How To Use The Skytrain In Bangkok
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The Skytrain: A Quick Way Of Getting Around Bangkok
Bangkok is a famously congested city. Never-ending traffic jams that sometimes continue round the clock can be very frustrating and stressful. However, since the opening of the skytrain there is a quick and hassle-free way of travelling around the central areas of Bangkok.
Although negotiating the Bangkok skytrain is easy, it is useful to know what one is dealing with before the event, so in this lens I hope to give people an idea of what things to be aware of when using the skytrain.
Bangkok Skytrain Map - A Useful Map For Navigating The Skytrain
Expressway & Skytrain Map of Bangkok
Amazon Price: $5.95 (as of 02/14/2012)
One of the first things travellers need to know before using the skytrain is which parts of town it serves. Although the Bangkok skytrain coverage is not extensive, it does greatly assist travellers in getting around the city centre and a map can help plan with travel connections.
This map of Bangkok highlights the skytrain along route and stations along with elevated expressways.
What Exactly Is The Bangkok Skytrain?
The skytrain in Bangkok is an elevated railway with all stations also elevated above major roads. Its official name in English is The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) and its Thai name "rot fai fa" translates as "skytrain".The skytrain opened on 5th December 1999 and an extension of 2 further stations was opened in May 2009, with a further extension in the process of being built.
You can learn a little more about the skytrain here: Bangkok Skytrain.
Some Photographs Of The Skytrain In Bangkok
These Things Are Not Allowed On The BTS Skytrain System
A few things are not allowed on the skytrain or on the stations.
1. No Littering
2. No Unlicensed Selling
3. No Smoking
4. No Animals (Except Guidedogs)
5. No Eating or Drinking
6. No Flammable Products
As one enters any skytrain station, one must pass through a security scanner which is attended by a security guard. Occasionally they will ask to look inside your bag before allowing entry to the station.
No photos used to be on the list but seems to have disappeared and certainly no one gave me a second look as I took the pictures for this lens.
How To Get Change To Use In The Ticket Machines
The unit of currency in Thailand is the Thai Baht and it is essential to have some to be able to buy your ticket. Whilst a few skytrain stations have exchange bureaux one cannot count on them all around the route, so come armed with some local currency.However, there are change booths on every station so that travellers can exchange banknotes for coins in order to use the ticket machines. Also at these booths, multiple journey tickets can be purchased; there is little financial advantage in doing so but getting one means that during busy periods you will not have to queue at the ticket machines - the queues get quite long at rush hour!
So, go to the booth and obtain a sufficient number of coins to use the ticket machine: remember, it is a CHANGE booth not an EXCHANGE booth.
In case you don't know what Thai currency looks like, here is some:
If you do wish to check out exchange rates I find this to be a fairly reliable currency converter: Oanda.com
Buy Your Ticket - There Are Basically Three Steps Here
2. Find out what fare zone that destination is in.
3. Press the button for that fare zone on the ticket machine and pay.
1. Select Your Destination
This is done by taking a look at the skytrain map which is next to every ticket machine and look for your required destination. The station that want to go to will have a number between 1 and 6 on it.
The number on your station is what you need to know for step 2.
2. Find out what fare zone that destination is in.
This is easily done by looking at the fare information chart which is above every skytrain map (the map you just got the number from). Look at the number that you obtained from the map and you will see that a fare ranging from 15 to 40 baht corresponds to that number.
Get your coins ready for step three.
3. Press the button for that fare zone on the ticket machine and pay.
Press the button on the ticket machine that corresponds to the fare zone obtained in step 1. The fare will be displayed but you will already have the correct coinage because of step 2. Put the correct fare in the coin slot, using 10 or 5 baht coins.
You will receive your ticket and any change will come as 5 baht coins.
Now You Have Your Ticket
Skytrain tickets are about the size of a credit card and made of flexible plastic. On one side they have a picture; this one is concerning safety on the skytrain.Don't be alarmed if your ticket does not look exactly like the one pictured, the designs change from time to time; frequently they show tourist attractions around Thailand.
Negotiating The Ticket Barrier - It Seems Tricky For Some!
However, on the first day the skytrain opened, most Thais had never seen such a system and the whole thing ground to a halt only an hour or so after the opening due to people not being able to deal with the ticket barrier.
As is apparent in this photo, one enters through the barrier with the green arrows displayed. The exit barriers display a red cross.
On the Skytrain Platform
Once on the platform, for reasons of obvious safety, one is required to stand behind the yellow line marked about 30 centimetres from the edge of the platform.
One will also notice some other markings on the platform. These indicate where one should stand when the train stops at the platform. Basically, one is required to stand just to the side of where the doors will be when the train stops (the train always stops at exactly the right place), and to let people off of the train before getting on.
One more thing to remember is that when the skytrain is busy, people politely queue to get onto the train, as can be seen here:
Very civilized.
Getting Off The Skytrain
Once one is travelling in the correct direction to the intended destination, listen to the announcements telling passengers which station is being approached. The announcements are in Thai and English. There are also many maps of the skytrain network in all train compartments so that passengers can follow their progress.The journey time between stations is just a few minutes.
For further confirmation that you are at the correct station, just look out of the window to see the signs on the platform, like the one pictured.
Once off of the train head down the stairs, through the ticket barrier and make ones way back down to the street. If you have bought a single journey ticket, after inserting your ticket into the ticket barrier, the barrier will open but your ticket will not be returned. If you want a souvenir ticket, you will have to buy another one, or get one from the BTS website shop.
Some skytrain stations have bridges which cross straight into shopping malls, Prom Phong, Siam, National Stadium and Sala Daeng all spring to mind.
Skytrain Extension Opens In August 2011
The extension to the Bangkok skytrain route from On Nut to Baring (Sukhumvit Soi 107) will officially opens on 12th August 2011. The whole skytrain network will be tested throughout June 2011 with passengers and a promotional fare.
This adds more than 5km to the original skytrain network, penetrating to the eastern flanks of the city of Bangkok.
I will soon add to this webpage to include the new developments in the skytrain network.
Which Stations For Which Places?
Unfortunately, the Bangkok skytrain does not really go near many of the main tourist attractions but it does service the main shopping areas quite well. Here I will outline some of the stations that allow passengers to alight near certain places of interest.
Sukhumvit Line
Mo Chit - Mo Chit Bus Terminal, MRT Station & Chatuchak Market.
Victory Monument - Victory Monument and Markets.
Ratchathewi - Short Taxi ride to Pratunam Market & Baiyoke Tower.
Siam - Siam Square & Siam Paragon Mall.
Chit Lom - Central World.
Nana - Lower Sukhumvit Restaurants, shopping and Nightlife.
Asok - Soi Cowboy & MRT Station.
Phrom Phong - Emporium Mall.
Ekkamai - Ekkamai Bus Terminal.
Silom Line
National Stadium - National Stadium & MBK Mall.
Sala Daeng - Silom Shopping, Lumphini Park & Patpong Road.
Saphan Taksin - Central Pier for River Bus.
Wong Wien Yai - Western bank of the Chao Praya river.
The Bangkok Skytrain Operating Hours
Skytrain Schedule.
The Bangkok Skytrain operates services between 6am and midnight every day of the week.
Trains are frequent and at the busiest time of the day, there are trains every 3 minutes to deal with the large numbers of passengers that now use the skytrain in Bangkok.
More Bangkok Maps to Help You Get Around
Although I have not used it myself, many people tell me that the Nancy Chandler map shown here is a really useful one.
Bangkok Skytrain: BTS Website
The official Skytrain site.
For all the information on the Bangkok Skytrain check out the official BTS website where you can find full details of ticketing, stations, proposed extensions to the skytrain route and other information.For tourists who wish to have a souvenir of their time on the Bangkok Skytrain, the BTS website also has things for sale, including T-shirts, postcards and souvenir tickets: BTS Shop.
Bangkok Skytrain At Sunset
Have You Used The Skytrain In Bangkok?
Bangkok Skytrain News
- Police blame bloody Bangkok blasts on Iranian
- A Thai Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) official examines a backpack that was left on the bomb site by a suspect bomber in Bangkok, Thailand, Feb. 14, 2012. (AP) BANGKOK - An Iranian man fleeing wounded from an explosion at a rented Bangkok house ...
- BMA progress on BTS Silom line extension, set for services next year
- BANGKOK, Feb 9 ? The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will go ahead with its BTS Skytrain Silom Line extension for a distance of 5.3km (Taksin-Petchakasem), expected to be ready for services by Aug 12, or Her Majesty Queen Sirikit's birthday, ...
- Urban rail news in brief - February 2012
- Mass Rapid Transit Authority has awarded CK Karnchane a 14bn baht contract for civil works on the 13 km elevated Bangkok Skytrain Green Line extension from Bearing to Samut Prakan which is scheduled to open in mid-2016. China Railway Eryuan Engineering ...
Are You Going To Be Traveling Around Bangkok?
If you are traveling around Bangkok, or planning to do so, and the skytrain does not get you where you want to go, there are other options for transport around Bangkok.This page about Bangkok Transport will give you an idea of some of the options for beating the traffic jams in Bangkok.
Alternatively, you can read my account of being stuck in the traffic; Stuck In A Bangkok Traffic Jam.
The Weather in Bangkok
Top Ten Bangkok
Top 10 Bangkok (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)
Amazon Price: $11.74 (as of 02/14/2012)
This useful little book lists many top tens for Bangkok: top ten temples, top ten restaurants, top ten markets etc.; giving the traveller a wealth of ideas for things to do on their trip to the Thai capital.
A Couple More Lenses That Might Be Useful
More Thailand Travel Lenses
Reasons to Visit Thailand
Five Great Things About Thailand
Thailand is a great country to visit or to live in. The relaxed pace of life and low cost of living make it both a pleasant place to be and a cheap one. Here I will highlight just 5 things that make it a great place.
5 Great Things About Thailand
Thanks for Visiting
Please leave a comment here
Thanks for reading about the Bangkok skytrain, if you have anything to say about it, or this lens, please comment here.
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Reply
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Lindrus
Jan 21, 2012 @ 1:56 am | delete
- Very detailed and informative lens - thanks! Quick and easy transport is a problem in Bangkok and I just wish that the sky train would be more developed.
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davespeed
Jan 6, 2012 @ 11:07 pm | delete
- I've never been to Bangkok, but would love to visit. The skytrain looks like a great mass transit system.
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foreign exchange rates converter
Dec 1, 2011 @ 6:10 am | delete
- great post, thanks for sharing this.
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Sawasdee_Kub
Sep 16, 2011 @ 6:03 am | delete
- BTS is the best way to get around in Bangkok.
It's cheap and great services.
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deyani
Aug 12, 2011 @ 8:14 pm | delete
- Bangkok Sky Train is undoubtedly one of the world's best sky train. I used it everytime I go on holiday in Bangkok and it's inexpensive. --- Blessed ---
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About The Lens Author
by nickupton
Stuck In A Bangkok Traffic Jam - Read Now!
I have lived in Bangkok since 1997 and remember sitting in many marathon traffic jams in the days before the...
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