Bangkok airport, the ferret & the coconut

Jul 8, 2009 4:42:56 AM

Larry O'Leary
Lonely Planet Author

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Returning recently from a jaunt in Europe I was faced with a 12-hour stopover in Bangkok. Yes, it sounds like crap, and it was.

Hopping off the KLM tumbrel cart I had been strapped to for 13 hours, I slid through customs like a ghost - my head felt like someone had lined it with newspaper and replaced my brain with a ferret.

I had grand plans of hanging out at the airport. I figured that Suvarnabhumi in all its shiny newness must have something to entertain a weary wanderer for half a day. How wrong I was. My dreams of showers and cinemas, libraries and lounges were as false as the eyelashes of the local kathoey. My mother lives on the New South Wales South Coast and Moruya airport has more to offer than Bangkok’s; at least you can feed the bloody kookaburra. There was nothing to do but drag my feet around, politely declining offers of luxury cabs. The place was a boring temple to international dullness.

My aimlessness soon turned to the feverish rage of the overtired; the clock seemed frozen, the Bangkok Post was devoid of the usual lurid Thai crime stories, and the security guards were getting irritating. Broken, I realised that my only hope was to get the hell away. First I wolfed down a bowl of spicy soup and a fresh coconut, which improved my outlook no end, then I headed to the taxis.

A smiling man from Issan was my saviour, and some 45 minutes later I was loafing about the marble floors of the MBK, one of the world’s greatest small-business hives. Like a happy drone, I wandered about for hours, while around me the shopkeepers slurped soup. When the ferret in my head started to squeak I knew it was time to head back to the airport and check in. Early.

When People’s Alliance for Democracy protesters blockaded the airport for over a week in November 2008 , I was impressed I can tell you. I think I’d prefer a week at the dentist.

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Comments

29 August 2009 4:03PM juskan Report this comment
You had 12 hours in a city like Bangkok, and your plan was to hang out at the airport.?
21 October 2009 1:05AM djlest Report this comment
hahah yes i couldnt agree more.... Taksin built a super junk airport with about as much personality as my broken toe... no no thats way too much...
27 August 2010 4:13PM acidic Report this comment
I often make it a point to have an 8 to 12 hour layover on my journeys, just so I can't hop into town to fulfill a craving or to do some shopping. I recently booked a ticket with an 8 hour layover at TPE, just so I could hop on a bus to Din Tai Fung for some xiao long bao and buy some sneakers at Sogo. I've also had long layovers at HKG, where I've hooked up with friends and gone out to dim sum.
Next month, I'm flying SFO to BCN, with a 9 hour stopover in Montreal. Having never been there, we plan to just make it into town, wander around to see some touristy stuff for 5 or so hours (with the obligatory order of poutine) before returning to the airport. On the way back, we stop in Frankfurt for 8 hours and plan to do the same (minus the poutine). We actually had the option of shaving 8 hours off the travel time in each direction, but we figured Montreal and Frankfurt were worth a few hours of our time.