Smoking Areas at Thai Airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket and Chiang Mai

Where can you smoke at Thai airports? The short answer

Thai airport terminals are officially smoke-free inside, so you can smoke only in designated areas. At Phuket, Don Mueang and Chiang Mai, those are outside, before security, and once you’re through there’s nowhere to smoke at all.

The Suvarnabhumi airport smoking area is the exception that keeps changing. Bangkok’s main airport opened enclosed smoking rooms at the terminal doors in 2025, and in 2026 travelers started reporting rooms after immigration too. Here’s what we know for each airport, what’s official and what isn’t.

Why Thai airport terminals are smoke-free

In February 2019, Airports of Thailand (AOT) closed every smoking room inside the terminals of its six airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Chiang Rai. The move followed a health ministry order on smoke-free zones.

Since then, you can smoke only in a designated area, and smoking anywhere else can cost up to 5,000 baht (about $146) under the Tobacco Products Control Act. The same fine applies to vaping in a no-smoking area.

The closures had a side effect. AOT later said that transit passengers, who can’t leave the secure area, were smoking in toilets. That’s why it asked in 2025 to bring indoor rooms back, and why Suvarnabhumi tested prototype rooms later that year.

Suvarnabhumi Airport smoking area (BKK)

Before security. Since June 2025, Suvarnabhumi has enclosed, air-conditioned smoking rooms just outside the terminal building, on the platforms at the entrances:

• Departures, 4th floor: outside Doors 1 and 10;
• Arrivals, 2nd floor: outside Doors 1 and 10.

Each room holds about 25–30 people. Door numbers are shown above the exits. The airport’s own website still lists four older outdoor spots on the 1st floor, including one in front of the Magic Food Court, but that page doesn’t appear to reflect the new rooms.

After immigration. In 2025, the national tobacco control committee first rejected AOT’s request for indoor smoking rooms, then approved a trial of prototype rooms in the departure area. We found no official announcement of the results. Since August 2026, though, travelers have reported smoking rooms in the main terminal after immigration, near the Burger King and McDonald’s food areas on the departures level. The airport hasn’t announced them, so treat them as a bonus, not a plan.

The satellite terminal (SAT-1). Smoking rooms there were in use in early 2025, and travelers reported that they closed in June 2025. Reports since are mixed, so don’t count on them.

If you’re in transit. Connecting passengers who don’t pass through immigration can’t reach the rooms at the terminal doors. Your options are the reported indoor rooms or a paid lounge. Some travelers use the Miracle Lounge near Gate D5, which has had an outdoor smoking terrace, but check before you pay.

Don Mueang Airport smoking area (DMK)

Don Mueang, Bangkok’s low-cost airport, has no smoking rooms inside either terminal. You smoke outside, before security:

• International terminal (Terminal 1): the designated area is outside on the 3rd floor, near Door 8.
• Domestic terminal (Terminal 2): travelers describe an outdoor area near the parking side of the building.

There’s nothing after security in either terminal, so have your last cigarette before you go through.

Phuket Airport smoking area (HKT)

Phuket has smoking areas at both terminals, but only before security:

• International terminal: 3rd floor, outside Door 1;
• Domestic terminal: 2nd floor, outside Door 1.

The official airport map also lists a “Smoking Area”. Once you’re through security, there’s nowhere to smoke on either side, domestic or international, and travelers say security staff warn people who light up elsewhere. If you have a long wait ahead, have your last cigarette before you go through.

Chiang Mai Airport smoking area (CNX)

Chiang Mai has no smoking rooms inside the terminal, on either the domestic or the international side. Smoking is allowed outside at ground level, at least 5 meters from the entrances, as Thai law requires. Some older guides mention a smoking room near a coffee shop in international departures. It closed in 2019.

Krabi, Koh Samui, U-Tapao and Hat Yai

These airports are smaller, and official information is thin. Here’s what travelers report:

• Krabi (KBV): an outdoor area outside the check-in hall, and nothing after security.
• Koh Samui (USM): run privately by Bangkok Airways and more relaxed than the others. Travelers describe small open-air smoking corners even after security, on both the domestic and international sides.
• U-Tapao (UTP), near Pattaya: there were reports of a smoking area after security in 2019, but nothing recent, and the airport has few international flights now.
• Hat Yai (HDY): outside, before security only.

Can you vape or use IQOS in an airport smoking area?

No. The smoking rooms were set up for cigarettes. Vapes and heated tobacco devices like IQOS are banned from import and sale in Thailand, and an airport, with police and customs officers all around, is the worst place to pull one out. Vaping where smoking is banned carries the same fine of up to 5,000 baht.

If you’re arriving on an international flight, customs is where Thailand’s vape ban is enforced most strictly. A vape or IQOS found in your bag there may be confiscated, and the UK Foreign Office says fines are typically 5,000–30,000 baht (about $146–$875). Our guide to bringing a vape or IQOS to Thailand covers what happens at customs and what to do if one is already in your luggage.

The simpler option is not to fly with one at all: order in Thailand and have it delivered to your hotel.

Tips: fines, patrols and timing

• Stay inside the marked area. Police patrol around Suvarnabhumi’s smoking rooms, and people standing just outside them have reportedly been fined.
• Mind the 5-meter rule. Outside the terminal, don’t light up by the doors. Thai rules keep smoking at least 5 meters from entrances, doors and windows.
• Plan your last cigarette. At most airports, it has to happen before security. Leave enough time so you don’t have to rush afterward.
• On arrival, wait until you’re out. At Suvarnabhumi, the closest rooms are on the arrivals level (2nd floor), outside Doors 1 and 10.
• Don’t count on duty free. Arrival duty free shops closed in 2024, and you can bring in only 200 cigarettes (or 250 g of tobacco) per person. Our guide to cigarettes in Thailand covers the allowance and prices.

For the rules on smoking in Thailand more generally, from beaches to bars, see our guide to smoking in Thailand.