An Introduction to Suvarnabhumi Airport Hopefully while on the plane you will have been given an immigration form to fill in. If no form was available on board there will be people with forms as you come off the flight. This is a two part form with an arrival  and departure portion. You must complete both parts, this is your arrival Visa and departure form, your visa number is on the form. Just make sure both parts have the same number. Be sure to carry a pen and the address of your hotel, which is required on the form.

After the doors have opened on your plane and you arrive at the Immigration counter you will need your passport, the form, and your boarding passand your return or onward flight ticket. When you get to the front of the queue, which can take anything from 3 - 40 minutes, stand on the marks indicated. Your photo will be taken, and you should get through Immigration in about 2 - 3 minutes. Check to make sure you have the exit half of your form clipped into your passport and the visa stamp is ok.

The immigration lets directly to the baggage claim area check your belt number on a big screen or remember the belt number from the announcement you may have heard as you walk from the plane to Immigration.

There are two gates to exit the baggage area, goods to declare and nothing to declare. As you get out of the customs area turning left will take you past limo car hire places and some money changers. Change some money. The exchange rates are almost the same all over.

If someone is meeting you, go upstairs to level three from the arrivals area (arrivals is on level 2).  There is a specificed meeting area in the exact middle of this floor - signs indicate it as a meeting area.  Download a PDF map of the airport which details the entire ariport and specifically the arrivals area.

If you plan to take a metered taxi, ask for small notes for your taxi when you exchange currency. The exchange booths are familiar with the request, will do so willingly and give you a good supply of small bills.  Many taxi drivers either do no have small change, or will tell you they don't hoping you will let them keep a large note/bill to avoid a problem or delay.

DO NOT use the offered LIMO/Taxi services offered by the Touts, who swarm around you once you leave the secured area, as they will rip you off. The arrivals hall is very crowded, it is almost as though they forgot about it when they designed the airport as it is very small and nornally packed with meeters and greeters.

After you have your Thai Baht continue to the arrivals hall exit and join the queue for a taxi outside the building. The taxis and buses leave from the same floor as you arrive. There is a kiosk where you tell staff which hotel/where you want to go and you get a piece of paper with the Taxi number. Keep the paper in case of problems. Tell the driver to take the toll/express way, you will need to give the driver 65 Baht for the Tolls. There is also a 50 baht service charge, notice of this is stamped on the form. If possible get the name of the hotel you are going to in Thai as whilst they have a large list of places not everything is on there and English is not spoken well. There are buses as well but these might involve quite a wait. they do not take you directly to your hotel but to the general area.

Most hotels in the Sukhumvit, Silom area should cost you about 200 - 250 Baht on the meter + 50 Baht airport tax for the taxi and should take about 30-60 minutes depending on the day and time of day.

Departing is even easier.

Get your taxi from your hotel to the airport. Plan to arrive about 2 hours early for domestic and 3 hours for international flights(This is the airlines recommendations).  The Taxi should take about 40 - 60 minutes and cost about 250 Baht from most downtown hotels.

If you have leftover Thai Baht, you can spend it before entering passport control at the Family Mart convenience store on Level 4(one level below departures). Prices are actually the same as in the city, which is a real deal compared to the other stores in the airport. Great place for delayed travellers to grab a snack. Remember that no liquids are allowed past security checkpoints.

If you have bought some major items that cost over 5000 Baht and you obtained a VAT refund for tourists, you should get your paperwork stamped by customs before checking in and you should aim at carrying the items in your hand baggage, especially jewelry, as it may need to be checked after you pass through passport control.

Pass through Immigration and Passport Control There is no tax to pay now as it is included in the ticket price..

After Passport Control collect your VAT refund from the VAT refund office.

Many of the gates can take a good walk to reach so it is a good idea to get there before the boarding time on your ticket.

Bangkok Departures has all the usual duty free, bars, coffee/book shops that are found in most international airports. Direction signs are well placed and directions are easy to follow.

Once you leave the main area there is nothing after the security check except the gate.

Enjoy your trip