Thailand forum

Hi Peter,

Assuming you're staying in one of the main tourist areas, there is no reason whatsoever to stay at the airport -- particularly if you know where you're staying. Grab a taxi (from the metered taxi kiosk outside the arrival area) and head straight into Bangkok.

>if you do go for a taxi, go upstairs to arrivals and get it from there - >saves you 50B

Often taxis will NOT take you if you try this. The drivers will get fined by airport security if they are seen doing this. It's only a 50 baht surcharge (about USD$1.25).

Taxis run 24 hours/day here. There's no need to stay at the airport. There's also less traffic at night.

Peter,

I'd recommend heading into the city. There is less traffic, making it easier to get into town. You might want to have your place to sleep all sorted, and make sure they know you'll be arriving late, just to be safe.

It sounds like you are travelling from the states, arriving late at night via the United or Northwest flight from Tokyo. I've travelled this routed many times, arriving at the taxi queue after midnight, and had no problem getting a taxi. It should cost less than 300 baht to get into the city, even with the 50 baht surcharge. Traffic is much less that time of night, so you won't likely need to take the tollways. There is also the airport bus, with three routes into the city. According to their website, they run until 12:30 am. It costs about 100 baht per person.

It is possible to grab an outbound taxi upstairs in the departure area, but the advantage of taking the taxi from the queue downstairs in the arrivals area is that you'll get a receipt with the taxi number on it, giving the driver significantly more risk if he/she tries to pull a fast one. Hope this helps.