How To Get To Don Muang Airport From Bangkok City

There are two airports in Bangkok, Thailand; Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi Airport. If you’re flying long haul internationally then you’ll likely fly into Suvarnabhumi, meanwhile, if you’re flying domestically within Thailand or on budget airlines from elsewhere in Asia you’ll likely fly into Don Muang.

We’ve visited both airports when flying in and out of Thailand, and personally prefer Don Muang due to it’s luxury airport lounges yet relaxed atmosphere.

The best way to get to Don Muang Airport from Bangkok is by taxi which can be done outside the airport or using the GRAB mobile app. The 40-minute journey is roughly 28km depending on exactly where in Bangkok you’re coming from and costs roughly 400 – 650 Baht (including toll fees).

However, if you’re travelling between airports then you might want to opt to get the shuttle bus instead.

There’s a number of different options for the journey, and the right one is likely to depend on your timescale, budget and the number of people you’re travelling with which is exactly why I’ve broken this post down to include details of each form of transport.

Transport	Duration	Cost
Taxi	40 min	600 Baht
Train	50 min	150 Baht

Taxi

If you’re a solo traveller, or a couple getting a taxi isn’t going to be the cheapest way to get to Don Muang Airport.

Aside from the cost of getting to Don Muang Airport (that we’ll cover in more detail later). The easiest, quickest and most convenient way to get to Don Muang Airport is by taxi.

An in most cases the taxi is only slightly more (around 100 – 300 baht depending on your location).

If you’re a couple who are able to split this cost then I highly encourage you to do so the convenience probably outweighs the cost in this case.

For our trip from our hotel Bangkok Loft Inn, Thonburi to Don Muang Airport we chose to get a Grab Taxi.

Grab Taxi isn’t as well known as Uber at least in Europe and North America, however, here in South East Asia, it is.

The advantages of using Grab Taxi to get a taxi to Don Muang Airport is;

There’s a little bit more protection. Just in case anything goes wrong (when compared to hailing a cab on the street)

You’re able to estimate the cost of the taxi to Don Muang AirportYou can pay via credit or debit card

Don’t have to struggle with language translations

No need to argue as to whether or not the cab is using a metre

The disadvantage of using Grab Taxi to get to Don Muang Airport are;

The wait maybe ~10 minutes for the taxi to turn up depending on where the most local driver is based who takes your request (it’s not as quick as sticking out your hand at the side of the road).

A surcharge may be applicable depending on the time in which you choose to travel.

WIFI or mobile internet will be required to use the service.

If you’re not a big believer in the concept (or the politics) or Uber or Grab Taxi then you can always get a taxi the more traditional way by hailing a cab.

This can be done in one of two ways;

Ask reception to assist you they will be able to do the translation and are less likely (it’s never guaranteed) to get scammed.

Just hail an available cab you’ll know if the cab is available by seeing this in the windscreen. Be sure the taxi is on a metre to ensure you get maximum value for money.

The advantages of hailing a cab on the street and using that to get you to Don Muang Airport are;

It’s instantaneous (stick your arm out to hail the available taxi and you’re off!)

You can pay in cash

The disadvantages are;

There is less of a quote/estimate system to find out how much you might pay to get to the airport

You might find yourself haggling over whether or not the taxi has a meter which you should always get the taxi drivers to use.

You’ve more chance of being scammed, and there’s very little you can do in the terms of reporting the driver

Train & Bus

Earlier in the article in reference to getting a taxi to Don Muang Airport, I suggested that it was more convenient. The reason being is there is a serious lack of public transport serving Don Muang Airport.

Meaning you’ll often find yourself needing a combination of buses and trains to get to/from your location in Bangkok to Don Muang Airport.

All this costs you time?

In fact, while the taxi only took us around 50 minutes, it was expected that public transport would take us over 2 hours and that’s if everything ran smoothly (which let’s face it, it never does) To take the train/bus to Don Muang Airport you?

Option #1

Use the BTS to get to Mo Chit station. Then use bus 29, 49, 59 running 24/7 or A1 running between 7.00am and midnight to get to the airport. The bus will drop you off at the other side of the airport.

Depending on the terminal you’re flying from it will take you ~10 minutes to walk The A1 buses are every 15 minutes and it takes around 30 minutes from Mo Chit at a cost of 30 baht per person. 

Option #2

Use either a local bus or the BTS to get you to Bang Sue Junction. From there take the SRT (State Railway of Thailand) to Don Muang.

While I’ve not followed this method myself. It’s as much as a 20 minute (2km) walk from Don Muang station to the terminal (depending on the terminal in which you are flying from)

As a side note you can use a combination of taxi and public transport to streamline your journey from Bangkok to Don Muang Airport (or vice versa) you do this by;

Going from your accommodation to the nearest BTS (Bangkok Sky Train) and taking the BTS to Mo Chit (the nearest BTS Station to Don Muang Airport) – The cost of which will be 30baht – 80baht per person depending on the station you’re going from/to.

Then hailing a taxi from Mo Chit to Don Muang Airport (which should cost circa 100 baht If they say it’s 200 or more they are lying!)