Thailand - Landing in BKK at 10pm, departing to CNX in the morning...

I'm taking my GF to Thailand in November SFO BKK via HKG (thanks to BA Avios flying on CX F).

We land around 10pm and intend to go to Chiang Mai on a Thai Airways flight around 9am. I feel like my only option is to stay in a hotel near the airport and waste a night in Thailand. I've heard traffic can be a nightmare, so going into BKK proper seems like a waste for just an overnight stay.

Am I missing any other viable options?

There's a bunch of nearby hotels to bkk with shuttle services to and from the airport. Just Google bkk airport hotels...

I would not recommend Novotel BKK airport hotel. Shuttle schedule is erratic and sometimes you'd have to wait 20-25 minutes to be taken to the hotel. And room rate can be ridiculously high.

If you really want to get to your hotel ASAP, I'd cab it. During political unrest, I stayed at Best Western Premier Amaranth, about 10-15 minute drive from BKK. Nothing fancy, but good enough for late arrival/morning departure. They have shuttle too, but I only took the one from hotel to BKK.

At 10PM, traffic to BKK shouldn't be bad at all. I went once from BKK to Sukhumvit Soi 11 at 3PM on a Sunday and it took me 20 minutes and THB250. Going to BKK at 7AM shouldn't be a problem either with traffic.

I'm taking my GF to Thailand in November SFO BKK via HKG (thanks to BA Avios flying on CX F).

We land around 10pm and intend to go to Chiang Mai on a Thai Airways flight around 9am. I feel like my only option is to stay in a hotel near the airport and waste a night in Thailand. I've heard traffic can be a nightmare, so going into BKK proper seems like a waste for just an overnight stay.

Am I missing any other viable options?

At 10PM you can often get into town via street grade with the same ease as the tollway; there's really little traffic at that time. In the morning most traffic is coming into the city and heading to the airport isn't that bad.

However I'd expect you to be worn down after long haul and taking the time to get into town might not be in your best interest. That really depends upon how you deal with travel.

If you expect to arrive awake with jet lag and hungry then by all means head into town and get food. While there are multitudes of hotels near the airport you won't find alot of food and many of them are not in a convenient location for walking to the sparse food collection that exists.

Assuming you'd be awake, taking a trip into Bangkok is well worth it since it sounds like you've never been.

There's a lot of night markets and activities, and you could also grab a drink at the Banyan Tree or State Tower rooftop bars.

Agree w/ other posters, traffic at 10pm from the airport won't be bad. Also, if you need to be back at the airport early, u can beat the morning rush since you're going in the opposite direction as everyone else. Taxi should cost right around under 300 baht depending where you're going.

But if you're worried about traffic in the morning, there's also a new airport express train to skip the traffic. You could find a hotel near one of the stations.

http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/en/



I'm taking my GF to Thailand in November SFO BKK via HKG (thanks to BA Avios flying on CX F).

We land around 10pm and intend to go to Chiang Mai on a Thai Airways flight around 9am. I feel like my only option is to stay in a hotel near the airport and waste a night in Thailand. I've heard traffic can be a nightmare, so going into BKK proper seems like a waste for just an overnight stay.

Am I missing any other viable options?

But if you're worried about traffic in the morning, there's also a new airport express train to skip the traffic. You could find a hotel near one of the stations.

http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/en/


I was just going to suggest same, and then thought： train to city after First Class ?

BUT, if you take Express Train and not crowded City Line, you may have a whole car practically to yourself　:)　

EmailKid

I would stay in town , find a place off the Airport line then you can get back quicker ,

There will not be much traffic at 10pm but lots of traffic in the morning,

if you have the energy see some of Bangkok ,

Soarer

While people boast about speedy trips from/to the airport, the net is that you'll be lucky to get into a hotel room in the City much before midnight, and might well be advised to step into a taxi to the airport by 7 AM. As long as you are comfortable with those times, and feel you can explore the City during that time period, then go for it.

While people boast about speedy trips from/to the airport, the net is that you'll be lucky to get into a hotel room in the City much before midnight.....

My recent, and long term, experience is otherwise.

I'm typically arriving 9/9:30PM and I'm at my hotel, near the river, on average, in 75 minutes from walking off the plane.

The variables include immigration, bags, customs and traffic once off the tollway, but 2 hours from plane to hotel for a 10PM arrival is a worst case scenario.