If you will be arriving at one of Bangkok Airports (BKK or DMK) and will be looking for a shuttle bus from traveling to city center, you might notice the counter of Airport Limobus Express. There are several things you should know about this Bangkok Airport Shuttle Bus.
Airport Limobus Express
Airport Limobus Express is connecting Bangkok City and its airports – Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and Don Mueang Airport (DMK). There shuttle bus routes from both Bangkok’s Airports to popular touristy areas such as Khao San Road, Phaya Thai and Silom. Free Wi-Fi and luggage space is provided on the air-conditioned bus.
However, it’s not as convenient and high quality service as you would expect when seeing the name “Limo”. Actually it’s far from that.
Airport Limobus Routes
Airport Limobus Express is operating from both airports in Bangkok that are quite far away. Shuttle bus brings passengers to the central part of the city.
Routes from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
There are 2 Limobus routes departing from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK):
- Suvarnabhumi Airport – Phaya Thai BTS Station – Khao San Road
- Suvarnabhumi Airport – Silom MRT Station / Sala Daeng BTS Station – Siam BTS Station
Normally the bus just drops you off at one of BTS SkyTrain or MRT Metro stations unless your hotel is right on the road that is passed by the bus. So in most cases you still need to take public transportation for reaching your hotel.
Using Bangkok Airport shuttle bus service makes sense very rarely as you can easily reach the center of Bangkok by public transport that connects Suvarnabhumi Airport and city's touristy areas. Your other options for getting to Bangkok City are listed below.
For reaching Phaya Thai you can just take Airport Rail Link Train from the airport to the last station. It will cost you only 45 THB.
Getting to Khao San Road might sound more complicated but in reality it’s not as you can board S1 Bus that goes all the way from the airport to the most famous backpackers’ district in Bangkok.
Silom and Siam can be easily reached by a combination of Airport Rail Link and BTS SkyTrain or MRT Metro. You will only need to change trains once - at Phaya Thai station when continuing trip by BTS or at Makkasan Station if changing to MRT.
Routes from Don Mueang Airport (DMK)
There are 2 Limobus routes departing from Don Mueang Airport (DMK):
- Don Mueang Airport – Khao San Road - Phaya Thai BTS Station
- Don Mueang Airport – Silom MRT Station / Sala Daeng BTS Station – National Stadium BTS Station and Pratunam (optional)
There are plenty of problems with these routes that make passengers to desire much more of this shuttle bus service.
One thing is the planning of the route to Khao San Road. On the way to Khao San Road, shuttle bus passes Phaya Thai BTS Station but it doesn’t stop there as the route leads to Khao San Road first and only then the bus goes back to Phaya Thai. Expect to waste lots of time if you are going to Phaya Thai BTS Station. If the traffic will get harsh, it can take you even more than 3 hours to get there.
We would recommend using public transportation instead of using Limobus as public bus routes offered at DMK Airport are much more reliable than shuttle bus service. For getting into the central part of Bangkok from Don Mueang Airport you should do the following:
- Take Bus A1 or Bus A2 to Mo Chit BTS Station and continue your trip to Phaya Thai or any other location in the city by BTS SkyTrain.
- If you are going to Khao San Road, take Bus A4 and leave from the airport on time while paying only one third of Limobus price.
If you fancy taking Limobus to Silom or Pratunam, avoid it at any cost. Even if Limobus is supposed to have 2 routes, in most cases they put all passengers on the same bus and first send passengers to Khao San Road and only then the bus goes to Silom. As traffic in Bangkok Center is jammed very often, you might easily waste few hours before reaching Silom. There are much better public transportation options for this route:
- For getting to Silom from Don Mueang Airport, take Bus A1 or Bus A2 to Mo Chit BTS Station and continue your trip by BTS SkyTrain to Sala Daeng Station.
- For getting to Pratunam, take DMK Airport’s Bus A3 which goes there directly.
Bangkok Airport Limobus Timetable
Limobus from Suvarnabhumi Airport
Limobus departs from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Khao San Road and Silom daily, from 8:00 to 23:00.
Buses are scheduled to depart every 20-30 minutes but in reality they only leave once they are full and you might easily need to wait for at least an hour for the next bus to fill up.
The trip from the airport to the center of Bangkok should take 45-60 minutes but expect the bus to be late, especially if your stop is not the first one on the route.
Limobus from Don Mueang Airport
Limobus departs from Don Mueang Airport to Khao San Road and Silom daily, from 9:00 to midnight.
Once again, the buses are scheduled to depart every 20-30 minutes but normally you might need to wait an hour or even more for your bus to depart.
The trip from DMK Airport to Bangkok City Center should take about 45-60 minutes but only Khao San Road might be reached on time. For getting to other destinations you might easily waste one or two hours more than that.
Limobus from Bangkok City
Bangkok Airport shuttle buses depart from the central part of the city to both airports from 10:30 to midnight. Departures are scheduled every 20-30 minutes but normally the buses leave for airport far less frequently.
Limobus Ticket Price
Limobus from Suvarnabhumi Airport costs 180 THB per person.
Limobus from Don Mueang Airport costs 150 THB per person.
If you don’t mind paying a bit more, take a taxi or book private transfer from the airport to Bangkok as it will be much faster. For budget minded travelers, Bangkok public transportation has plenty of cheaper options to offer when connecting between Bangkok Airports and city center.
Limobus at BKK Airport
Limobus counter at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) can be found at Gate 8 on Level 1, where counters of buses departing from the airport to beach destinations can be found.
Limobus at DMK Airport
Limobus counters at Don Mueang Airport (DMK) can be found at both terminals, International and Domestic:
- at Gate 7 on Level 1 of Terminal 1 (International Terminal)
- at Gate 14 on Level 1 of Terminal 2 (Domestic Terminal)
However, during our last visit, Limobus counter at International Terminal was closed and redirected customers to Domestic Terminal.
