Arriving in Bangkok

Safely arrived at Don Muang airport in Bangkok. It was our first time there, and traveling abroad with a baby, so we didn't know what to expect.

Mostly, I expected nothing unusual from my previous oversea trips. The usual customs check, baggage claim, asset declaration, etc.

So. We arrived and headed towards the customs check and baggage claim based on the signs available at the airport.

Saw a freakishly longggg line of people already queuing at the customs T.T We were too slow! And then we saw some foreigners filling in a small form - the embarkation card. Darn, should've seen that coming, knowing Japan used to have that too. So we took one each and fill it in.

There were so many Chinese there, I noticed. Apparently they were following a travel and tour company which isn't so strange; I noticed them a lot at Japan airports too.

So after filling in the forms, we joined the queue.

Incident #1

While we were queuing, I tried to count how many people ahead of us - and lost count. THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE! Told Shahrul that we might be there for a while, maybe even hours T.T Thankfully Rayyan was quiet and minding his own business in the baby carrier. Saw a Chinese family lining up beside us with their toddlers, I felt sorry for them. The kids must be so tired from the flight and restless.

Suddenly, a Thai officer approached us.

"Have you filled in the form? Where are you from?"

We showed the forms to her. I heard she said something about "baby", and asked us to follow her. We left the queue and followed.

Till we reached another side of the customs check, which was quite lengang compared to the one we lined up at. Then we realized it's because we have a baby, and the lengang side is apparently catered for people with the special needs - the pregnant women, elderly, or people with babies.

Got our custom check done within minutes.

Incident #2

After the customs check, we got our baggage and ready to look for a cab to the hotel. The arrival hall was so packed with people at that time, with too small exit doors. Again, I saw the Chinese people in their tour groups, listening to the instructions given by their tour guides (I assume) using a microphone. It was crowded, it was hot, and it was noisy - I wondered how Rayyan could cope with all that.

We were waiting for some people at the front to go through the doors leading to the arrival hall. Suddenly some Chinese people, with their tour guides walked past us heading towards the door, too. I gave Shahrul a puzzled look. They should've waited for their turn, I thought.

Then, a Thai officer stopped them - rather harshly. Signaling that they should wait for their turns, the officer saw us - and said,

"OK you with the baby, you go first"

Signaling for us to go through the door first. I was stunned.

So we walked past the Chinese groups to the exit doors.

Reaching the arrival hall, I told Shahrul,

"I never knew having a baby would give us so many privileges. We should have more kids!"

HAHAHA.

I took that back, though XD