Changing airports in Bangkok: Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang, and how much time to leave
Bangkok has two busy airports about 40 kilometres apart, and a lot of trips run through both — a long-haul arrival at Suvarnabhumi, then a budget flight out of Don Mueang, or the other way round. If the two flights are on separate tickets, that transfer is on you, and it is where holidays quietly go wrong. Here is the honest version: the free shuttle that only some people can use, the cheap train chain, what a taxi or Grab really costs, and the one number that matters most — how much time to leave.
The short version
- Two airports, 40 km apart. Suvarnabhumi (BKK) is the big international airport to the east; Don Mueang (DMK) is the low-cost hub to the north — AirAsia, Nok, Thai Lion Air.
- The free AOT shuttle is real but restricted. It is only for connecting passengers, and you must show a passport and an onward ticket or boarding pass. No connecting flight, no shuttle.
- The cheapest way is the train chain — Airport Rail Link, MRT, then the Red Line to Don Mueang — about 90–110 baht, but an hour and a half to two hours with bags.
- A taxi is roughly 300–500 baht including tolls; Grab or a private car is roughly 350–600 baht plus tolls, and is the most dependable when the clock is tight.
- Leave a big buffer. For a self-transfer, plan on a minimum of four to five hours between flights — more if either is international — because immigration and traffic, not the distance, are what catch people out.
First, know which airport is which
The confusion starts with the names. Suvarnabhumi, airport code BKK, is the large modern airport to the east of the city, and it handles most full-service and long-haul flights. Don Mueang, code DMK, is the older airport to the north, and it is Bangkok’s low-cost hub — AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and other budget carriers fly from there. The classic trap is a cheap regional fare: you land long-haul at Suvarnabhumi, and your onward hop to Chiang Mai, Phuket or a neighbouring country leaves from Don Mueang, so you have to cross the whole city between two terminals. If both flights are on one airline’s single booking, they may protect the connection for you; if you booked them separately, the transfer — and the risk — is entirely yours.
The free shuttle: real, but not for everyone
There is a genuinely free way across, run by Airports of Thailand: an inter-airport shuttle bus that loops between Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang roughly every 30 minutes, from around 05:00 to midnight, taking about 50 to 90 minutes depending on traffic. The catch is important. It is not a public city bus — it is only for transfer passengers connecting between the two airports, and you have to prove it: bring your passport and a ticket or boarding pass for your onward flight, generally for the same day. At Suvarnabhumi you check in at the shuttle desk on the arrivals level (Level 2), near Gate 3; at Don Mueang the counter is near Exit 6 in Terminal 1. If you have a connecting flight and time to spare, it is unbeatable value. If you are not connecting — say you are heading into the city, or your onward flight is the next day — you cannot rely on it, and one of the options below is your route.
Don’t bank a tight connection on the shuttle. It is free and frequent, but it shares Bangkok’s roads, so in the evening crush a “one hour” transfer can stretch well past ninety minutes, and a full bus means waiting for the next one. If your layover is genuinely short, treat the shuttle as the budget option and a booked car as the safe one.
The train chain: cheapest, if you have the time
If you are travelling light and would rather spend baht than nowhere near it, Bangkok’s rail network now links the two airports end to end — it just takes three trains. From Suvarnabhumi, ride the Airport Rail Link to Makkasan, walk the short covered skywalk to MRT Phetchaburi, take the MRT Blue Line to Bang Sue (the Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal), and finish on the SRT Dark Red Line, which runs right into Don Mueang station with a covered walkway into the terminal. All in, it is about 90 to 110 baht and takes roughly an hour and a half to two hours once you count the waits and the walking. Coming the other way, DMK to BKK, you simply reverse it. It is the cheapest option by far and it skips the traffic entirely, but with big suitcases and a tight schedule it is the wrong tool — three changes with luggage is real work.
From Don Mueang, the airport buses are a bargain
If you land at Don Mueang and are heading into the city rather than across to Suvarnabhumi, the BMTA airport A-buses are worth knowing, because they are cheap and go where visitors actually stay. A1 runs to Mo Chit (for BTS Mo Chit and MRT Chatuchak) for 30 baht; A2 goes to Victory Monument, also 30 baht; A3 heads down to Lumphini and the Silom area for 50 baht; and A4 runs to Sanam Luang by way of Khao San Road, also 50 baht. They are the honest budget pick for a DMK arrival, though they sit in the same traffic as everyone else. Note there is no Airport Rail Link at Don Mueang — that line only serves Suvarnabhumi — so from DMK it is the Red Line, a bus, or a car.
Taxi or Grab: what it actually costs
For most people with bags and a schedule, it comes down to a car. A metered taxi between the two airports usually works out to roughly 300 to 500 baht, and it helps to know what that is made of: the meter starts at a 35-baht flag-fall for a standard car (not 40 — that is only the larger three-row taxis), there is a 50-baht airport surcharge added at the rank, and the expressway tolls of about 50 to 115 baht are paid separately by you, in cash, at the booths. Grab or a booked private car lands around 350 to 600 baht, with tolls again on top of the in-app price; the trade is that the fare is fixed and agreed before you get in, and the driver can be tracked, which is why it is the calmest choice on a tight connection. Off-peak the drive is about 45 minutes to an hour; in heavy traffic, budget an hour and a half or more.
| Option | Typical cost | Door-to-door time | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free AOT shuttle connecting pax | Free | ~50–90 min | You have an onward flight and proof of it |
| Train chain 3 trains | ~90–110 ฿ | ~1.5–2 hr | Cheapest; light bags; beat the traffic |
| Metered taxi | ~300–500 ฿ incl. tolls | ~45 min–1.5 hr | Door to door, heavier bags, off-peak |
| Grab / private car | ~350–600 ฿ + tolls | ~45 min–1.5 hr | Tight timing; a fixed, agreed price |
| BMTA A-bus DMK only | 30–50 ฿ | ~1 hr+ | DMK into the city on a budget |
The number that matters: how much time to leave
Everything above is secondary to this. When your two flights are on separate tickets, nobody is holding the connection for you, and the transfer itself — an hour or so — is not the thing that breaks it. What breaks it is the front end: at Suvarnabhumi you may spend anywhere from half an hour to a couple of hours clearing immigration and waiting on baggage before you can even start moving, and then you are at the mercy of Bangkok traffic. For that reason experienced travellers plan a minimum of four to five hours between the two flights for a self-transfer, and treat that as a floor, not a target — more if either flight is international, if you are travelling at rush hour, or in the rainy season when the roads slow. If your layover is tighter than that, the answer is not to rush the shuttle; it is to book a car in advance and give yourself the best odds. And if you can, book the two flights on a single through-ticket so the airline, not you, owns the risk.
A note on the trains and fares in 2026
Two recent changes are worth a line. Since late 2025 you can tap a contactless Visa or Mastercard straight on the fare gates of the Airport Rail Link and the Red Line, so you no longer need to queue for a token for the rail chain. And a promotional 40-baht daily fare cap now applies to contactless trips on the Red Line and MRT Purple Line, which can quietly cut the cost of the train route. One thing that is not here yet, despite years of headlines: the high-speed rail line meant to connect Bangkok’s airports directly is still under construction and not running, so ignore any advice that assumes you can take it.
Quick answers
- Is there a free shuttle between the two airports?
- Yes, an AOT shuttle every ~30 minutes, but only for connecting passengers with an onward ticket and passport to show. Not a public bus.
- What’s the cheapest way across?
- The train chain — Airport Rail Link, MRT, then the Red Line to Don Mueang — about 90–110 baht, but 1.5–2 hours with bags.
- How much is a taxi or Grab?
- A taxi is roughly 300–500 baht including tolls; Grab or a car is roughly 350–600 baht plus tolls. 45 minutes to 1.5 hours by road.
- How long should I leave between flights?
- For a self-transfer, four to five hours minimum, more if either flight is international. Immigration and traffic, not the distance, are the risk.
- Which airport uses budget airlines?
- Don Mueang (DMK) is the low-cost hub — AirAsia, Nok, Thai Lion Air. Suvarnabhumi (BKK) handles most full-service and long-haul flights.
How we made this — and our sources
We are not based in Bangkok and we do not run the airports. This guide draws its routes, fares, shuttle rules and timings from Airports of Thailand information, the rail operators’ own details for the Airport Rail Link, MRT and SRT Red Line, and reputable 2025–2026 Bangkok travel references, cross-checked against recent traveller reports on connection times. Where figures move — taxi tolls, Grab surge pricing, exact shuttle eligibility windows — we have kept them to honest ranges rather than false precision. We have deliberately not presented the high-speed airport rail link as available, because it is still under construction. Everything here was checked in July 2026.
Fares, shuttle rules, schedules and traffic all change, and a missed connection is expensive — treat every figure and time here as a guide, confirm the shuttle’s current eligibility at the airport desk, and leave more buffer than you think you need. This is general travel information, not official advice. Spotted something out of date? Tell us via our corrections page and we will fix it.