After a day of relaxing at the beach we returned to Chanthaburi and need to return to London from Bangkok.
There are many buses from Chanthaburi to different Bangkok bus stations, but we managed to take a minibus to near Suvarnabhumi Airport where we were to stay a night.
The following is an introduction to the journey from Chanthaburi to Bangkok by minibus to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Travel from Chanthaburi to Bangkok
We will be flying from Bangkok to London on the 19 January flight. As the flight is early in the morning on that day, we decided to stay at a hotel near Suvarnabhumi Airport the night before.
So we wanted to travel from Chanthaburi to Bangkok, preferably near Suvarnabhumi Airport.
There are many buses to Bangkok from Chanthaburi bus terminal. Note that the buses differ depending on which bus terminal in Bangkok you are going to.
We were told that there was a bus to Suvarnabhumi Airport and decided to take it.
Bus from Chanthaburi to Suvarnabhumi Airport
The day before, we went to Chanthaburi Bus Terminal to check the time. A female staff member was sitting in front of the counter and when we asked her about the buses to the airport, she pointed to the timetable above.
She told us that this was the minibus timetable to Suvarnabhumi Airport, and that only buses marked with an asterisk (*) were operating from Corona times onwards. The fare is 220 baht per person.
The buses to the airport are minibuses, which means they have a capacity of 22 passengers. They seem to have a little more space than minivans.
We didn’t have to book a ticket, we could just buy one on the day and get on, so we went straight back to the hotel that day.
Buying a bus ticket from Chanthaburi to Suvarnabhumi Airport
We went to the bus terminal at around 7am to buy a ticket to take the 8am bus the next morning. We were conveniently staying at a hotel next to the bus terminal.
There was no female staff yesterday, and when we asked the staff behind the counter, they pointed to the platform as if to say ‘the bus to the airport is that way’.
We walked over and found a counter like the one above, with the time 7.30am displayed.
The minibus to Suvarnabhumi Airport was already parked and we were told that the bus was leaving at 7.30am. So we rushed back to the hotel, checked out and left again.
We returned to the bus station with our luggage and reconfirmed that we were going to Suvarnabhumi Airport. When we tried to buy tickets, the man said it was 300 baht per person.
When I told him this was strange because we had been told it was 220 baht, he lost his temper. Strange …
Boarding the minibus from Chanthaburi to Suvarnabhumi Airport
We had heard that it took about four hours from Chanthaburi to the airport, so we wanted to get some food and only had five minutes before the bus was due to leave.
There is a 7-Eleven next to the bus terminal in Chanthaburi. Mai sat in the bus to get a seat and I went to 7-Eleven to buy breakfast.
When I came back, there was someone who seemed to be the original airport bus staff and asked if we wanted to go inside the airport or get off outside. Apparently, if you want to go inside the airport, it costs 300 baht per person, and if you want to get off outside, it costs 220 baht.
We wanted to get off at Lat Krabang, the nearest station to Suvarnabhumi Airport, so we told them that and paid 220 baht per person.
Bus journey from Chanthaburi to Bangkok
The bus departed on time at 7.30am. However, it stopped in front of the bus company’s office on the same bus terminal grounds and went through some formalities. The bus finally left the bus terminal at 7.40 am. Not bad.
We sat at the front of the bus, just behind the driver. There was space behind the driver for our luggage and we were able to put our backpacks there. Very comfortable.
The minibus drove very fast on the smooth road to Bangkok. There was a toilet break at a petrol station on the way and we were reminded to fasten our seatbelts at a checkpoint.
On a side note, almost all passengers other than us were wearing masks, but we were never warned for not wearing them. It’s all so random these days.
Arrival at Bangkok Lat Krabang
We did not want to go to Suvarnabhumi Airport, but to a hotel near the airport that we had booked.
The bus first went to Suvarnabhumi Airport, dropped off some passengers and then headed for the airport exit. After a few minutes the bus stopped at the roadside at Lat Krabang and we were able to get off.
The time was 11:35am. The journey took almost four hours. It was then a 25 minute walk to our hotel.
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