How to get from Don Mueang Airport to Khao San tourist area

Low-cost transport links between the old Bangkok airport Don Mueang is even better developed than from the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. To get to the popular tourist area Khaosan Road from here you can take a taxi, special airport bus routes, as well as city buses. Further about all the methods in more detail:

By taxi

• Cost: from 350 baht (10.73 USD, see Thailand's currency and exchange rate)
• Time spent: 40-60 minutes
• Working hours: around the clock

A taxi from Don Mueang Airport to Khao San will cost about 350 baht according to the taxi-meter meter, plus an additional payment of 50 baht for travel on the toll road. You can use a licensed official taxi. To do this, after receiving your luggage, go further to the racks using the Taxi signs. Here you will have to stand in a small queue. If you don't want to stand, you can go outside, walk to the left to the public transport stop on the main highway, and catch a car there as usual – by raising your hand. Before boarding, be sure to check with the driver if there will be a trip on the meter, for which just ask "Taxi meter?". If the driver answers no, catch the next car.

Do not use a taxi when leaving the terminal in the parking lot bypassing the queue, as you will be offered a ride at a fixed cost. The price can go up to 2 thousand baht. Also, do not agree to the offers of "helped", which are spinning near the queue, offering to leave faster.

If you have mobile internet or connect to the airport WiFi network, then you can order a taxi through the application, and it is often cheaper than the official one at the counter. Uber doesn't work in Bangkok, you need to use Grab, Maxim or InDrive apps instead. In all applications, you will see the cost of the trip immediately before ordering, and you can pay in cash at the end or link your card in the online payment application (Russian bank cards do not work).

If you really don't want to stand in line and you are willing to pay more for it, it's better to go further to the Lumisune taxi counter, where prices are about twice as high, or book a tourist taxi in advance. In this case, it will be a more comfortable car that will be waiting for you to board the plane, and the driver will meet you at the airport with a sign. The price for the trip will be fixed, you can pay online. You can book such a transfer using the search form:

By rented car

• Cost: from 600 baht/day (18.4 USD)
• Time spent: 1 hour

There are several representative offices of world-famous rental companies at Don Muang Airport, and if you wish, you can leave here by car, and use it to return or return the car to the rental company elsewhere. You can also rent a car in Bangkok itself or at other resorts. It is better to book a car in advance via the Internet. The rental price when booking in advance starts from 600 baht, and the longer the period, the lower the price. You can find and book a car for rent through one of the price comparison services from different rental companies:

To drive a car in Thailand, tourists no longer need to obtain an international driver's license (IDP). On May 1, 2021, the long-awaited event finally took place - Thailand ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, which it initially joined back in 1968. And now in Thailand, theoretically, it is possible to manage rented transport using ordinary Russian rights. However, so far in Thailand there has not been a practice of adopting national VUS on the roads by police officers, therefore, in order not to finish off our rightness every time, we still recommend that you additionally issue an IDP. For more information about renting a transport in Thailand, read here.

By bus

• Cost: 8 - 60 baht (0.25 USD)
• Time spent: 1.5 – 2 hours
• Period of work: from 05:00 to 23:00

This is the most budget and quite convenient way to get to the right place, especially if you are well-oriented and know where your hotel is located in the Khao San area. In extreme cases, upon arrival in the area, you can catch a city taxi at the meter and get to the desired address. To avoid misunderstandings with taxi drivers, it is better to have a hotel address in Thai. On the hotel booking voucher on the sites Trip.com and Ostrovok.ru. The address is presented in both English and Thai.

There are several options for how to get to the Khao San area from Don Muang by bus:

• Airport bus A4. This is a special airport bus, runs from 07:00 to 23:00 every 30 minutes, on the way a little more than an hour, but can go more during rush hour. It costs 60 baht. It is sent directly from the terminal exit. The route passes through an important stop Victory Monument, Monument of Democracy, passes through the Khao San Road area a little and ends the path next to it at the final stop near the World War 1 Monument. If you need to get to the airport from this area and you don't know exactly where the route goes, then it's best to also go from World War 1 Monument (stop on the map), you can walk here from Khaosan Street in 5-10 minutes.

• City bus number 59. This is an ordinary city bus that makes a huge number of stops along the way, so it takes much longer – 2 or more hours. They run from 05:00 to 22:00. But the bus does not depart from the exit of the terminal, but makes a stop at a regular city bus stop on the main highway running along the airport. Exit the terminal and go to the left, and you will get to this stop by following the Bus Stop signs, it is very close. Here, with other Thais, wait for the bus, it is passing.

  But keep in mind that not all buses numbered 59 finish the route in the Khao San area. There are special additional buses on the shortened route, i.e. they do not go to the final one. They can be recognized by the red sign on the windshield, which indicates in Thai which stop they are following. Also check with the conductor or driver on the bus.

  This route does not pass through the Khao San district itself, but makes a stop near the Democracy Monument and ends at the final stop near the World War 1 Monument. From both stops to the hotels in the area is just around the corner.

• With a transfer. If you do not wait for the direct bus number 59, you can get there with transfers, the time will be almost the same as directly. To do this, take the bus number 29, 510, 187, 538 at the city bus stop (run around the clock) to the Victory Monument stop. Transfer to buses at Victory Monument №59, 157, 159, 171, 183, 201, 503, 509 to Khao San Road.