Hi, Im a bit confused with the airport set up?

As i understand it there's two?

One is called Don Maung and the other Suvarnabhumi.

Which is the old one and which is the new one?

Im looking to book my flight soon.

My mate is flying i into Suvarnabhumi.

Im gonna fly the same day as him but cant get on his flights so we will meet up at a hotel.

Don Muang is the old airport.
Once Suvarnabhumi opened, Don Muang was going to be used for cargo and certain government business, but has been brought back into service for most domestic flights due to the **** job done on Suvarnabhumi (major cracks in runways among other things) which has meant that part of this new showpiece airport has been closed down while major repairs/rebuilding take place.

Don Muang will be used until the problems at the new airport are rectified (whenever that might be is anyone's guess).
You don't say where you're flying from but you'll probably be arriving at Suvarnabhumi as Don Muang is used for domestic flights (I don't think it's used for ANY international flights).

Depending on your time of arrival, you could be in downtown Bangkok in around 40 minutes (could be a fair bit longer if you arrive late aftenoon onwards).

I will be flying from Edinburgh or Glasgow.

I have been looking at flights and Don maung is listed as the airport.

How far are they apart?

If you're flying from UK then Suvarbathri or whatever is the new airport and into which all international flights arrive. It's a great airport - they all are though compared with UK airports! Try and bok your luggage through to wherever you're going - we went via Bahrain this year to KS and had to collect our luggage in BKK which was an absolute pain.

Have a great time.

C

There are some international flights arriving at the old airport I think. If it says Don Muang on the ticket then that's probably where you'll be landing! Yes the two airports are quite a bit apart...on different sides of Bangkok and traffic can be bad. Much simpler if you meet up in town at your hotel!

You seem to be a newbie to Thailand so here are a few more explanations about getting into town....

Easiest way is to use a taxi. Ignore the taxi touts inside the airport and go to the official taxi rank. Someone there will write down your destination in Thai for the taxi driver for you.

If your taxi uses the express tollway you will have to pay that on top of the fare on the meter (two toll booths, 20B and 40B try and have small change not 1000B notes on you) There's a 50B surcharge on taxis from the airport too, which you will also have to pay on top of the fee on the meter. Total price for a taxi into town will probably cost you around 200B/3 quid if you're going somewhere like Sukhumvit. It costs a bit more from the new airport because it's further away. Don't accept a "special price including the tolls"... using the meter is ALWAYS cheaper! Give the driver a small tip when you get to your hotel. A year or two ago 50B would have been pretty generous for that trip but fuel prices have increased a lot recently and metered taxi fares haven't ... up to you. 20B (10-15% of what's on the meter) would be OK too.

__________________
“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Erratum.

Sorry I misread what you said Paul, thought your ticket said you were landing at Don Muang.

It's highly unlikely that you will be landing there, whatever the booking website says. They probably just haven't updated the website. I read somewhere (maybe the Bangkok Post) earlier this year that a few international charters use that airport. Regular flights all land at the new airport AFAIK.

Doesn't affect taxi instructions for getting into town though it will be slightly more expensive.

__________________
“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Thanks for the advice.

Last question,

How far is it and how much would it cost when i land to get a taxi straight to Pattaya?

From each airport.

If your ticket reads DMK that means you are arriving Don Muang.
If it reads BKK then you are flying into Suvarnabhumi (sp?) Hope that helps--and when in doubt:
Worldwide Airport Codes

You will be arriving at the new airport which is closer to pattaya than bangkok is so if you are just going to bangkok to meet your mate before heading to pattaya you would be better off going straight to pattaya.
A metered taxi probably is about 800/900 baht plus tolls of 60 baht and it will take approx 2 hours depending on traffic delays due to road improvements.
Ted

Yes, those road "improvements" are STILL going on!

We travelled down to Pattaya on Saturday morning a fortnight ago and traffic snarl was terrible.... we came to a complete standstill in a long, long line of traffic, then began crawling slowly for another 20 minutes or so. Traffic was banked up for at least a mile behind us and about the same in front. The delay meant the trip took 2 1/2 hours.
On the way back (mid week) we saw traffic heading to Pattaya was experiencing the same problem, so allow 2 1/2 hours for the trip from Bangkok.