For some of you, this may be the first time arriving at an airport outside of the US. For others, this may be old hat. Regardless, it’s nice to know exactly what to expect when you arrive at a very large international airport. So here is a rundown of how to navigate Suvarnabhumi International Airport outside of Bangkok.

Right after you land

After you deplane, simply follow the signs to Immigration/baggage claim. You do not need a visa on arrival, and you won’t need a health check, so ignore those. There might be multiple directions towards immigration (as the above sign shows), but it really doesn’t matter which one you go to.

Much of this depends on what arrival gate you deplane at, but it might be a LONG walk. If you’re tired, use the moving sidewalks. Remember, proper etiquette on moving sidewalks and escalators is that if you’re just gonna stand and not walk, stand to the right to allow walkers to pass.

There is a new satellite terminal, so you may have to get on a shuttle train to get to the main terminal. This is pretty new, and I don’t have any experience with it, so just follow the signs to immigration. It all depends on the gate you arrive at.

This may be a good time to connect with the free airport wifi, especially if you don’t have an international plan and need to make contact with your trip mates and arrange to meet. Make sure you connect to the official wifi network, and not some random one. There are a lot of fake wifi networks that can be dangerous to connect to. The official wifi network SSID is named “AOT Airport Free Wi-Fi by NT”.

One last note: make sure you keep the boarding pass for your flight, particularly the last one for the flight into BKK. They may ask for it in immigration.

Immigration

Finally, after a long walk, you’ve made it to immigration. New this year is the use of the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (which you all should have a hard copy of), which means there are no forms to fill out on the plane or at immigration. If you don’t have your Thailand Digital Arrival Card, don’t panic, they’ll have kiosks before immigration so you can fill them out there. But it’ll be a lot quicker if you print one out and have it ready.

You just need a passport and the print out of the arrival card. Go to the lines for foreigners, and when it’s your turn, step on the tape (where it says stand here) and give the immigration officer your passport and your arrival card. They’ll collect fingerprints and take a photo (they’ll probably ask you to take your glasses off if you wear them). Most likely, they’ll stamp your passport and you’re good to go.

On very rare occasions, the immigration officer may ask you some questions. This is typically a random check that all immigration officers must do. I’ve never had an immigration officer even acknowledge my existence outside of my passport, much less talk to me, but it can happen. The most likely questions they’ll ask are about the purpose of your trip (always say holiday or vacation, never say work or education, because they require special visas) and where you’re staying (Holiday Inn Sukhumvit, Bangkok). On very very rare occasions, they may ask to show them your return ticket (to assure you’re leaving before your 60 allowable stay expires), a hotel reservation for the first night, or proof of income (bank account). But again, this very rarely happens.

This is always good advice whenever you go through immigration and customs, in any country, even your own: be on your best behavior. Be polite, cooperative, calm, and smile. Immigration officers in most countries have shockingly broad leeway in choosing who to question further, so being angry, loud, obnoxious, or otherwise bringing attention to yourself is not going to help. Don’t give a reason for an immigration officer to select you for secondary questioning.

Baggage Claim

After immigration, you’ll exit into the massive baggage claim area. Check to see which carousel your flight is assigned to, and collect your luggage. You can use the free luggage carts if you want to. You’re welcome to use the ATMs that are in this area if you want, or you can wait until later, it’s up to you.

If you have issues with luggage, there are booths for each airline where you can report lost or delayed luggage here.

Customs

The final step in the process of legally entering a foreign country is customs, which is separate from immigration. Immigration deals with the flow of people through a sovereign country, and customs deals with the flow of goods and items through a country. At the airport, customs monitors passengers to determine whether they are bringing in items for personal use while in the country, bringing in items for sale, or bringing in prohibited items. For most passengers, this isn’t a big deal. Simply walk through the line labeled “Nothing to Declare”, and chances are, you’ll walk past the customs officers and into the arrivals area, and you’ve successfully and legally entered another country.

Occasionally, customs officers will randomly stop a traveler walking through the “Nothing to Declare” area to do a quick x-ray check of their baggage. If you are stopped, don’t worry, be polite and calm, and simply allow the officers to check your bags. On very rare occasions, they will ask to open up the bag to manually check the contents. Again, stay polite and calm; this is just routine and they will allow you to proceed into the arrivals area.

Arrivals

After you walk through customs, you’ll be greeted by the somewhat chaotic arrivals section. Congratulations, you are now legally in the Kingdom of Thailand! The arrival section is where you can arrange for ground transportation, get a SIM card for your phone, get a bite to eat, or get money either at an exchange or an ATM card. We’ll have opportunities to get cash and a SIM card when we get into Bangkok, but you’re welcome to do it here if you want. As for ground transportation, there are several options: traditional taxis, Grab (the Thai equivalent to Uber or Lyft), the light rail airport link, or a bus/van/limousine service. If this is your first time to Thailand, I suggest using a limousine service like AOT, the official limousine service for the airport. Go to one of the several AOT booths in the arrivals section, given them the address for the hotel (you should have them on your hotel reservation form), pay them, and they’ll get you to the hotel.

And that’s it, you’ve made it to Thailand!!

Additional links

Here are a few good videos and links outlining the arrivals process at the airport:

Official Suvarnabhumi Airport Arrivals Procedures Page