How do I get between Bangkok's two airports?
Short answer
There is a free shuttle between Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang, but it is not a public bus. It carries only passengers with a connecting flight at the other airport the same day, and staff check the boarding pass and passport before you board. One bus per hour, 5am to midnight, and the journey time the government publishes is one to two hours.
Who the bus will take
The service exists for one purpose: moving transit and transfer passengers between the two Bangkok airports. The condition is a connecting flight at the destination airport on the same day, and it is checked at the door — staff ask for the boarding pass and a passport or ID card before you board.
If your two flights are on separate tickets days apart, or you are simply crossing the city, this is not the bus you are looking for. It is free because it is closed, not because it is public transport.
Where it leaves from at each airport
At Don Mueang the pick-up is in the international passenger terminal area, Terminal 1, first floor, gate 6.
At Suvarnabhumi it is the platform area of the passenger terminal, second floor, gate 3. The service runs in both directions on the same hours.
The number to plan around is not free, it is two hours
One bus per hour, and a journey the government puts at one to two hours. Miss a departure and the wait stacks on top, so the realistic worst case between terminals is close to three hours.
That is the figure to hold a self-transfer against. A connection that looks comfortable on paper stops being comfortable once the gap has to absorb a missed bus as well as the ride itself.
The operating hours cut both ways
The shuttle runs from 5:00 in the morning until midnight, and the two airports sit on opposite sides of Bangkok.
A flight landing at one in the morning with a six o’clock departure from the other airport falls outside the service on both ends of the gap. The hours are part of the answer, not a footnote to it.
Good to know
- Connecting passengers only — same day, other airport
- Boarding pass plus passport or ID checked before boarding
- One bus per hour, 05:00 to midnight, both directions
- Journey time: one to two hours
