Suvarnabhumi Airport

Bangkok's new state-of-the-art Suvarnabhumi Airport began operations for domestic and international passengers on Sept. 28,2006. After over four decades of planning, Bangkok is now home to the largest airport terminal building and tallest control tower in the world. A rail link is under construction which will connect the airport to the Bangkok skytrain network in central Bangkok. Once this link is open, in late 2008, travel time from the airport to downtown Bangkok will be significantly reduced.

The huge passenger terminal building has four main levels: download suvarnabhumi airport map

If you've previously used Bangkok's Don Muang airport, note that it's no longer necessary to pay the 500 baht per person Passenger Service Charge at Suvarnabhumi. From February 2007, the charge was increased to 700B but it's now included in the price of your ticket. Suvarnabhumi airport is organised into 4 separate levels:

Level one is the bus and taxi lobby where you can go to get downtown.
Level two is the arrivals area.
Level three is the "Meeting Center" level, where the majority of Suvarnabhumi's facilities are.
Level four is departures.

In addition, there's the separate Public Transportation Center (PTC) building which is about 10 minutes from Suvarnabhumi terminal. Free shuttle buses provide transportation back and forth between them leaving from level one. If you want to get a public bus downtown or to a destination other than Bangkok, you need to head to the PTC first while if you're getting a Bangkok airport taxi you can get one either from the terminal building itself or the PTC.

ATMs (with Cirrus/Maestro, Visa, Mastercard, Plus and others) and currency exchange are available at the airport 24 hours a day. The exchange rates available at the airport are generally as elsewhere in the city, and so you you won't lose out by changing money upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi. Internet access is available, but at a cost of 500B an hour it's up to 20 times (!) the price of internet cafes in Bangkok itself.

Other facilities at the airport include bars, restaurants (mostly fast food with Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King etc... but there's a good and cheap Thai foodcourt on the walkway between the International and domestic terminals), a couple of decent 24 hour bars, duty free and normal shops, a small branch of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai Hotels Association, and car rental counters. Trolleys are available but can't be taken past immigration. The Thai Hotels Association can get you better rates at mid-range and expensive hotels than you would get as a walk-in, but you still pay more than the going rate. Make sure you have some idea about where you want to stay and what kind of prices you should be paying for it. Different hotels pay them different rates of commission so don't be surprised if they suggest other hotels to one you decided on - they aren't impartial by any means.

I suggest you book a hotel for your first night before arriving in Thailand. The airport has one attached hotel, the 4 star Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel which is only 5 minutes away via an underground walkway. It has all the facilities you'd expect and rates start at around $90 a night.

Getting downtown is cheap and not too much of a problem, and there's no lack of options either: Taxis, airport buses, normal buses, limousines, boats, the train and even a helicopter are all available. When you book hotels in Thailand, your travel agent will likely offer airport transfers as an extra. You will likely pay a bit more for an airport transfer booked in advance, but it is much less stressful if you do not have arrange transportation to your hotel after your long flight to Thailand.

When leaving it is also possible to claim back VAT on certain goods you have bought in Thailand - the forms for this can be picked up at shops displaying "Vat Refund for Tourists" signs in the city. Take the forms, the goods themselves and your passport to the tax refund counter (which is in the departure hall), pay the 100B service fee, and you will be given the refund. Note they require to see the goods bought, which can be very inconvenient if they are packed away in your baggage. You must have spent a minimum of 5000B, and 2000B in each transaction, to qualify for this. It's a bit of a cumbersome procedure overall, which discourages many from taking advantage of it.

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