I had to traverse Ngurah Rai airport several times last week, and noticed a few small changes – although I didn’t see any sign of the radical makeover approved earlier this week.
Having arrived early for a domestic flight to Surabaya, I noticed that the domestic departure lounge had free wi-fi. Unfortunately, the brain trust that set it up did it in such a way that only one person can use it at a time. This includes the half-dozen or so free computers available. Hopefully someone will figure this out sooner or later.
The really pleasant surprise was that Thai Airways has changed lounges for their business and gold card passengers. I must have not been the only one to be deeply disappointed by the previous lounge choice. The new lounge has a view, as well as free wireless Internet access. The only drawback was a very stinky bathroom.
Lastly, the unpleasant surprise was a missing mobile phone. I switched it off and put it in my carry-on in Surabaya, but it was nowhere to be found when I got to Bangkok. Unfortunately, the only time the bag was out of my possession during the trip was when it was going through the security scans. I had received reports that the security staff were pilfering mobiles from scanned baggage, but didn’t really believe it, until now.