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How to get to Bangkok Airport from Bangkok city center

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There are several ways to get from the city center of Bangkok to the Aiport in Bangkok.

BTS Skytrain

The BTS Skytrain is an easy and efficient way to get from the city center in Bangkok to the Airport. Depending on the time you are using the BTS Skytrain it might be a little bit packed. During rush hours Bangkok shows it’s full potential with millions of persons moving from one place to another within the city and it’s surrounding quarters. The BTS Skytrain is also a quick and convenient way to see some parts of Bangkok, you cross parks, financial buildings, hotels, and some residential areas. The train is set on a rail 20m above the earth so you smoothly ride over the tense traffic.

As you see in the picture below you need to get to “Paya Thai” Station and take the airport link from there. (dark blue line)

If you’re curious and you want to plan your trip further, here’s the full official BS Skytrain Map Bangkok.

BTS Skytrain Map Bangkok

BTS Skytrain Map Bangkok

Taxi

Taking a taxi in Bangkok can be tricky as a foreigner. The Thais are nice people and most of the taxi drivers are friendly but normally they try to charge you much more than they should (or at least as the locals would pay). So when taking a taxi try to stick to the “official ones” which is actually not that easy.

There are several types of taxis in Bangkok. There are several colors that distinguish the taxis from the rest of the cars. The taxis are mostly Green, Lila, Blue… Someone said to me once “take only the blue ones” another one: “only the green ones”, well, from my experience you can ask and try to get one just as any other Thai person and ask directly for the meter to be activated (“meter khap”) or the driver will give you a price to pay to get to your destination. Some will tell you a horrendous price, but as in every capitalistic country the demand dictates the price, so you need to decide when you want to ask for the meter or not pay the 300 baht the driver is asking for.

You can always kindly ask the reception to request a taxi to take you to the airport, but of course, this doesn’t give you any guarantee in terms of pricing.

Back to the airport: You can get a taxi for 400 baht and probably even cheaper to bring you to the airport. Most drivers will ask for a fixed sum once you tell them where you want to go.

With the meter, it might be cheaper but it’ll not be easy to find drivers who are ready to bring you for the meter price.

Uber / Grab

In my last trips to Asia Uber and Grab where my favorite options for transport in the city. I think it’s just super convenient. There’s some little things you need to keep in mind in order to be able to use the service once you are in Thailand but you’ll see it’s pretty awesome, also especially in terms of pricing… we’ll get to that in a bit.

So in order to get these apps it’s recommended to have a local Thai number.

Interesting read: How to get a Thai phone number and internet in Thailand

Once you have one of these sim cards you can easily download the apps in Thailand and set them up. (Really simple sign up process, fill out name, confirm email… )

Tell the app where you want to go, see the estimated price and if you like it hit the button to ask for a ride.

Find your rides when you get out of the hotel just when you need it. Calculate 5-20 minutes for a dirver to show up (depending on where you are and how many drivers are around you). Normally , in big cities like Bangkok and Manila the Grab or Uber drivers are quick and you see the profile and the plate number of the drivers on your phone within seconds, they are really organized and they even use TaxBite Accounting to control their finances. You can accept or reject. Some of the drivers might call you right away to confirm that they are on their way or to ask how to exactly find you. In front of the Airports you can find some “pick up” points from time to time. Pass the taxi cues at MBK and grab your first ride via Grab or Uber the next time you need to go to the airport in Bangkok

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