Key points
- Send this as its own message so guests can copy it, show it to a driver, or paste it into a map.
- Grab is the ride app in Bangkok and the easiest option for most guests.
- Some guests prefer a metered taxi.
On this page
"How do we get to the apartment?" is the first message most Bangkok guests send after booking, and the one that comes back on arrival day from the back seat of a taxi. Bangkok has a few local wrinkles: drivers need the address in Thai, towers have several entrances, soi numbers confuse newcomers, and the airport has more options than guests expect. Get the reply right once and you will send it hundreds of times.
Below are the templates we use, with an invented building, "the Sukhumvit 24 tower", in place of a real one. Replace every line with your own facts.
The address block
Send this as its own message so guests can copy it, show it to a driver, or paste it into a map. Give it in English, then say the Thai version follows. Many drivers do not read English well, and a Thai address on the phone screen ends the conversation at the taxi window.
Our address The Sukhumvit 24 tower, Building B, 12th floor Soi Sukhumvit 24, Khlong Tan, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110 Google Maps pin: (your link) Nearest BTS: Phrom Phong, exit 6
Thai version for taxi drivers in the next message. Show it to the driver before you get in.
Then the Thai version as a separate message, text only, so it can be copied. Have it checked by a Thai speaker; a wrong character sends the driver to the wrong soi.
Grab pickup and drop-off
Grab is the ride app in Bangkok and the easiest option for most guests. What goes wrong: the drop-off pin on the wrong side of the building, and the driver waiting at a different gate.
Grab Download Grab before you land. For the drop-off, search our building name and choose the "Building B lobby" entrance, not the main road entrance. If the driver calls, say "Soi Sukhumvit yee-sip-see" (24) and show the Thai address. When leaving, the pickup point is the same lobby; the guard can help if the driver cannot find it.
For airports, add:
At both Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang there is a designated ride-hailing pickup area; the app shows the exact spot and the airport signs point to it. Expect to wait a few minutes at busy times.
Taxi from the airport
Some guests prefer a metered taxi.
Taxi At Suvarnabhumi, take the official taxi queue on level 1, where you get a ticket with a lane number. Ask the driver to use the meter. Tolls are paid by the passenger on top of the meter; the driver will ask at the booth. Show the Thai address before you leave. Journey time depends heavily on traffic.
Do not quote a fare. Traffic and tolls move it, and a guest who was told a number remembers it.
Airport rail link and BTS
For guests with light luggage who land in daytime, the train avoids traffic.
By train from Suvarnabhumi Follow the signs to the Airport Rail Link on the lowest level. Take it to Phaya Thai (the end of the line), change to the BTS Sukhumvit line towards Samrong, and get off at Phrom Phong. Use exit 6, walk along Sukhumvit Road and turn into Soi 24, about eight minutes on foot. The train does not run late at night; after midnight use Grab or a taxi.
From Don Mueang The SRT Dark Red Line runs from Don Mueang to Bang Sue Grand Station, where you can change to the MRT. With luggage most guests prefer Grab.
Adjust station, exit and line to your own building. Always give the exit number; the station name alone sends guests to the wrong side of a wide road.
What to say to the driver
Useful phrases "Soi Sukhumvit yee-sip-see" = Soi Sukhumvit 24 "Jot tee nee, khrap / kha" = stop here (khrap if you are male, kha if female) "Meter, khrap / kha" = please use the meter If in doubt, show the Thai address on your phone. The driver can also call me; my number is in the check-in message.
The full arrival message
Combine the pieces into one scheduled message the day before arrival, with headings so a guest in a hurry can skim.
Hi Priya, here is how to reach us tomorrow.
Address: the Sukhumvit 24 tower, Building B. Thai version in the next message, show it to any driver.
Fastest: Grab from the airport, drop-off at "Building B lobby".
Cheapest: Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai, BTS to Phrom Phong, exit 6, eight minutes on foot.
Taxi: official queue on level 1, ask for the meter, tolls are extra.
At the building: tell the guard you are staying in Building B, 12th floor. The key card is in the lockbox by our door; I will send the code on arrival morning.
Message me when you are on the way.
Questions that come back anyway
Even a perfect message gets follow-ups from the car: "the driver does not know the building" (send the Thai address and the pin again), "which entrance?" (photo of the lobby), "which BTS exit?" (the number, then a photo of the turn into the soi). Keep three photos ready: the lobby from the street, the lift lobby, and the turn into the soi. Photos need no translation.
What an AI front desk changes
Directions are a natural job for an AI front desk because the answer never changes and the question arrives at every hour in every language. Tokay is one, built in Bangkok by a host who still runs apartments on streets like this one. It answers guests on Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo from the facts you wrote down, in the guest's own language, more than ten languages including Thai, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Russian.
The address block, Grab pickup point, BTS exit and taxi tips sit at the building level in Tokay's three-level knowledge, written once for the Sukhumvit 24 tower and applied to every unit in it. A Korean guest asking "which BTS exit" at 11 PM gets the exit number in Korean. If a fact is not on file, Tokay asks you rather than guessing.
The host stays in charge: for the first two weeks every reply comes to you to approve, edit or deny with a tap, then you switch on what may go out alone, one kind of question at a time. On our own apartments this meant every guest answered around the clock and about two taps a day of guest work left.
Questions hosts ask
Should I give guests the address in Thai?
Yes, as text in a separate message so it can be copied and shown to a driver. Have it checked by a Thai speaker. Most taxi drivers read Thai far more comfortably than English, and the Thai version removes most arrival day calls.
Grab or taxi from Suvarnabhumi?
Grab is simpler for most guests: the fare is fixed in the app and the drop-off pin removes the address conversation. Metered taxis from the official queue are fine too; tell guests tolls are extra and to ask for the meter. Do not quote a price in either case.
What goes in the arrival message?
The address in English and Thai, the Grab drop-off entrance, the BTS or MRT station and exit, a taxi tip, what to tell the guard, and where the key card is. Send it the day before arrival with bold headings, and keep three photos ready for the follow-ups.