Arrivals
A Bangkok layover is worth leaving the airport for from about 6.5 hours, and from 9 hours there’s time for the Grand Palace.
Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is east of the city, about 30 minutes from Phaya Thai station on the Airport Rail Link, which leaves from level B1 of the main terminal. Landing at SAT-1, the satellite terminal, you ride the airport’s own underground train to the main terminal first, about 3 minutes with the wait.
- Bags. On one ticket, your checked bags go through to your next flight, so you leave with your hand luggage only. On separate tickets you collect them after immigration; Bellugg’s counters on levels 2 and 4 keep a bag from THB 100 for 24 hours (seen November 2026). Book at least an hour ahead.
- Tickets. No single ticket covers the trip. You buy a ticket for the Airport Rail Link at its station, another for the BTS Skytrain at Phaya Thai, and on the MRT metro you can tap a contactless bank card. Change some money at the airport and keep small notes for the machines.
- Phone. The airport’s Wi-Fi is free for 60 minutes at a time. TRUE and AIS sell tourist SIM cards at counters in the arrivals hall on floor 2, open 24 hours, or set up an eSIM before you fly.
Luggage, paying for the trains and taxis: getting into the city.
eSIM
Data before you land
The airport's free Wi-Fi lasts 60 minutes at a time and ends at the door. An eSIM set up before you fly keeps maps and Grab working on the trains and in the temples' streets.
Get an eSIM from Airalo (opens in a new tab)Get a Saily eSIM (opens in a new tab)
Border
US, UK, EU, Canadian, Australian and Indian passports can enter Thailand for up to 30 days without a visa, but everyone who passes immigration needs the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Visa-free passports. Since 15 September 2026, 60 countries get 30 days visa-free for tourism, including the US, the UK, every EU and Schengen country, Canada, Australia and India. Pages that still say 60 days, or visa on arrival for Indian passports, are out of date.
- The arrival card. Fill in the Thailand Digital Arrival Card at tdac.immigration.go.th in the 3 days before you land, counting the day you arrive. It’s free; ignore sites that charge for it. Children need one too.
- Other passports. Check the Thai foreign ministry’s list before you fly. Visa on arrival now applies only to Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia.
- Staying airside. On one ticket with your bags checked through, follow the signs to the Transfer Desk and security, and you need no visa and no arrival card. A connection to a domestic Thai flight takes you through immigration.
- Time. No queue times are published, so allow about an hour from landing to the train, and more when the hall is busy. A slow queue costs you time in town, not your flight: the time you must head back stays the same.
Who needs which visa: visa and transit rules.
Into Bangkok
The Airport Rail Link is the way in: about 30 minutes to Phaya Thai, where the BTS Skytrain takes over.
Not needed when you stay airside.
| Ride | Into town | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Airport Rail Link, the best for most | About 30 minutes to Phaya Thai; 20 to Makkasan for the MRT | About THB 45 (our estimate) |
| Taxi | 45 to 60 minutes, up to 90 in the rush (our estimate) | Meter from THB 35, plus THB 50 airport fee and tolls |
| Grab | As a taxi | Shown in the app |
After customs, go down to level B1 for the Link’s station. Ride to the end of the line, Phaya Thai, for the BTS Skytrain, or get off at Makkasan and walk to Phetchaburi station for the MRT to Wat Pho, the Grand Palace and Chinatown. Trains run from 5:30am to midnight, so you’ll only wait for the first one if you land before about 4:30am. The Link has had bad days in 2026, with a train only every 30 minutes; if the platform is crowded, allow 15 minutes more each way.
Paying, the last trains, taxis and Grab: getting into the city.
What to do
From Phaya Thai the Skytrain reaches Jim Thompson House, and with the MRT from Makkasan you reach Wat Pho, the Grand Palace and Chinatown.
Not needed when you stay airside.
The fastest plan for a short layover
- Take the Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai, about 30 minutes.
- Change to the BTS Skytrain, ride to National Stadium with a change at Siam, and walk about 10 minutes from exit 1 to Jim Thompson House.
- See the house with a guide, about an hour (THB 250).
- Leave Phaya Thai 2.5 hours before your flight.
It needs about 6.5 hours. The house opens at 10am every day, so land after about 7:50am; for an earlier landing, Wat Pho opens at 8am.
Would you rather have a guide? GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab) and Viator (opens in a new tab) list private tours that meet you at the airport. In November 2026 Viator listed a 4-hour layover tour with airport pickup from about US$161. With an hour to get through immigration and 90 minutes at the airport afterwards, a 4-hour tour needs about a 6.5-hour layover; check the operator’s own minimum before you book.
Watch the calendar
- Every day. Every sight in our plans opens daily, with no weekly closing day.
- Dress. The Grand Palace doesn’t let in sleeveless tops, shorts, short skirts and tight or torn trousers, and Wat Pho asks for no shorts. Cover your shoulders and knees for every temple, and wear shoes you can slip off.
- Heat. Bangkok is hot by day all year, and the walks between stations and temples are in the sun. See the temples in the morning, carry water, and don’t cut the walk back to the station fine.
- Royal ceremonies. The Grand Palace can close for royal ceremonies, announced on its schedules page at royalgrandpalace.th, so check it the day before.
- Public holidays. Monday 7 and Thursday 10 December 2026, 31 December and 1 January, and Songkran, 13 to 15 April 2027, when the streets fill with water-throwing. No change to the trains’ or sights’ hours is published for them.
- “Closed today.” If a stranger near the Palace or a temple tells you it’s closed today and offers a tuk-tuk somewhere else, walk on to the entrance and see for yourself. Jim Thompson House warns that claims it closes for half a day on holidays are a scam.
Timed plans from 6.5 to 24 hours, including Chinatown, the Grand Palace and a plan for night arrivals: itineraries.
Transit tour
Layover tours from Bangkok
Private tours that meet you at Suvarnabhumi and bring you back, for a first visit with a guide who knows the temples' dress rules and the traffic. Check each tour's minimum layover before you book.
See tours on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)See tours on Viator (opens in a new tab)
Head back
Be back at Suvarnabhumi 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Time. Leave Phaya Thai 2.5 hours before your flight: that covers the walk to the platform, the wait, the ride and 90 minutes at the airport. From Sanam Chai, for Wat Pho and the Grand Palace, leave 2 hours 55 minutes before, and from Hua Lamphong, for Chinatown, 2 hours 50. That makes 6.5 hours the realistic minimum, with about 2 hours in town; 8 hours gives about 3.5.
- Why 90 minutes is enough. With your boarding pass already issued and no bag to drop, you only need departure immigration and security. The airport’s advice to arrive 3 hours early is for checking in from scratch. On separate tickets you check in again, so allow longer.
- Come back by train. The Airport Rail Link and the MRT run clear of the traffic. A taxi back takes 45 to 60 minutes, and up to 90 in the rush (our estimate), so if you take one, leave 30 to 45 minutes earlier. If trains are running only every 30 minutes, leave 15 minutes earlier.
- Late at night. The Link stops at midnight and publishes no last-train time, so board at Phaya Thai by 11:30pm, or leave Sanam Chai by 10:15pm for the change at Makkasan. That only matters for a flight after about 2am. Later, a taxi or Grab takes about 45 minutes with no traffic.
Time in town at each layover length: how much time you’ll have.
Departures
Best for your layoverStaying at the airport instead: you can rest past security without passing immigration, in a room by the hour or a lounge.
- Miracle Transit Hotel. In the transit area on level 3 of Concourse A, open 24 hours. Rooms with their own shower are sold for 6 to 12 hours, and smaller rooms with a shared bathroom for 4 hours. Its rates are on its own website.
- Miracle Lounge. Pay-in lounges in several concourses and SAT-1, open 24 hours, with separate showers for men and women: 2 hours for THB 1,500 in a business-class lounge or THB 1,800 in a first-class one, less if booked ahead in the SAWASDEE by AOT app (seen November 2026).
- SAT-1. Benches with USB ports, and meditation and prayer rooms, in the satellite terminal.
Rooms, lounges, showers and left luggage: at the airport.
Day room
Miracle Transit Hotel
Rooms by the hour in the transit area of Concourse A, open 24 hours, so you can sleep and shower without passing immigration. Rooms with their own shower are sold for 6 to 12 hours.