Bangkok and SE Asia Transport

BKK is probably my Third or fourth favorite airport in the world, afte HKG, LHR, and JFK (i know the last two are terrible, but nostalgia and nerdiness count for a lot in this list). Why I like it here:

A - it's beautiful 

B - at any given time you can view airplane porn from just about any gate. That's right, 747s, A380s, old A300s and airlines with silly names you never would have expected to exist. There is exactly one of just about ever major flagship and legacy carrier at the airport at any time. 

C - it's well run. Especially for this part of the world. 

D - their airport train. Bangkok's newly implemented transit system is really an amalgam of giant concessions, with each portion being run by a different private contractor. Needless to say, transit between the lines is excruciating and not convenient at all. The airport train, however, is something they did right. It's fast, cheap, and has a decent connection to the BTS sky train, the main train used by tourists and business people. 

NEW LIST ADDITION:

E - fun destinations! You can fly nearly everywhere from here. Well, except New York for some reason. Note the flights to exotic destinations such as Tehran (Iran), Novosibirsk (no idea where that is but must be in Russia somewhere), Yangon (Myanmar), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Yeah, that's a new one for me, as is their flagship carrier (see below)

I have also come to love little airports as much as giant monstrosities. Siem reap is as little as they come, rivaled only by koh Tao for the title of "cutest" airport. Here is siem reap international:

Departures hall:

Whenever we come to Cambodia we try to take "Cambodian Angkor Air," the county's flagship (adorable) carrier. They only fly a few airbus A319s and mostly ATRs, which are planes that only them, Myanmar, and I think Sudan actually fly commercially. Our ATR 72 here. 

Silly transport is part of why I love it here. It reminds me that the world is not quite all the same yet. Nothing displays this more than the dynamic message sign (DMS) displaying Thai on the tollway to the airport. 

 Hard to make out, but that's definitely Thai on an electronic sign. 

I love this corner of the world.