You may have seen the incredible pictures of Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport as it recently languished under water following floods at the end of last year.

You can see some pictures of the flooding and submerged airliners at this link

Don Mueang used to be Bangkok’s main airport, until the new on at Suvanabhumi opened in 2006. For a short while it didn’t have any commercial services, but was soon back in operation with low cost domestic airlines.

Today it is served by Nok Air, Siam General Aviation and Solar Air. It is also used by Thai Airways for maintenance and storage.

It can be fairly quiet – especially compared to Suvarnabhumi – but nevertheless the airport was still achieving over 2 million passengers per year prior to the floods, and looks likely to return to that.

To get views of aircraft, the best place to head is the top floor of the car park. From here you can see aircraft parked at the terminal, and stored airliners across the field. Try not to draw attention to yourself by standing too close to the edge.

Bangkok Don Muang (and Suvarnabhumi) are covered in my book Airport Spotting Guides Far East and Australasia.

Thai Airways has given details of its new low-cost brand which will be taking to Asian skies this summer.

Thai Smile Air is the name for the new carrier, which will initially operate a fleet of four Airbus A320 aircraft in a colour scheme modified slightly from (but strongly resembling) the parent carrier’s scheme.

The airline will be based at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, with initial routes starting 1st July 2012 including: Chiang Mai, Phuket, Kolkata, Jakarta, and Phnom Penh.

The airline will also start to serve domestic destinations including Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Chiang Rai, and Surat Thani.

Passengers will be able to take advantage of lower fares whilst still maintaining quality, including meals and drinks. It will not be as basic as the existing Nok Air.

By 2013 Thai Smile Air will have 11 Airbus A320s and serve a greater number of destinations across Asia.