How to take MRT Bangkok metro?
What you have to know about Bangkok metro (MRT)
MRT, the Bangkok subway has 4 lines: the Blue Line, the first that was built, the Purple Line, Yellow Line and Pink Line. more are coming. The Blue and Purple lines meet at Tao Poon station. The Blue and Yellow lines meet at Lat Phrao station. The Purple and Pink lines connect to Nonthaburi Civic Center station. The Blue Line serves notably the Hua Lamphong railway station, the new Central Railway Station Krungthep Aphiwat (Bang Sue Grand station), Chinatown (Wat Mangkon station), Wat Pho, Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Sanam Chai station). It is the most interesting of the three lines for tourists.
Here there are no tickets for single journeys but black tokens which can be purchased from vending machines which accept coins and notes. The counters are mainly there to provide information but also sell tokens. The price you pay depends on the length of the journey. On the touch screen dispensers, a network map allows you to choose the Blue Line or Purple Line map and select your destination station, the price will then be determined according to your route. Don't forget to change the language with the button at the top of the screen. It will be easier. You then just have to slide your coins or notes to obtain your token. Once your journey is finished, the exit gate will ask you for your token again and will swallow it to put it back into circulation. So don't lose it!
The MRT Blue Line is connected to the BTS skytrain at Chatuchak Park station (Mo Chit on the BTS), Sukhumvit (Asok on the BTS) , Silom (Sala Daeng on the BTS), Phahon Yothin (Ha Yaek Lat Phrao on the BTS) and Bang Wa. The MRT is also connected to Airport Rail Link which goes to Suvarnabhumi Airport at Phetchaburi station on the Blue Line (Makkasan on the Airport Rail Link line). The MRT BLue Line is also connected to the SRT Red Line which runs from Don Muang Airport to Bang Sue station.
The MRT Purple Line is, less interesting for tourists and joins the MRT BLue Line at Tao Poon station. And the MRT Yellow Line, it is connected to the MRT Blue Line at Lat Phrao station. The MRT Pink Line not really usefull to tourists except to go near Koh Kret island. It is connected to the MRT Purple Line at Nonthaburi Civic Center station and to the BTS at Wat Phra Si Mahathat station.
If you change network, you need to buy a new ticket. There is no common ticket, the three Bangkok metro networks are separate entities.
To go to Bangkok Northern Bus Terminal or Bangkok minivan hub, you must go to Chatuchak Park MRT station, then it will remain a fifteen-minute walk or 5 minutes taxi or motorcycle taxi trip to reach the Mochit Bus Terminal or Chatuchak Minibus Station. To take the train, stop at Hua Lamphoong station or Bang Sue since Bang Sue Grand Station is planned to fully replace Hua Lamphong at a date in 2022 that still needs to be chosen.
Practical information
Bangkok metro trains run from 6 am to midnightMRT Hotline: 02 624 5200
Website: metro.bemplc.co.th
Calculate Bangkok MRT tickets fare for your trip
You can use this page of the website of the company managing the Bangkok MRT to search for a route and calculate its fare.: metro.bemplc.co.th/Fare-CalculationOther public transport in Bangkok
Bangkok skytain
The Bangkok Skytrain is called BTS. The trains have air condition and let you go over the heavy road traffic in the capital but you can not go everywhere even if connected to the Chao Phraya Express boats, it can let you go to major temples in Bangkok.
Chao Phraya Express
The Chao Phraya Express boats run regularly on the river running through Bangkok. They go to all monuments and interesting places on the river shores including Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho and Wat Arun, the three must see temples in Bangkok. Fare is cheap.
Bangkok bus lines
Taking the bus to get around is clearly not the easiest mean of transportation to use for a foreign tourist in Bangkok neither the fastest one but it's the cheapest one. Bangkok bus network is wide and you can go almost anywhere but just need to be patient.
Transport Bangkok
Bangkok is the city in Thailand that offers more choices of public or individual transport (metro, bus, boats, tuktuks...). Because, no, there are not just tuk-tuks and pink taxis to get around Bangkok !
