If you are planning to visit Bangkok for a few days and continue your journey towards other destinations by flight such as Phuket, Chiang Mai or even countries nearby, this is the article you must read to prevent yourself from missing the flight.
How many airports are there in Bangkok?
Did you know that Bangkok has 2 airports and each airport is the hub for different airlines that serve the different purposes of traveling?
Suvarnabhumi Airport or “BKK”, this is the main airport of Bangkok where most of the full service carriers are here.
If you are traveling from Europe, US, Middle-East Asia or even Far-east Asia countries, you are likely to arrive here.
Many airlines using Suvarnabhumi airport as a hub also offer Thailand domestic flights as well as connecting flights to countries in Southeast Asia.
The good thing about the full service carriers is they can offer seamless connections as well as tailor the offer in one single booking.
Let’s say if you want to go to Chiang Mai, with THAI, you can do a transit from international flights to domestic very easily at this airport.
You can also choose to stopover and visit Bangkok for a few days before continuing your journey as well.
The other airport is the Don Muang Airport or “DMK”, which is the main hub of low cost carriers.
Airlines brands, such as AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air, are the main low cost carriers in this region and they are based at this airport.
As the nature of the low cost carriers, it offers point-to-point short haul flights, mostly within Thailand or to the nearby countries in Southeast Asia.
One huge advantage of the low cost carriers I found is they offer flights to super small cities around Thailand and you can also fly from those small cities to other small cities without going back to the hub airport in Bangkok.
This is a great option if you want to hop to multiple cities around the country by flight.
The very common mistakes can happen if you are flying on an international flight and arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport, but you would love to start your journey in another city by flying a low cost carrier out from Don Muang airport and the connecting time is only 2-3 hours.
In this scenario, you will NEVER catch the connecting flight because the way to transport between two airports within a few hours is almost impossible!
How to travel between two airports?
Well, the easiest way is to take a transit bus from Suvarnabhumi airport on the 2nd floor gate number 3 where you can go to Don Muang airport within 1-2 hours, depending on the traffic. The bus will leave the terminal every hour and it requires a boarding pass for your next flight at Don Muang.
Alternatively, you can take Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai station which takes you around 30 minutes and then call a taxi to Don Muang airport which takes you about 30 minutes to 1 hour to the airport.
It may sound doable to do transit between two airports, but do not forget that the immigration and baggage claim at Suvarnabhumi airport can take up to another 2 hours at some time of the day.
Plus, if you calculate the cost of transit between airports as well as baggage allowance on the low cost carrier, it might be more expensive than flying a full service carrier.
I do not recommend you try creating a booking like what I mentioned earlier just to save (or accidentally spend extra) for a few bucks.
You are on vacation and it is supposed to be a relaxing and blissful journey. Why trouble yourself with more problems, right?
Inside the Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
The airport is huge but the layout of the airport is very simple and easy to navigate.
There are 2 terminals at this airport, the main terminal and SAT-1 terminal. However, to go in and out from the airport, everything has to start at the main terminal. If your flight departs from SAT-1 terminal, you have to do the check-in, baggage drop and immigration at the main terminal first.
There is a train which connects the main terminal and SAT-1. It is located right behind the immigration area at the main terminal and at the arrival hall of the SAT-1 terminal.
At the main terminal, the plan is quite simple. Starting from the top floor to the bottom, the 4th floor is the departure hall with check-in counters of every airline.
Tax refund can be done before the check in at this location. The Tax refund counter is located in front of the check-in counter row U.
After you drop the baggage and ready to go into the gate, just take the escalator at the back to the security and immigration and enter the gate.
Inside the departure hall, you will face Duty Free shops as well as restaurants at the very beginning of the walkway.
The 3rd floor is the commercial area with restaurants, coffee shops and pharmacy.
The 2nd floor is the arrival hall. Here you will find many services you can buy before starting your journey such as mobile SIM card or transfer van in case you haven’t booked anything.
In case you have a friend to pick you up, the private car can enter the ramp to the arrival hall on the 2nd floor. However, if you call a grab or taxi, you have to go to the 1st floor to wait for them.
The 1st floor or ground floor is the floor with seating and waiting area for taxis.
One hidden gem on this floor is the “Magic food court” at the very end of the terminal. Food court here offers a very reasonable price for a dish of Thai food compared to the restaurants on the 3rd floor. However, this place is quite small and most of the time it can be very packed and noisy.
The public taxi services can be called from this area.
In case you are calling Grab taxi, a popular ride-hailing application in Thailand, you need to wait at the waiting spot on this floor but outside the facility.
You can walk from gate number 4 straight to find the waiting spot for Grab.
The underground floor is where you can find a money exchange booth (with the best rates in my opinion) as well as services such as sleeping rooms or baggage deposit services.
Here you can find the Airport Rail Link train service which can bring you to the inner city of Bangkok within 30 minutes. Here is our article you can read more about Airport Rail Link.
In case you want to stay at Hyatt Regency Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport hotel, you can go to the underground floor and walk towards the other side of the walkway. Then you will see the entrance to the airport hotel.
Inside the Don Muang Airport (DMK)
The airport has 2 main terminals located next to each other: Terminal 1 and Terminal 2
For Terminal 1, it is served for international flights.
For Terminal 2, this is for the Thailand domestic flights.
The airport is very easy to navigate. The planning of both terminals are the same and you can always walk from terminal 1 to terminal 2 very easily.
Starting from the top, the 4th floor. This floor has shops, sleeping rooms and restaurants. There is a food court with very good prices here as well.
On the 3rd floor, this is the departure hall where check-in counters of airlines are located.
The 2nd floor is the airline’s office area. Here there is an SRT redline connection at the end of Terminal 2.
On the 1st floor is the arrival hall. Services such as taxi, vans, luggage depositing, and SIM cards can be found right at the exit of the arrival hall.
In case you want to do the Tax Refund before departure from this airport, there is a Tax/VAT Refund facility at the waiting area at the gate number 1 of Terminal 1.
Bottom line
Which airport is the best for me? It depends on how you design your trip.
If you come from intercontinental flights or prefer to fly with full service airlines, it is recommended to use Suvarnabhumi airport as your main airport for your trip.
If you plan to stay in Bangkok for a few days and travel onwards to the other part of Thailand with a low-cost carrier, you can use Don Muang airport and consider depositing some of your belongings at the airport or pay your luggage fee to the carrier.
Never fly full service airlines to Suvarnabhumi airport and transit to low-cost carriers at Don Muang airport right away.
Have a blissful journey!
