The Sky Lane is a 23.5-kilometre asphalt cycling circuit that runs right round the perimeter of Suvarnabhumi airport, closed to motor traffic, with its own rest stops, toilets, medical post and bike hire. It is free to ride, it is flat, and it is the only place in the Bangkok area where you can ride hard for two hours without meeting a car. For a city with as little cycling infrastructure as Bangkok, it is a genuinely extraordinary thing to have.
This is for anyone in Bangkok who wants to ride — the visiting cyclist who wants a hard session without risking their life on Rama IV, and the family who want a safe couple of hours. It is not scenic in any conventional sense. You are riding a loop of tarmac between the airfield fence and a lot of flat ground, watching aircraft rotate a few hundred metres away, and for a lot of riders that turns out to be the appeal.
- Main circuit23.5 km, one-way, anticlockwise
- Cost to rideFree, with registration
- LanesBlue (general) and purple (fast)
- WhereSuvarnabhumi perimeter, Bang Phli, Samut Prakan
What it actually is
Airports of Thailand built a bike path around the Suvarnabhumi perimeter road as a community project, opening it in 2014 as the Green Bike Lane. It was rebuilt and relaunched as the Sky Lane at the end of 2015 with a proper low-rolling-resistance asphalt surface, solar-powered lighting and rest areas, and expanded again in 2017 with a second, wider lane for faster riders. Its formal name these days is the Happy & Healthy Bike Lane, though almost everyone still calls it the Sky Lane, and both names are used on the signs.
The main loop is 23.5 kilometres, ridden one-way anticlockwise, with distance markers along its length. There are two parallel lanes:
| Lane | Who it is for |
|---|---|
| Blue lane | General riding. Families, beginners, anyone at a social pace. Two lanes wide. |
| Purple lane | Fast riders. Added in the second phase specifically so that quick groups are not weaving through slower traffic. |
| Short track | A 1.5 km warm-up loop with a softer rubberised surface, useful for children and for spinning the legs before joining the main circuit. |
Around the loop there are rest areas at intervals with toilets, water and shade, a medical station staffed by a private hospital operator, and a bike centre with hire, repairs, food and shops.
Opening hours and access
The operator publishes hours of 06:00 to 21:00 daily, with last entry to the main circuit some time before closing, and the solar lighting means evening riding is a real option rather than a theoretical one. Treat that as the current published arrangement rather than a permanent fixture: the hours have changed several times since the track opened, and the facility has closed for extended renovation periods before. Check the operator's own channels before you make the journey out there — it is a long way to go on a wasted trip.
Riding is free. What it is not is walk-up: first-time users have to register, and access to the main 23.5-kilometre circuit is managed through a registration and entry system operated with the project's banking sponsor, which in recent years has meant a smartphone app. The mechanics of this have changed more than once. The practical advice is to allow extra time on your first visit, bring a passport or ID, and be prepared for some administration in Thai with help from the staff, who are used to foreign riders and generally patient.
Helmets and proper shoes are required. This is enforced at the entrance rather than being a suggestion. Sandals and flip-flops will not get you onto the circuit, and neither will riding bare-headed. If you are hiring on site, a helmet comes with the bike.
Riding it
It is dead flat and almost entirely exposed. There is very little shade anywhere on the loop, which makes the time of day the single most important decision you will make: at 11:00 in April this is an oven with no escape, and at 06:30 in December it is close to perfect. The wind matters more than you would expect on such a flat course — the airfield is open ground, and a headwind on the long straights is the only resistance there is.
Surface quality is excellent by any standard, and the traffic-free aspect is complete: no cars, no motorbikes, no dogs, no junctions and no U-turns. For anyone who has spent a week riding Thai highways it is a strange and welcome sensation to stop looking over your shoulder. It is the obvious place in Thailand to do interval work, to test a rebuilt bike after flying in with it, or to get a nervous rider comfortable before taking them anywhere real.
The etiquette is the usual: keep left unless overtaking, do not stop on the racing line, and use the purple lane only if you are actually quick. Weekends are extremely busy — the facility has been reported to handle several thousand riders on a weekend day — and weekday mornings are close to empty.
Bring more water than the distance suggests. There are rest stops, but this is 23.5 kilometres of unshaded tarmac beside an airfield and the heat radiating off it is considerable. The general approach in cycling in Thailand's heat and humidity applies here more than almost anywhere.
Bike hire on site
There is a hire operation at the bike centre, with everything from ordinary hybrids to road bikes, and helmets included. It is not the cheapest bike hire in Thailand — expect to pay several hundred baht for a half-day session rather than the few tens of baht a guesthouse bike costs — but the machines are maintained and the convenience is the point. Booking online in advance is sensible at weekends, when demand is high.
If you are riding your own bike, the workshop at the bike centre can handle the ordinary things. For anything more serious, Bangkok's proper bike shops are the answer, and they are covered in bike shops and repairs in Thailand.
Getting there
The circuit is on the airport perimeter at Nong Prue, Bang Phli, in Samut Prakan province — around 30 kilometres from central Bangkok. The realistic options:
- Taxi or ride-hailing app from central Bangkok. Simple, and the drivers know it. If you have your own bicycle, you will need a vehicle that takes it — most saloon taxis will with the rear seats folded, but say so when booking.
- Drive. There is very substantial free parking on site, which is how most Thai riders arrive: bikes on the car, ride, drive home. If you are hiring a car, see car hire in Bangkok.
- Airport Rail Link to Suvarnabhumi and then a short taxi round the perimeter. Awkward with a bicycle, straightforward without one if you are hiring on site.
- Ride there. Possible and not recommended. The roads out to the airport are exactly the kind of fast, shoulderless arterial described in cycling in Bangkok.
Allow more time than the distance suggests. Bangkok traffic to the eastern suburbs is unpredictable and the early-morning start that makes the ride pleasant means leaving the city very early indeed — the pattern is set out in Bangkok rush hour.
Is it worth the trip?
If you want a training session, yes, easily — there is nothing comparable within reach of Bangkok. If you want a safe, flat, traffic-free hour or two with children, yes, and the short warm-up track is genuinely useful for that; see cycling with children in Thailand.
If what you want is a pretty ride, no. Go to Bang Krachao instead, which is half the journey and about ten times as interesting to look at. The Sky Lane is a facility, not a destination, and it is a very good one.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Sky Lane?
The main circuit is 23.5 kilometres around the Suvarnabhumi perimeter, ridden one-way anticlockwise, with a separate 1.5-kilometre short track for warming up.
What are the Sky Lane's opening hours?
The operator publishes daily hours of 06:00 to 21:00, with last entry before closing. The hours have changed more than once over the years and the track has closed for renovation before, so confirm on the operator's own channels before travelling out there.
Is the Sky Lane free?
Riding the track is free. You do have to register on a first visit, and access to the main circuit runs through an app-based entry system operated with the project's banking sponsor. Bike hire, food and repairs are paid for separately.
Do I need a helmet at the Sky Lane?
Yes. A helmet and proper closed shoes are conditions of entry, and they are enforced at the gate regardless of what the general traffic law says about bicycle helmets — see bicycle law in Thailand.
Can I hire a bicycle there?
Yes, at the bike centre on site, from ordinary hybrids up to road bikes, with a helmet included. Prices are higher than street-level hire elsewhere in Thailand; book ahead at weekends. General hire advice is in renting a bicycle in Thailand.
How do I get to the Sky Lane from central Bangkok?
Taxi or a ride-hailing app is simplest, around 30 kilometres to the airport perimeter in Bang Phli. Most Thai riders drive and use the large free car park. Cycling there on the surrounding roads is possible but genuinely unpleasant.