Sukhothai Airport

Updated 28th Aug 2026

Sukhothai Airport (THS) was privately built and is privately owned. Bangkok Airways developed it, owns it and operates it, and it is not one of the airports Airports of Thailand (AOT) runs. The airport sits across the Tha Thong, Khlong Krachong and Yan Yao subdistricts of Sawankhalok District, in Sukhothai Province.

Bangkok Airways groups it with Koh Samui and Trat as its boutique airports. That is the airline's label for the three airports it owns, not a description of this terminal, and the airline's own description of Sukhothai is a standard commercial airport. One airline serves it, on one route.

Who owns and runs Sukhothai Airport

Bangkok Airways owns the airport and operates it, and is named as the developer both on its own corporate site and on the airport's own about page. The airline's travel blog describes Sukhothai in the first person, as an airport it owns.

When the airport opened, and what flew from it

The airport opened on 12 April 1996, after construction began in 1992, and its original service was a Bangkok to Sukhothai to Chiang Mai routing flown by ATR 72 aircraft carrying up to 70 passengers. Bangkok's airport at that point was Don Mueang: Suvarnabhumi, which the Bangkok service uses now, did not open until 2006.

International flights have run from here in the past, linking Bangkok and Sukhothai with Luang Prabang in Laos, and on a separate Luang Prabang to Sukhothai service. The airport is still designated a Customs Airport for scheduled commercial services, but the published route listings for it name only the Bangkok route.

The terminal is described as an open plan drawing on Sukhothai architecture, an account from Wikipedia and not from the operator.

Where you can fly from Sukhothai Airport

Bangkok Airways is the only airline serving the airport, and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is the only place it flies to from here. The airline puts the flight at about 1 hour 20 minutes. This site holds schedule pages for both directions, Bangkok to Sukhothai and Sukhothai to Bangkok.

The museum and organic farm inside the airport

Wikipedia's entry describes a privately owned museum within the airport complex, in three parts: a fossil museum, an elephant museum and a petrified wood museum, with dinosaur fossils and a meteorite among the collection. The same entry also describes Buddha images in a range of artistic styles and a shrine to Phra Phrom.

The organic farm appears on the operator's own pages as well. Krua Sukhothai, the restaurant at the airport, is described on the airport's dining page as organic-style, with most of its produce grown in the airport's own farming project. Wikipedia puts the farm at 600 rai, grown from a three rai rice field started in 1999, and supplying the airline as well as the airport.

Facilities at Sukhothai Airport

Eating and drinking

The operator's dining list names three places. Krua Sukhothai, the organic-style restaurant fed by the farm, opens 08:00 to 17:00; Krua Lan Bin, with an organic menu it describes as free of monosodium glutamate (MSG), opens 08:00 to 16:00; and a Coffee Bar in front of the Arrival Terminal, serving coffee, tea and light snacks, opens 07:00 to 17:00.

Checking in, bags and Wi-Fi

On its passenger information page the operator asks passengers to arrive between one and two hours ahead, and says check-in counters close 40 minutes before scheduled departure. A national identity card, a passport or a driving licence is accepted as identification.

Free Wi-Fi is available, with the access code issued at a service point inside the Departure Lounge after you have scanned your boarding pass.

The Passenger Information Counter and the Baggage Claim area are both in the Arrival Terminal. Lost or damaged baggage, though, is dealt with at the airline's own check-in counter in the Departure Terminal, not at a desk in arrivals. Bangkok Airways also keeps an office at the airport, open 07:00 to 17:30 every day.

Getting to and from Sukhothai Airport

The airport's own site does not cover ground transport on its home, about, passenger information, dining or contact pages. What follows comes from third-party listings, not from the operator, so settle the onward leg before you land.

Where the airport is, and the distance to Sukhothai Historical Park

The airport is in Sawankhalok District, and published distances between it and Sukhothai Historical Park do not agree with one another. Sukhothai itself, the Historical Park included, is covered in the Sukhothai destination guide.

Taxis

Third-party accounts describe taxis waiting at the terminal exit, and say that not every one runs on a meter, so agree the price before you get in.

Hire cars

A car hire booking network lists a meet-and-greet here, with a representative meeting arrivals in the arrival hall, daily 06:00 to 19:00. The same listing puts its pickup point 2 km from the airport, which does not agree with meeting you inside it. That listing is the booking network's own, not the airport's and not the rental firm's.