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The best part about having a brother who is based in Manila is that I can ask favors like picking us up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 when our plane landed from Cebu while on our way to Bangkok 😆 Since we were crazy about cheap plane fares, we had to endure the consequence. On this particular trip, we had to follow this route: Cebu-Manila-Clark-Bangkok-Aranyaprathet-Poipet-Siem Reap just to reach our 1st destination on this leg of our Thailand-Cambodia trip.
After meeting up with my brother, he dropped us off at the Victory Liner Pasay Terminal. It wasn’t far from the aiport though. I just want to “inconvenience” him so that we can save on our expenses for this trip (at least I get to bond with him. LOL).
 paid P137.00 for an airconditioned bus to going DAU, Pampanga
To reach Clark Airport, which is in Angeles City in the province of Pampanga, you have to ride a bus for a minimum of 1.5 hrs depending on the traffic.
If you still got a lot of time before your flight, you can chill at SM City Clark like that little fellow below 😉
In order to reach the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport a.k.a. Clark International Airport, you can ride a regular taxi or hire one of those airconditioned jeepneys. A regular taxi is very expensive since they only go on special trips.
 the airconditioned jeepney going to Clark Airport
Hiring an airconditioned jeepney will cost you P200.00 for the trip (one way) which is why it is convenient to travel in groups so that you can split the cost of the fare. We paid P150 for this trip since we opted not to have the air-conditioning unit of the jeepney on.
The Clark International Airport opens at around 5 – 5:30pm. If you arrive here early, you can find a seat at those tent-covered benches at the departure area or wait at the benches on the arrival area.
Even if you get inside the airport premises early, you still have to wait for the counters to open at 6:00pm. This is the best time for you to have your money changed to dollars or baht (Thai currency) in case you failed to do so. However, there’d be instances when the Foreign Exchange Currency booths inside the Clark Airport would ran out of bahts. If this happens, you can have your money changed to dollars and have your dollars changed to baht when you arrive in Bangkok.
 surfing the net while waiting for our flight (photo credit: Soloflighted)
After missing our flight in Cebu, we had to make sure we were early for our Clark to Bangkok flight since we couldn’t afford to miss it again. One good thing about being early is you’d get to head first to the working power outlets inside the final waiting area of the airport and plug your gadgets while you kill time waiting for your flight.
Finally! After waiting for almost 2 hours, we got our queue to board the plane. The best thing with flying from Clark is that if the aircraft is on time and all the passengers have checked in, you get to leave early. I wouldn’t really say that we got the cheapest fare on this trip but it was already cheap compared to its normal rates. I even discovered that one of my closest friend found a cheap flight to Miami and was exiting from Clark Airport too. I saw her on our way to the boarding  gates as she awaited for her connecting flight out of Clark.
 in the absence of a Headware, a malong can be useful in long flights
The travel time from the Philippines to Thailand is 3 hours. I only slept for 1 hour from the previous night so I couldn’t wait to shut my eyes on this trip. After an hour or so, I woke up and saw the Thai Immigration Card which needed my attention. You have to fill in those blank spots in the immigration card since you will need to hand them over at the immigration counters of any country you are travelling.
 Thai Immigration Bureau: Arrival and Departure Card
 don’t forget to flip the other side since there are more things you need to fill in there
When you travel to a different country, whether you have a place to stay or not, be sure to keep an address of a place you intend to stay or just any regular address since that information is needed in the immigration card.
Alas! After 3 hours, I could already see the well-lit highways of Thailand.
Before you get out of the plane, be sure to move your clock one hour late since the Philippines’ time is one hour ahead of Thailand.
To be continued…
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This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:
**Â Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – You are reading this now 😉
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food
Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok
You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport
i only get to experience flying from clark via cebu pac going to Bangkok. Sadly, there were some technical problems in the aircraft so we needed to stop and wait at NAIA. and then board again for our flight to Bangkok. It’s cheap and i think based from your story, there have been improvements already.
wow, swerte pala kami coz we didn’t have any problems with the last 2 flights we experienced sa Clark 🙂
tnx for this series, will be hooked to it! 🙂
tnx again for being so informative and nice to me! 🙂
there should be more bloggers like you whose willing to accommodate “ordinary readers” like me! kudos, doi!!! 🙂
wahehehe. sana masundan pa rayanne! thanks for following too. sana di ka mainip sa kakaantay ng posts bout this series. ehehehe
Merong bang wifi sa Clark Airport Doi o naka smartbro ka?
merong wi-fi sa Clark Airport Claire 😉
hi, ask ko lang what are the fees that u paid in clark airport going to bangkok?
thanks..
Hello Hong,
we paid the terminal fee which i think was P550 and the Travel Tax which was around 1.6k something
Hello po,I’ve read blogs from some travelers about Clark Immigration officers,are they that strict?Worried kasi ako baka masayang lang yung cheap airfare ko going to Bkk eh…I’m traveling this coming June 19th:c
Hello Dawn, why would you be worried? If you have nothing to be afraid of, then you’ll do just fine. Are you travelling with friends or is this a solo trip? The moment those immigration officers sense fear in you, they will eat you alive so wag ka matakot at kabahan. Stay calm and make sure tama sagot mo sa mga tanong nila. Be polite din and only answer what is asked. Di ka naman mag TNT dba? so relax ka lang. hehehe 😉