The hotels on Ratchadapisek Rd will benefit a lot from the new airport. ( Eg Le Concorde) Less than 20 minutes drive from the airport. Plus there's a subway line running past the hotels so it's easy to get into the city centre or Sukhumvit Rd and avoid all the traffic jams.

Thanks for the info I will bear it in mind, helps a lot , I like Khaosan area but it always seems a longer transfer - will this still be the case?

Much easier to get to Don Muang from Khao San than the new airport as you can avoid the city centre at the moment.

You're going to have to cross the city centre to get to Khao San from the new airport. Can go most of the way by expressway, but the taxi will have to come down to ground level at Victory monument and you'll then have to take your chances in the traffic.

Thanks for the info Macfarang , will Sukhumvit be easier to get to??
Thanks again, shirleyV

In theory it should be easier as it heads east out of the city parallel to the motorway leading into the city from the airport.

The problem with Sukhumvit is the lack of places to U-turn easily & legally - although that might not worry most taxi drivers. So, if you're heading into the city on the overhead expressway, I dont think travel times will be any different than now if you're staying at a hotel that lies between Sukhumvit and the expressway ( which would make it very easy for the taxi to take a turn off to ground level and then head down a side street and straight to the hotel. )

But, if you're on the opposite side of Sukhumvit - the even numbered Sois, eg the Marriott, Queens Park etc then you could come up from the Bang Na - Trat highway but traffic can be a bugger here in daylight hours or you'll have to head along the expressway, down to Sukhumvit and then u-turn somewhere.

An interesting test for your taxi driver's map reading skills or lack of them.

Thanks again Macfarang I understand better now, will probably stay on Soi 5 this time.

Soi 5 would be easy, you can get off the expressway at Soi 1, only a few hundred metres away. ( Same as you would if you were coming from Don Muang.)