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One word summarizes traveling via Bangkok roads - terrible! Drivers use the left hand side of the road - well, at least most of the time! During most hours of the day, the roads are highly congested and it takes a lot of patience and time to get anywhere. On several occasions I have challenged my ability to stay alive by crossing large intersections of traffic. I have been entirely successful and have built up confidence with more and more practice. This is not recommended unless you are a seasoned veteran at dodging traffic in busy cities because in Bangkok cars have the right away, NOT people.

		There are certain times of the month when the traffic is terribly fierce. One of these times is on paydays - usually the last Friday of the month. I've spoken to people who say a drive that normally takes 30 minutes turns into 2 hours on these days. Mornings and evenings are of course very bad. Extremely late night - like after 1am and mornings before 5:00 am are generally an ok time to travel the streets of Bangkok. The following are some methods of transportation you can use during your stay in Bangkok.
A VERY typical street scene in Bangkok		Perspective from the back seat of a Tuk-Tuk!

Thai Airways dominates this airport - from outside you can see all of their airline facilities. The control tower is the tallest one in the world and can be seen from miles around the airport. There is plenty of parking - the parking garages are very creatively constructed. A couple of other things about Suvarnabhumi Airport - the Internet consoles are high speed and very cheap - however often some of them will not be working and the key pads are extremely difficult and slow to use. The terrible sinks that would splash water all over have mostly been replaced! There are 23 baggage claim belts for the International flights. They are spread out over a long distance so be sure to consult the large baggage claim screen (available as soon as you pass through passport control) to find out which belt your baggage is on.

Taxis. Taxis are available at Level 1 where you need to pay 50 baht and reserve one at the taxi stand. We generally do not recommend getting at taxi at this level because of the extra 50 baht convenience fee (unless you arrive in the wee hours of the morning - see the Taxi section below for details), rather go to Level 4, walk outside and flag one down (there will be many, 24 hours a day, even in the darkest hours of night) - this way you avoid the 50baht airport tax fee. Know how to use a taxi - review our Taxi Pitfalls article here. Expect to pay 190-220 baht for a metered taxi from the airport to any of the main districts in Bangkok (Silom, Sukhumvit, Khao San Road etc). Please read our TAXIS section directly below for additional pitfalls.

Public transportation. The free Airport Shuttle Bus provides transportation 24 hours a day to main airport facilities including the Public Transportation Center. Public buses run to various locations in Bangkok from the Public Transportation center 24 hours a day. Catch the free Airport Shuttle Bus to the Public Transportation Center on either Level 2 or 4 at Entrance 3, 6 or 9. The entrances to the actual airport are clearly labeled with numbers so you should have no problem seeing these. Public buses from the Public Transportation Center will cost you 35 baht to any of the serviced locations within Bangkok.

You can also take the Airport Express Bus for 150 Baht - its more expensive than the public buses a little cheaper than a taxi, but it only runs from 5am until 12pm. If you want to use this option contact the Airport Bus Counter on Level 1 at Entrance number 8. For bus routes and Public Transportation Center information pick up one of their free brochures at any of the airport Information Counters - Level 2 and Level 4 have well marked Info counters.

Official Airport Website: www2.airportthai.co.th/airportnew/sun/index.asp?lang=en Enjoy the 11 minute informative video guide. Here are also a few photos for review:

The old Don Muang airport is still used for some national & International flights usually for budget carriers such as Nok Air. For nostalgia purposes, this site provides general information & photos of the old Don Muang International airport: www.asiatraveltips.com/PicturesofBangkokAirport.shtml  

Taxis - There are more taxis in Bangkok than I have seen in most cities. The most common ones are yellow and green and they have a "metered" sign on top of their roof. Most of the taxis are air-conditioned. I do not recommend taking one of these taxis if the driver insists on NOT using their meter. Usually when the driver says "no meter" and quotes you a set price - you are being ripped off.

I find for the most part that the taxi drivers are friendly and helpful; in addition almost all of the taxis have excellent air conditioning. The taxi driver will know about how much rides cost to certain parts of the city with their meter - There are four scenarios for why a taxi driver will tell you he can't use the meter. 1. The meter is actually broken (very doubtful) 2. there is so much traffic that the drive will take a very very long time - this is often the case in the late afternoons. 3. they know the price they told you is higher than what it would be if they used their meter, 4. it is late at night. If traffic is so bad you will find that most of the taxi drivers will quote you a price and not use their meter. At this point you could take the taxi, or take a Tuk-Tuk for a little cheaper or walk depending on the distance. 

Expect to pay between 190 to 220 baht for a ride from a taxi from the Airport to most Bangkok districts. On Level 4 where taxis drop off passengers, you can walk out to the median lane and get a taxi before they pull away. Technically the taxis are not supposed to stop here very long. Sometimes the drivers will refuse to use their meter - they can say anything in regards to this, the most common reason for not using the meter is "its late at night". Right. REFUSE their services and find a taxi driver who will use their meter REGARDLESS of the time of day or night. Unfortunately this can be difficult very late at night especially with any language barriers or if you are extremely tired - if you keep getting rejected by taxi's who refuse to use their meter, our best suggestion is to try to get one of the security guards to walk over with you to the taxi, or simply save the hassle and pay the extra 50 baht convenience fee to the taxi attendant on Level 1 and be assured of taking a metered taxi.

Also note a very small percentage of taxi drivers have lately altered their meters. This is a real tough one to determine when they are cheating, unless you know approximately how much you should pay based on the distance. (See our airport taxi info above).

Normally hailing a taxi is not that difficult unless you happen to be on a small side street. There are usually many taxis available near the main tourist locations even in the wee hours of the night and morning. 

There are two main taxi companies in BKK - identified by the green & gold cars, and the blue and red cars. The green and gold cars are individually owned whereas the blue and red cars are company owned. We recommend the green and gold cars. For more information on taking taxis in general, please review our article on using taxis which is found on our Backpackers Portal. Note that there is becoming more of a problem with taxi drivers not using their meters in Bangkok.

The phone number: 1584 is the Bangkok Thai complaint line about taxis (if you have a complaint be sure you have the meter number on hand) - we haven't yet tried this, so not sure if the receptionist will be able to speak English.

The Bangkok Metro opened on July 3rd, 2004. It costs 14-36 baht depending on the length of your trip. We have been very pleased with our times riding this 3 billion dollar state of the art Metro. Wow, its quite nice and very well organized. Please visit the photo thumbnails below. There are two connecting points with the SkyTrain at Sukhumvit and Silom. There is talk about investors coming up with additional funding to increase the range of the Metro. Whether this plays out remains to be seen. For more information please visit the official Bangkok metro website (Thai and English versions - a map is available). A great website for the latest and greatest about the metro is: www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Subway

	On the right is the token used to  enter the subway and on the right is the subway map. Above are various metro photos. The above photos were taken at the Lumphini Terminal

Here is a map of the Metro that we took from the Sukhumvit stop. Click on Map for full version.

The BTS Sky Train was under construction for about 10 years before the original route was finished in December 1999. In part, the reason it took so long to finish construction is because the city had to purchase land from local businesses so that they would have the space to build the Sky Train. The Sky Train towers over several large roads including the congested Sukhumvit road - you can't miss it. There are stairs leading up to each station from each side of the main road. All the actual trains have excellent air-conditioning. This is quite a relief to sit in one of these for a while after walking around the hot humid streets of Bangkok. Try to sit in the middle of each railcar as that is the furthest away from the doors that open - hence affords you the coldest part of each train! Also TV screens are located in each car - not always on, but when they are, they typically play Thai commercials or music videos.

There are two lines to the Sky Train - the Sukhumvit Line and the Silom Line. The Sukhumvit Line is by far the longer of the two lines. In order to change between the two lines, you would do so at the central station called Siam which intersects the two lines. At this station be sure to note the unique phenomena we have coined as the "Siam Sucking Sound!! " (hold mouse over pink text for description). If you are on the Skytrain at this stop, you will surely see what we are referring to!

The price of travel ranges from 10 baht to 40 baht and is charged based upon the number of stops you have to travel for (only 5 and 10 baht coins work in the ticket taking machine). However at each station there is a small attendants office where you can give them larger bills and they will give you change in return. It would be real nice at some point for the ticket machines to start accepting paper. That would save a lot of time. Be sure to also pick up a free small paper pocket map from one of the attendants - either from them directly, or from on the attendant counter or from a plastic display. There are also very good Skytrain maps posted on the wall near the coin machines. 

Before you actually purchase a one-way ticket, consider how many times you will be using Skytain that day and calculate the total cost. The reason for this is that an unlimited Daily Skytrain pass is available for 100 baht, and allows you to ride for unlimited stops for the entire day. Besides allowing you to ride unlimited for the day, there is also the neat feeling you have when you exit the Skytrain - instead of "losing" your card to the exit machine like the vast majority of the Skytrain travelers, you keep your card. If you purchase the unlimited option, you will hold on to the Skytrain pass each time you exit, and you keep the pass when you are finished riding for the day - a nice little plastic souvenir with a picture. Skytrain also sells student and monthly cards discounted off of the normal prices. Each car of the Skytrain has seats with signs over them saying "Please offer this seat to monks" in case it is crowded and monks have no seats.

Directions on Paying at Ticket Machine
First you need to look at the map next to the ticket machine and determine where you are going (this is based on the exact number of stops you will make). You need to press the button indicating the number of stops you want before you put in the coins. Once the button is pressed, the actual button lights up, and you put in the coins and the machine spits out a wallet size plastic card with the word "Siemens" on it (hmm could that have something to do with the fact that this company was in large part responsible for the construction of the Sky Train?!). Some cards have Skytrain maps on the back of the cards, some do not.

Entering the Station
After you purchase your ticket you will walk to the main entrance gates which are merely a few meters away. Now put the plastic card through a thin slot on a stall/gate that displays a green arrow - the card slides through, the red plastic gate slides apart in the middle of the stall, you walk through the gate and you pick the plastic card up on the other side once you are through the gate. You are then admitted to the main part of the station. From here you need to look at the blue hanging signs and determine which direction you will walk. The signs list the LAST stop in each direction - so if your stop is anywhere along the line that contains the last stop, you would go in that direction. Note a few stations have different levels for the different directions of travel.

You will want to keep the plastic card with you until you leave the Sky Train. When you arrive at your final destination on the Skytrain route, in order to get out of the station you insert the card into a slot and the gates open for you. 

Note: Some of the machines at the entrance will have a red circle with a white line through them. A very common mistake is to try to put your card into one of these machines to gain access to the station. If you try to put your card into one of these machines, you will just get a whirring noise. If you keep trying to put your card through, an officer of the law will approach and indicate you need to use another stall/gate - one that displays a green arrow! There is talk of implementing wireless readers - this would be an excellent idea - as during high volume times lines stack up entering and leaving the ticket gates - a reader would cut down the time of entrance or exit over the current system.

Note: There are actually quite a few more lines that have been proposed but these to date have not been constructed however the Skytrain is in the midst of a complete new expansion out to the new Suvarnabhumi airport - this is like 25 kilometers of raised Skytrain - Yea!! This is slated to open in 2009 and once completed this will provide another option to and from the airport. In early 2009, this extension visibly looks ready to rock and roll. Update coming once this is up and running for sure. This will be more affordable than a taxi if you have 1 or two people in your party. 3-4 people are better off splitting the cost of a taxi as it will overall be cheaper than the Skytrain. We are watching the construction move forward at a frantic pace and we are highly awaiting the opening of this Skytrain extension.

For additional useful information, pricing, photos, and rail maps visit the web sites listed below. 

Unofficial web site www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Skytrain/index.shtml  BTS Skytrain Map www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Skytrain/BTSMain2.shtml  Official web site www.bts.co.th/price.htm

		The main express boats on this river are labeled with orange, yellow and blue flags - and the color of the flag determines which pier the boat stops at and which destinations it reaches. Note: sometimes its a bit difficult to tell the difference between the orange and yellow flags as both fade in the strong sun. At all the main piers along this river you will find Express Boat Route Map Boards - they list the current fares and route maps. We have included a sample map from one of these boards - click on the thumbnail to see a larger version.

Another type of unique boat operates along this river and is called the long-tail. These wooden very colorful boats contain several benches in the front while in the back is a huge engine with a long shaft that contains a motorized propeller at the end which extends from the end of the boat into the water. The controller of the boat steers by moving this long shaft back and forth in the water. These boats are available for rent and touring but are more expensive than the ferry service.

These boats tend to take 1 or 2 hour trips for the tourists visiting the main river and several of the side canals - perhaps stopping at attractions along the way. The long tails also make trips down the side canals - not just along the main Chao Phraya River.
 

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