Airport Rail Link
Default. About half an hour to Phaya Thai, less to Makkasan. Not a 24-hour service.
BKK · Out and back · published · checked
BKK to the city and back
The train ignores the traffic that makes Bangkok famous. Use it while it is running. Use an official taxi when it is not. Do not invent a third option in the arrivals hall.
Clear the border if you are entering
This guide starts after immigration. Have the TDAC done. Have the visa question settled before you fly, not at the desk.
Down to the Airport Rail Link
Basement level, signed from arrivals. The City Line to Phaya Thai takes about 30 minutes. Trains run from early morning until around midnight, on the order of every 10 to 15 minutes in the daytime. Timetables move. Check the day.
Makkasan is the stop if you want the MRT instead. Phaya Thai is the stop for the BTS. The onward ticket is separate.
Taxi from the public rank
Use it for a group, for a hotel far from both rails, and for the hours the train does not cover. Join the official queue. The meter runs. An airport surcharge is added. Ask for the meter if it is not already on.
A fixed price offered inside the terminal is the expensive way to meet a stranger.
Back out to the airport
Same train, earlier than you think, because the BTS connection can cost you a missed airport departure. Last trains exist in both systems.
Three hours in the terminal for a long-haul. If the flight is early, sleep at Suvarnabhumi.
Taxi
Public rank, meter, airport fee. The right tool when the train has stopped or the hotel is nowhere near a station. Traffic is the risk you are accepting.
What not to do
Do not follow a tout. Do not rent a car. Do not start an eight-hour tour without looking at the pickup time.
Live detail lives on the operator's site: Airports of Thailand (opens in a new tab), Thailand Digital Arrival Card (opens in a new tab).