the newer (and brighter) Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
It was charming to see both airports with their own systematic operations.
Don Mueang might appear to be an older airport, but oy, it's owned by the Royal Thai Air Force, operated by the AOT, and has been there since 1914.
That's 110 years ago.
One doesn't find stuff from 1914 in the present-day terminals, of course, but here and there, the decor that they had somehow made me think of another (more familiar) building along Singapore's Beach Road.
I don't think it were just the lights alone or the carpeting or the door structures.
But it were perhaps the layout, the way everything had been structured, even the width of the staircases, and the place where they had been built.
You could tell, right away, the presence of strong elements belonging to buildings, and shopping centers constructed during the late 60s and 70s.
I thought of Golden Mile Shopping Center (on Beach Road)
I also thought of Peace Center (on Selegie Road)
The ambience was somewhat similar.
The atmosphere too.
What exactly the interiors made me feel, I can't say, but it's not often that I get to see a staircase this wide in the middle of an airport's baggage claim.
Neither is it often that I get to appreciate the die-cut metal chonk of letters forming the word Sawasdee welcoming me into their country.
Its' not all 70s, 80s vibes though.
Right outside Baggage Claim past the Declare/Nothing to Declare customs and a (more recent) Starbucks outlet sits right smack in front of you.
Don Mueang didn't seem to be a very crowded airport the day I arrived.
Yes there were a couple of group tours- a delight to see them all with their jackets, their thermos flasks, and their backpacks- but if I'm not wrong it were just two very large groups with their guide making their way out to the terminal.
It was quite a different story at Suvarnabhumi though.
I'm not sure how it is.
Maybe because the airport's newer, just about 20 years old- operational in 2006,
Maybe because there're more international flights zipping in and out like El Al and Aeroflot and DrukAir and and Etihad Airways.
But there were groups, and there were groups aplenty all bound for different flights all checking in at different rows. Add to that the indie travelers- some with rather big luggage- and you got one very, very busy departure hall.
Trying to get to the check-in row needed a fair bit of meandering amongst crowds of people all making their way everywhere in all directions, and god forbid if you got separated from your loved ones inside the hall.
There wasn't much in the form of food to be had- later I discovered that everything was in the transit- but there was a Dean & Deluca- with coffee and sandwiches and small hot meals right at one end of the terminal, and so we had a microwaved omelet and a sandwich.
I wish I'd taken pictures of the food places in the transit hall but what with me dashing to the gate even though there was a lot of time, I didn't. But I've got a shot of the departure hall outside, I've got a shot of gate directions, I've got a shot of the gate itself, and I think that's fine.
