Getting from Don Mueang airport into Bangkok

Getting through the border

Before the train, you pass Thai immigration. Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) doesn’t publish queue times, so plan on about an hour from landing to sitting on a train, and more when several flights arrive together.

• The arrival card. Fill in the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card at tdac.immigration.go.th in the 3 days before you land, and have your onward booking to hand.
• Fast Track. The airport doesn’t sell a fast lane itself. GetYourGuide’s Don Mueang page (opens in a new tab) lists fast-track services run by private companies; read what each one covers before you book.
• Bags. On one booking they go through to your final stop. On separate tickets you collect them in the arrivals hall, and you’ll want to leave them before heading into town.

The options at a glance

	SRT Red Line	Airport buses	Taxi	Grab
To	Krung Thep Aphiwat, for Chatuchak, Or Tor Kor and the MRT	Mo Chit, Victory Monument, Pratunam, Khao San Road	Anywhere	Anywhere
Time	17 min	25 to 90 min, by route and traffic (our estimate)	20 to 60 min, more in the rush (our estimate)	As a taxi
Single fare	THB 33	THB 30 or 50	Meter, plus THB 50 and tolls	Shown in the app
Pay with	Cash, at the station	Cash	Cash	The app

SRT Red Line: the best way in

• Where. Don Mueang station is in front of the airport, joined to the terminals by a walkway that comes in at Terminal 2, the domestic terminal. From Terminal 1’s arrivals hall, follow the train signs: about 10 to 15 minutes on foot (our estimate).
• The ride. 17 minutes to the end of the line, Krung Thep Aphiwat, the big new station also known as Bang Sue Grand Station. Trains leave every 15 minutes, and every 10 minutes from 7am to 10am and 5pm to 8pm.
• Tickets. THB 33 for an adult, THB 30 for a student and THB 17 for a senior. Buy a single ticket at the station before the gates, with baht: don’t count on paying by bank card. It’s a separate system from the metro and the Skytrain, so you buy a new ticket for each.
• At Krung Thep Aphiwat. The east gates, numbered 1 to 4, lead out towards Or Tor Kor Market, Chatuchak Weekend Market and the Mo Chit bus terminal, about 10 minutes on foot (our estimate). For the metro, follow the signs inside the building from ticket hall 2 to MRT Bang Sue.

	Red Line times
First train from Don Mueang	5:07am
Last train from Don Mueang	12:07am
Trains back from Krung Thep Aphiwat	Until about midnight; board by 11:30pm

These are SRT Electrified Train’s times for November 2026; only one timetable is published, so check srtet.co.th for weekend and holiday changes before you rely on a late train. The ride back takes about the same 16 to 17 minutes, so the 11:30pm from Krung Thep Aphiwat reaches Don Mueang at about 11:45pm. Two more trains leave after it, at 11:45pm and midnight, but plan on the 11:30pm: miss the last one and you’re looking for a taxi near midnight.

The MRT from Bang Sue: on to Wat Pho and the Grand Palace

The Red Line stops at the edge of the city centre. For the old city, change to the MRT Blue Line at Bang Sue, inside the Krung Thep Aphiwat building, and ride to Sanam Chai. Exit 1 is about 10 minutes’ walk from Wat Pho and about 20 from the Grand Palace’s gate (our estimate).

• Trains run from 6am to midnight every day, at least every 7 minutes, and every 4 minutes at the morning and evening peaks.
• Time and fare. About 40 minutes from Bang Sue to Sanam Chai for about THB 40 to 50, and about 10 minutes for the change from the Red Line (all our estimates: neither the ride time nor the fare is published for this trip).
• Last trains. To be sure of the 11:30pm Red Line, leave Sanam Chai by 10:30pm.
• Before 6am. On an overnight plan, the first Red Line reaches Bang Sue before the metro opens, so you wait for the 6am start and reach Sanam Chai about 6:45am, well before Wat Pho opens at 8am.

Airport buses A1 to A4: slower, but direct

Four airport bus routes leave from the stop on floor 1 of Terminal 1, by gate 6, from about 6am to 11pm, and A1 until midnight: A1 and A2 every 15 minutes, A3 and A4 every 30. They’re cheap, but they share the roads with Bangkok’s traffic.

Bus	Goes to	Fare
A1	Mo Chit 2 bus terminal, through the Chatuchak area	THB 30
A2	Victory Monument, through Chatuchak	THB 30
A3	Pratunam, Ratchaprasong and Lumpini Park	THB 50
A4	Democracy Monument, Khao San Road and Sanam Luang, beside the Grand Palace	THB 50

A1 takes about 25 to 40 minutes, and A4 60 to 90 (our estimates). A4 is the one way to the Grand Palace without changing, but it’s slow, and the last bus back varies, so check it at the stop. None of the plans on this site relies on the buses.

Taxis and Grab

• Taxis wait at the counters on floor 1 of Terminal 1, by gate 8, and in Terminal 2 next to gate 15, under the multi-storey car park. They run on the meter, plus a THB 50 airport fee, and you pay any expressway tolls; a bag over 26 inches adds up to THB 21. Our estimates: to Chatuchak 20 to 30 minutes and about THB 120 to 180 in all, 35 to 50 minutes in the rush; to the Grand Palace 45 to 60 minutes and about THB 300 to 400, 75 to 90 minutes in the rush.
• Grab, the ride-hailing app, has a counter in Terminal 2, floor 1, gate 14, open 6am to midnight; the fare is shown in the app before you book.
• Late at night. After the last Red Line, a taxi or Grab from Chatuchak takes about 25 minutes with no traffic (our estimate). It’s the fallback the plans use for a missed train.

A taxi beats the train for a group, with heavy bags, or for the Air Force Museum, which the Red Line doesn’t reach.

Private transfers

GetYourGuide’s Don Mueang page (opens in a new tab) lists private transfers with a driver who meets you after customs, and Viator lists a shared shuttle to and from the airport. A fixed price agreed in advance suits a late arrival, a family or a trip to Suvarnabhumi with bags. For one person with hand luggage, the Red Line is quicker and costs far less.

The Air Force Museum by taxi

The free Royal Thai Air Force Museum, on Phahon Yothin Road, is the closest sight to the airport, but not walkable and not on the Red Line. Take a taxi from the counters and allow about 30 minutes each way, including finding a car; the drive itself is about 15 to 25 minutes (our estimates: nobody publishes the distance or the time). Book a Grab for the way back. Plan to go from Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 3:30pm, and not on a public holiday. Our itineraries time it for a 5-hour layover.

Storing bags

Airports of Thailand runs a left-baggage counter on floor 2 of Terminal 2, on the public side, and Bellugg has a counter in Terminal 1’s arrivals hall, on floor 1. Neither shows its prices online, so ask at the counter. There’s no point carrying a suitcase to the markets: their lanes are narrow and crowded.

Between Terminals 1 and 2

Terminal 1 handles international flights and Terminal 2 domestic ones. They stand side by side, a 5 to 10-minute walk apart on the public side. A connection from one to the other on one booking follows the transfer signs instead: see visa and transit rules.

Flying on from Suvarnabhumi (BKK)

If your next flight leaves from Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok’s main airport, you change airports by road, and that uses up most of a short layover.

• The free shuttle bus. Airports of Thailand runs it between the two airports from 5am to midnight, about every 30 minutes, for passengers with a flight from the other airport, not for anyone else, so carry your onward booking to show. At Don Mueang it leaves from Gate 3 on floor 1 of Terminal 1, the arrivals level, and from Gate 14 on floor 1 of Terminal 2. The airport doesn’t time the ride: allow 60 to 90 minutes, and up to 2 hours in heavy traffic (our estimate).
• Bus 555, open to anyone, runs between the airports for THB 60, from 6am to 7pm: every hour, and every 15 minutes at rush hours. Allow 75 minutes to 2 hours (our estimate).
• A taxi takes about 50 to 70 minutes outside the rush and up to 100 in it, and costs about THB 450 to 550 with the airport fee and tolls (our estimate). There’s no train between the airports that avoids two changes.
• How long you need. Leave at least 5 hours between the flights: about an hour to get out of Don Mueang, up to 30 minutes’ wait for the shuttle, up to 2 hours on the road and 90 minutes at Suvarnabhumi to check in again. Six hours is more comfortable, and anything shorter is a risk on separate tickets.

For your time at Suvarnabhumi itself, from check-in to the lounges and the trains into town, see our Suvarnabhumi guide at bangkoklayover.com.

Timing your return

Be back at the airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass. With a boarding pass already issued and no bag to drop, that covers departure immigration and security. On separate tickets you check in again, and AirAsia closes check-in an hour before departure, so don’t let the 90 minutes shrink. Ride back to the terminal your flight leaves from: Terminal 1 for international flights, Terminal 2 for domestic ones.

Layover	Time in Bangkok
5 hours	About 1.5 hours, at the Air Force Museum
6 hours	About 1.5 hours
8 hours	About 3.5 hours
10 hours	About 5.5 hours
12 hours	About 7.5 hours

The times assume about an hour from landing to the train, the Red Line to Krung Thep Aphiwat and back (50 minutes out and an hour back, counting the walks and the wait for a train), and 90 minutes at the airport. The 5-hour row is the museum by taxi, 30 minutes each way. Going on by metro to Wat Pho or the Grand Palace leaves about 2 hours less in town. Use the layover planner to see what fits your times.