Off to Thailand

We headed off for Changi Airport in Singapore at 5.30 am which was a blessing in disguise as Changi was a crowded, chaotic, understaffed mess. There was plenty of entertainment during the 40 minute wait to check in for our flight however - one Indian guy exploded in temper at the long wait and screamed at the staff over the mile long queue ! A bit dramatic but in fairness to the poor guy there were about 10 out of 50 check in counters actually manned and hundreds of grouchy travellers!

Then we zoomed through customs and grabbed breakfast - it ain't cheap to eat at Changi but there is a great selection of Asian and Western restaurants to choose from. Count on S$5 to S$10 a head for a meal.

Right after breakfast my arse decided it was time to explode so I rushed off to to the gents only to be confronted by possibly the only remaining squat toilet in Singapore. I leave the rest to your imagination but suffice to say this correspondent was weak at the knees before boarding SQ60 to Bangkok.

Another stop to stock up on some of the cheapest duty free goodies in South East Asia - Changi is a great spot to stock up on booze and perfume !

The two hour flight with Singapore airlines was pleasant, the morning meal was mush but that is par for the course with airlines. Fortunately series two of Doctor Who was available on the video - on - demand screen so the flight passed quickly for me :)

We arrived at Thailand's stunning new Suvanabhumi airport to find it amazingly impressive from the outside, inside, well, it's kind of not finished yet and the queue at immigration was pretty much as slow as the old Don Muang airport.

Once you get your luggage the taxi touts swarm onto new arrivals....asking absurd amounts to get into Bangkok. Ingore them all, head downstairs to the public taxi area and get a cheap ride into town.

It took about two hours to reach the Baiyoke Sky Hotel in downtown Pratunarm - the fare was 280 baht plus a 50 baht airport surcharge. 2 expressway tolls added 25 baht and 40 baht respectively.

One hour of the travel time was spent covering the last kilometre of the trip - Bangkok's legendary traffic snarls living up to thier reputation yet again.