Krabi Airport – all you need to know

Krabi Airport is located on the main highway Route 4, approximately 9km from Krabi Town centre; 27km from Ao Nang Beach and 70km from Koh Lanta. There are fast and easy transport connections from the airport to anywhere in the province.
Krabi Airport GPS coordinates: N 8.097003, E 98.978398.

Krabi Airport transfers

How to get to and from Krabi Airport? No unauthorised taxis or public transport are allowed inside the grounds of Krabi Airport, so your only options to leave the airport are to rent a car and drive yourself; pre-arrange an airport pick-up (through your hotel, or a transport agent such as us), or use one of the airport’s authorised transfer services.

Krabi Airport car rental

International firms such as National, Avis, Hertz, Sixt and Budget have booths in the arrival hall of both terminal buildings. You can pre-book online for better rates – Google the names provided + Thailand. If your driving license is in English, generally you will not also need an International Driving Permit, but it can be useful to have in case of any encounters with the law or insurance claims.

Krabi Airport Bus

The official Krabi Airport Bus

There is one official airport bus service, serving destinations in Ao Nang and Krabi Town only. Prices are 100 baht (Krabi Town) – 150 baht (Ao Nang) per person; buses leave 10 – 12 times daily between 8am – 8pm (approximately), or when there are enough passengers to fill them. There is no standard route: you tell the driver where you are going and they will stop either in front or very close by. This is useful in terms of not having to carry luggage great distances, but it does mean journey times can be long – especially if your hotel is at the end of the route that day.

Bus tickets can be bought from the booths in the arrival hall – all counters sell tickets for the same bus.

Krabi Airport taxis

All of the airport taxis offer pre-paid, fixed rate fares only; you must buy a coupon from one of the booths inside the terminals before finding a driver outside.
We had also recently had reports of a few metered taxis making an appearance in the airport, taking up to 3 passengers each. This being Thailand, they normally don’t use the meter, but charge a flat 500 baht, which is still 100 baht cheaper than the airport taxis, so if you can find one, take it. They normally park outside the main terminal building.

Otherwise, here are the current (2017-18) rates for the authorised taxis. Prices are the same, regardless of where in the specified area your hotel is located. The first price is for a car (up to 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children); the second is for a minivan (up to 8 adults).

From Krabi Airport to:
Hotels in the Krabi Town area or Ferry Pier: 350 / 600 baht – 15-20 minutes
Hotels in the Ao Nang area: 600 / 1050 baht – 30 minutes
Hotels in the Klong Muang area: 700 / 1100 baht – 40 minutes
Hotels in the Tubkaek area: 800 / 1200 baht – 45 minutes
Hotels in Ao Thalane area: 900 / 1300 baht – 50 minutes
Hotels in Had Yao: 600 / 1050 baht – 25 minutes
Hotels in Koh Lanta: 2500 / 3000 baht – up to 2 hours, including car ferry fees

Pre-paid airport transfers

It is possible to book a pre-paid airport transfer service to and from your hotel. There are independent taxi firms online, or you can contact your hotel to arrange a pick-up. With the exception of big hotels, prices are usually the same or less than the regular airport taxis, so you may wish to use this service to avoid queues during busy periods.

A minivan will take a maximum of 8 adults and cars up to 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 small children (to allow for safe luggage storage). For less than 4 passengers, it may be more economical to take the airport bus.

If you are travelling to Railay Beach, or Ton Sai Beach, and are arriving after 6pm, it is highly advisable to pre-book your hotel’s own transfer service (car + boat), as boats can be infrequent in the evening. Prices for this service are in the range of 1250 – 1500 baht per one-way journey, depending on your arrival / departure time (more during the hours of darkness), and it should be booked directly with the hotel. During the day, it is relatively easy to do the same journey independently, taking a taxi or bus to the pier in Ao Nang and then the longtail boat service on to Railay.

Getting back to the airport

Airport transfers can be arranged through your hotel, pre-booked, or you can take a taxi. Average journey time from Krabi Town, Ao Nang and Klong Muang is 20, 30 and 45 minutes respectively.

The airport bus also picks people up on its way back to the airport, though please note the journey time is almost 1.5 hours from Ao Nang (30 mins from Krabi Town) and service times can vary so you should allow plenty of time. The first bus in the morning departs Ao Nang, picking up along the beach road, at 6am, and reaches Krabi Town by 7am. They run approximately every hour following that up until around 8 or 9pm (again, this information should not be relied upon, as the Krabi Airport buses are a law unto themselves!).

From Ko Lanta allow a minimum of 3 hours, due to possible ferry delays. Join-in minibus transfers (bookable in local tour agents) are cheaper than private transfers; however bear in mind you will have to leave earlier to pick everyone up. As Krabi Airport is so small (and has so little to do when there), there is rarely any need to arrive more than 1.5 hours ahead of departure for an international flight or 1 hour prior to a domestic flight.

Krabi Airport Flight Schedules

For information on current flight schedules to and from Krabi Airport, please see our Getting to Krabi page.
Real time flight information can be found on the official Krabi Airport page: https://minisite.airports.go.th/home.php?site=krabi

Krabi Airport layout and services

Thai Airways flight outside Krabi Airport's international terminal

The international terminal at Krabi Airport

There are two separate passenger terminal buildings in Krabi International Airport, domestic and international. As the site is very small (you can see the runway from the car park), it is easy to walk from one to the other if necessary – they are less than 100m apart. Although there are less than 30 flights a day between the two terminals, you can still have queues for check in and security at peak times (there is one security lane per terminal). We recommend arriving not later than 1.5 hours before an international flight or 1 hour before a domestic flight.

Services at Krabi Airport are very basic. The international terminal (Terminal 1) has three floors:

Ground floor: international arrivals
Here you will find a Subway and Dairy Queen; a small coffee shop; a money exchange booth (open from 8am until the arrival of the last flight of the day); a couple of ATM machines; an airport information desk; hotel and tour reservation counters; car rental desks; the taxi and airport bus ticket booths. There is also a left luggage counter next to the entrance / exit.

First floor: international departures
Here you will find the check in desks for Thai Airways and Air Asia (both domestic and international flights), as well as all other international airlines. Any international passengers will need to go through immigration and security checks from this floor. You will also find the walkway to Terminal 2 (domestic departures).
Most airline offices are located here, along with some overpriced souvenir booths, a small coffee shop and some ATM machines.

Second floor: airport offices
The top floor houses the airport offices, a prayer room, the “Yellow Orchid” Thai Airways restaurant, and the Thai Airways (Star Alliance) Royal Silk lounge.

All floors of the terminal building are connected by escalator and lift (wheelchair friendly).

The domestic terminal (Terminal 2) is a smaller, recently-refurbished building located right next to the international terminal. Check in desks for Bangkok Airways (all flights), Nok Air and Thai Lion Air are located here. It has similar facilities to the international terminal (ATM, coffee shop, souvenirs), but all on one floor. Passengers flying within the country with Air Asia or Thai Airways (with no international connection) will need walk to the departure gate here after check in at Terminal 1; conversely passengers on a Bangkok Airways international or connecting flight will need to walk to departures in Terminal 1 after check in to clear immigration.

Once inside the departure lounge (which is less than 20 metres walk from check in – both terminals feed into the same lounge), there is even less in the way of shopping and other facilities (a Black Canyon Coffee, a snack booth, two tiny shops selling overpriced books and souvenirs), so make sure you have everything you need before passing through the departure gate. There is currently no duty free for international passengers at Krabi Airport.

Krabi Airport – Tips

There are no massage / spa services or shower rooms open to the general public in Krabi Airport. Western toilet facilities are plentiful and generally clean.

Authentic Thai food can be found at a small restaurant located outside the international terminal building (exit on the ground floor and turn left). Catering primarily for the airport staff and taxi drivers, the food is Halal and made and priced for local tastes, though it is possible to ask for non-spicy dishes.

If booking accommodation on arrival at the airport, always have an idea of the usual prices in advance to avoid being ripped off.

Bank counter exchange rates (available in Ao Nang and Krabi Town) will be better than that at the money exchange booth at the airport.

SIM cards are widely available in any convenience store (7-Eleven or Family Mart), again for much cheaper rates than at the airport (starting from 50 THB). 100 THB top up should cover light data usage and local calls for 3 – 4 days. All SIM cards need to be registered, so they will require your passport before any sale.