This is a part of the lives of people that live in Vietnam long-term but are not employed here.  We have to fly out of the country every 90 days and that is just the way it is.  It doesn't make much sense to me since I only know a handful of people that were ever denied a visa so I don't understand why they make us do this.   If they wanted to just charge all of us the cost of the flights and just let us not have to leave I think everyone would do that.   

I absolutely hate travel by air and think that in my lifetime airports went from being an enjoyable experience to being one of the worst things you can possibly ever have to do.  Everything is inconvenient and if you get to an airport on the wrong day - such as the end of Lunar New Year, you are in for a lot of waiting and standing just so that you can get into your very uncomfortable seat that you barely fit into and repeat the process on the other side.

I had kind of prepared myself for massive crowds at the Suvanabhumi airport in Bangkok because it is one of the largest hubs in all of SE Asia, but even though I have been through that airport dozens of times I have never ever seen it be as crazy busy as it was on this past trip.

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The ticketing counter is actually around the corner from where I am standing.  There were so many people lined up to get their tickets that they ran out of "cattle lines" where everyone has to walk back and forth waiting to get to the front.   I was kind of upset that Thai Vietjet had to have been aware that there was going to be a huge amount of people flying since they presumably booked all the flights days or weeks before this day, yet only around half of the counters had any staff at it.   I guess this is what you get with budget airlines and I noted that and will pay extra next time to fly with a "real" airline rather than have to deal with this crap.

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Of course everyone else is displeased with this and everyone was on edge.  There were some near violent situations that occurred when some people were trying to cut in line.  I had to shout at people several times that "the line starts back there" (pointing far into the distance) and one time had to physically block some people from getting in front of me.   I get it ok, you don't want to wait any more than I do but that's the way it is!   

You can't take pictures in the immigration and security checkpoints but once again, they were understaffed and honestly, they should know that during Lunar New Year that basically everyone in Asia is traveling and prepare accordingly.   I worked in the service industry when I was in college and worked for the US Federal government after I graduated.   Holidays do not exist for us in those industries:  We are expected to work even MORE when everyone else gets the days off.   Again, that is the way that it is.... but apparently not in Thailand.   

Once on the other side finally, which took 2.5 hours of standing, waiting, moving a few feet, then standing and waiting again, I trekked to the only thing I like about the BKK airport and that is the fact they have one of my old-school vices, Taco Bell.

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I'm guessing that Taco Bell isn't nearly as possible as the chain would hope because this was one of the only restaurants in the entire airport that wasn't just overflowing with customers.   While they do have weird things on the menu to cater to the Asian taste, thankfully they had crispy taco supreme as one of their main options.

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I was a bit frustrated that they don't offer any a la carte stuff here and you are forced to order a combo with an absurd amount of food.   In order for me to get just a couple of tacos, I had to order 3 tacos, a side of chips, and some disgusting things that are made of chicken but look like french fries.   I didn't eat anything other than the tacos and the total cost was what you would expect in an airport at 526 Baht.   This is roughly $15 and is worlds away from what I remember when I was in college.   Of course I was in college a long time ago but we could walk into a Taco Bell back then with $5 in our pockets and get a mountain of food and expect change in return.    

I was talking to an American friend who lives in Florida and he informed me that the prices back in the states have skyrocketed as well and because of this a lot of people don't go to Taco Bell anymore.   For me the price was always one of the main reasons why I ever went there and with this eliminated, I don't suppose there is any reason to continue to patronize the place.   

We all know the jokes about Taco Bell giving people gas or a bad stomach, so what a wonderful thing to fill your guts up with right before you get onto a crowded airplane.   Thankfully I am not affected by such things so I didn't contribute to the air pollution on the plane.   

So this visa run was by far the worst one I have been on yet in the 4 years that I have lived in Vietnam.  The next one I think I will turn into a mini vacation for a few days instead of just turning around right away and heading back to Vietnam.   I do find it amusing when the Thai immigration official asked me how long I was going to be in Thailand and I responded "about 4 hours."