I was on the 6:30 am Air Asia flight from Don Mueang to PNH yesterday (which was bad enough), but running into the giant maelstrom of crazed Chinese travelers was an extra treat to add to my fever, diarrhea, & lack of sleep. How I ended up w/this flight I don't know as I had clicked on the afternoon option. All I can think is that some box wasn't filled in at checkout & it switched me on the 2nd payment attempt. I got a taste of what the huge Chinese New Years migration must be like. I've only taken this flight once before and DMK was quiet & docile - just what you want < 5am. I have flown in & out of DMK 30 or 40 X & have never seen such a commotion. Now, they have a bunch of flights to mainland China leaving at approx the same time. I entered to see a check in line of about 500 Chinese in front of me as all international flights are handled together. The majority of them carry huge amounts of luggage, are constantly screaming at each other, arguing w/airline employees, and trying to jump the queue. I've been to other airports where they f*ck things up by not understanding the rules & bum rushing every line a few X, but this was remarkable. I went into a pharmacy to get more Imodium & the same scene was playing out - yelling, bum rushing the cashier, & the Thai employees pulling their hair out. When I finally got through the 75 min check in line, 35 min Immigration, luckily they had completely overwhelmed security. The beeper was going off constantly and the guards pushed me through w/out taking out my laptop or throwing metal objects into the basket. Breezed right through. I got to the gate at the very end of boarding & just made the flight after arriving 2 hrs early. $50 or not - don't even think about taking this flight !!!!

The Chinese are a crazy bunch, I have seen enough of this. Just returned home on a 14 our flight with 2 babies screaming the whole flight, and the father screaming louder than the kids.
A civilized race they most certainly are not.

Obviously acting "civilized" doesn't work in a country w/a billion + people.