Previously at Don Muang, I had always used the taxi cues (in the heat, with the long lines). I never had a problem getting to my destination (typically somewhere on Sukhumvit).

At Suvarnabhumi, the few times I have passed through there, I have caught cabs at the departure level (that have just dropped off a passenger going to the airport, and are eager to avoid going around and entering a cue to pick up a new passenger.) The benefits of this method include typically no waiting, and no 50-baht fee to the dispatcher. I also have not had any problem with security/police for getting a taxi on the departuer level; I have done it in plain view of them.

The down-side of this (for me at least) has been that you don't receive a taxi complaint card from a dispatcher, with the taxi number recorded on it. And it seems in my limited experience at Suvarnabhumi, that some taxi drivers may be tuned into this point also. I have had a couple of rides where the driver took circuitous routings to pad the fare in getting me to my destination, and been reluctant to flag the meter, claiming it is a "flat fare" of 400 baht because it is out of the city.

In the first case, I came in on the New York flight and got into a cab at 6:30pm on a Friday night. I was going to Sukhumvit Soi 22. The driver asked "highway?" and I said "yes". After leaving the airport, I soon noted runways to my left, and knew he was going south, not west. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was catching "the highway". I told him Rama IX was the highway to take. He was going to catch the highway from Pattaya to Bangkok, and passes south of the airport. Through not understanding/playing dumb/being stuck in traffic, we continued on that route. Due to the backtracking required to get on the highway, we fully drove around 3/4 of Suvarnabhumi on this route, (from about 1 o'clock ccw to about 5 o'clock). We were stuck in big traffic, and it took 2:15 to get to Soi 22, a trip that should have been about 45 minutes. It also metered out to about 350 baht. I knew from previous experience that I could go between Suvarnabhumi and Soi 22 for about 185 baht on the meter.

I had the hotel clerk dispute it with the taxi driver, and he did not argue with my contentions . . . he knew he was busted! I was most angry about the long trip to the hotel, after a 17 hour flight to BKK.

The next time, I paid more attention to the exact route/highway to take beforehand. I was with my Thai girlfriend on this occasion. Again, the subject of route came up, but he was speaking in Thai with her. He was trying to persuade her to go a longer route, but I was firm about the route I wanted to go. She said something to him, and the chatter stopped and we proceded on my desired route. We arrived at Soi 22, and metered about 190 baht. She later told me what she said that ended the discussion with the taxi driver; On the debate of taking the route I wanted vs. what the driver was suggesting, she finally told him "he smart farang, you cannot fool him."

I believe both of these experiences would likely not have happened had I gone through the dispatcher at Suvarnabhumi. Maybe it won't happen every time you use the departure level to get a cab, and you will save 50 baht and maybe some time in a cue, but I would recommend that if you use the departure level, you pay attention, know the exact route you desire, and take note of the cab number. Have a pen and paper ready to jot down information.