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Ok this is not so much a specific trip report but rather a generic one of a route I have flown several times over the last few months.
There are now 6 flights a day between Yangon and Bangkok. 2 x TG, 2x PG and 2x AK (plus there are also flights by at least one Myanmar airline but I have never taken one of them). But personally I like PG the best, the flights tend to be fairly empty and the timings are good.
I normally take the early evening flight so can work up to about 14.30 and then jump in a taxi to the airport. At that time of day it only takes about 20 minutes to get there and normally costs about 4000 kyats (about USD4).
Yangon international terminal is relatively new and is fairly nice. There are still not a lot of international flights so it is small, easy to get aorund and normally not that busy.
On arrival at the terminal normally someone will hover around to see if you want help with your bags but they are not normally pushy. if you do want help then a tip of 1000 or 2000 kyats is appropriate. First stop in the airport is to pay the departure tax. This is USD10 and must be paid in totally pristine notes. If there are any marks or creases they will reject the notes.
Then it is through an initial security screen to check in. PG check in desks are on the very right of the row of check in desks. it always looks very busy when you are walking up with lots of luggage around the desks and people but actually these tend to me nothing to do with PG and so far I have never had more than one person in the queue before me.
PG do not seem to have computerised there check in at RGN so you get an actual card as your boarding pass with a little sticker on it identifying your seat. The luggage tag is just like the luggage tag used by hotel bell hops. It can all be a bit chaotic but generally it works well and I have never had a problem.
After check in it is upstairs to immigration. Before PG started there second daily flight there only flight used to leave a couple of hours earlier when no other flights were leaving so there would never be any queue at immigration. But now they leave at roughly the same time as Silk Air, Air India and China Airlines so there tends to be some big queues for immigration. But they do tend to move quite quickly and I do not think that I have ever queued for more than 15 minutes.
Then you are through to the small departure area. There are a couple of duty free shops, a number of shops selling touristy stuff, and a cafe.
A shot of some of the shops
The transfer area - to date I still have never seen anyone in transit
The cafe
Still not exactly one of the world's busiest airports
The plane just arrived
There are only 5 gates. Security is split into two one for gates 1 and 2 and one for gates 3, 4 and 5. Laptops can stay in the bag. Although you go through a WTMD it does not seem to be turned on. So all passengers get a brisk frisk and a wave of a hand help metal detector. Although they do one man and one women to do this they do it purely on a first come first served basis so you have a 50:50 chance of have a fairly intimate frisk by someone of the opposite sex.
The flight from RGN to BKK is only 1 hour but PG serve a full hot meal. There is no choice and it is normally either chicken curry or fish curry. They also do a drink service with a variety of soft drinks and wine. After that there is tea or coffee. All told not bad for such a short flight.
The chicken curry
Arrival at Bangkok is normally at a remote stand but I find that this can be quicker than having to walk from one of the furthers gates. the afternoon flight now arrives at 6.45pm which seems to be a relatively quiet time. On friday when I last arrived we were at the gate at 6.45 and I was at my hotel off Sukhumvit road by 7.45pm
There are now 6 flights a day between Yangon and Bangkok. 2 x TG, 2x PG and 2x AK (plus there are also flights by at least one Myanmar airline but I have never taken one of them). But personally I like PG the best, the flights tend to be fairly empty and the timings are good.
I normally take the early evening flight so can work up to about 14.30 and then jump in a taxi to the airport. At that time of day it only takes about 20 minutes to get there and normally costs about 4000 kyats (about USD4).
Yangon international terminal is relatively new and is fairly nice. There are still not a lot of international flights so it is small, easy to get aorund and normally not that busy.
On arrival at the terminal normally someone will hover around to see if you want help with your bags but they are not normally pushy. if you do want help then a tip of 1000 or 2000 kyats is appropriate. First stop in the airport is to pay the departure tax. This is USD10 and must be paid in totally pristine notes. If there are any marks or creases they will reject the notes.
Then it is through an initial security screen to check in. PG check in desks are on the very right of the row of check in desks. it always looks very busy when you are walking up with lots of luggage around the desks and people but actually these tend to me nothing to do with PG and so far I have never had more than one person in the queue before me.
PG do not seem to have computerised there check in at RGN so you get an actual card as your boarding pass with a little sticker on it identifying your seat. The luggage tag is just like the luggage tag used by hotel bell hops. It can all be a bit chaotic but generally it works well and I have never had a problem.
After check in it is upstairs to immigration. Before PG started there second daily flight there only flight used to leave a couple of hours earlier when no other flights were leaving so there would never be any queue at immigration. But now they leave at roughly the same time as Silk Air, Air India and China Airlines so there tends to be some big queues for immigration. But they do tend to move quite quickly and I do not think that I have ever queued for more than 15 minutes.
Then you are through to the small departure area. There are a couple of duty free shops, a number of shops selling touristy stuff, and a cafe.
A shot of some of the shops
The transfer area - to date I still have never seen anyone in transit
The cafe
Still not exactly one of the world's busiest airports
The plane just arrived
There are only 5 gates. Security is split into two one for gates 1 and 2 and one for gates 3, 4 and 5. Laptops can stay in the bag. Although you go through a WTMD it does not seem to be turned on. So all passengers get a brisk frisk and a wave of a hand help metal detector. Although they do one man and one women to do this they do it purely on a first come first served basis so you have a 50:50 chance of have a fairly intimate frisk by someone of the opposite sex.
The flight from RGN to BKK is only 1 hour but PG serve a full hot meal. There is no choice and it is normally either chicken curry or fish curry. They also do a drink service with a variety of soft drinks and wine. After that there is tea or coffee. All told not bad for such a short flight.
The chicken curry
Arrival at Bangkok is normally at a remote stand but I find that this can be quicker than having to walk from one of the furthers gates. the afternoon flight now arrives at 6.45pm which seems to be a relatively quiet time. On friday when I last arrived we were at the gate at 6.45 and I was at my hotel off Sukhumvit road by 7.45pm
According to timetable it should be around 12 to 14 hours. But it is a very interesting experience! Such a beautiful country (which you don’t see when you take a plane) and beyond all words friendly people. Just to a short hop from Mandalay to Bagan by plane (15 minutes flight, the trip by car from Mandalay to the airport is about 50 minutes), as no boats where running. 
: Is an airside transfer possible here in RGN?
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