Bangkok Transportation Tips by alvis

'Mode': TO,AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Getting off at the last BTS Sky Train stop on the Silom line, the Saphan Taksin station we arrive at the Phraya river.

It is very cheap to travel on the river if you stay with the usual tourist boats which leave every 10 minutes or so. Choose the stop you want to go to including Grand Palace, Wat Po the Museum, Temple of Dawn, Snake farm, Royal Barge museum or Orchid farm. Alternatively you can just go for the ride and get other boats to bring you round the different canals leaving the river.

Not only do you see some amazing buildings and boats on your journey you will also see the day to day lives of Thais working and living on the river.

Watch out for touts may offer you a trip in a long boat for over 100 times the price of the larger boats. These touts are likely to take you somewhere you do not want to go.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Staying near the skytrain is a must in Bangkok or you will find yourself paying out for taxis anytime you want to see something or go somewhere. The skytrain runs through all the main areas and the CBD of Bangkok and consists of the Sukhumvit line and the Silom line. The interchange point of the 2 lines is Siam which is 1 of the more touristy areas of Bangkok. The most expensive / furthest journey on the skytrain is 40 baht (£0.60) and the cheapest is 10 baht (£0.15)

The Sukhumvit line I used nearly everyday and it runs from "On Nut" to "Mo Chit". The main stops I used were Phrom Pong (Emporium), On Nut (Tescos), Mo Chit (JJ or Chatuchak weekend market.) There are some other stops which I would sometimes use Chit Lom and Siam (lot of shopping centres.) Each time I stayed in Bangkok I stayed near the BTS where I found decent places close to Nana, Phrom Pong and Thong Lo stations. The hotel I would recommend when visiting Bangkok is the Asia Hotel which is located at Ratchateri BTS station and is well worth 1400 baht a night (£20). There is also an interchange with the MRT at Asok and Chit Lom.

The Silom line runs from the National Stadium to Saphan Taksin. I seldom used this line and have only ever visited 2 of the stops which are the terminal stations National Stadium and Saphan Taksin. These will probably be used on any visit to Bangkok as the Saphan Taksin station is at the Chao Phraya river where all the boat trips and boat taxis leave to favourit spots like Wat Pho, Temple of Dawn, and the Grand Palace. The National Stadium station is situated at the famous shopping centre MBK where you will find plenty of cheap and dodgy goods.

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Website: http://www.bts.co.th/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: The MRT is new to Bangkok and is still relatively cheap. I seldom used the MRT as the BTS did the job for getting from place to place but i will probably explore it sometime soon. I would sometimes get the MRT back from Chatuchak station where the weekend market is and get off at the Petchburi stop where the main Petchburi road passes.

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Website: http://www.bangkokmetro.co.th/en/home.asp

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: Taxis are cheap in Bangkok but because of the traffic it is hard to get from place to place and you can find yourself in taxi for a couple of hours for short journeys. 35 baht is the meter start price and make sure the driver puts the meter on as soon as you get in the taxi or he will try rip you off when you have to pay. On the express way you will have to pay an extra 40 baht at toll boths and you will pass 1 on the way from the airport on arrival to Bangkok

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Motorcycle
Getting TO/AROUND: Motorbikes are also a common way to travel and are a lot more fun than the other ways. They only do short journeys and cost around 10 - 20 baht for wherever you want to go. They are also very dangerous and you will not be given a helmet so be warned. Just look out for a bunch of thais on motorbikes wearing normally orange jackets.

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'Mode': TO,AROUND
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Air Asia is a cheap flight network which gets you to and around Thailand and Asia. If you book a week in advance for trips you are likely to get flights to most places for £15 (1000baht) and under. We got a number of flights to Chiang Mai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for half the price of other airlines.

Another cheap airline is Nok air but does not serve as many areas and i dont think any outside Thailand.

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Website: http://www.airasia.com/general.php?p=pmain&l=en

'Mode': TO,AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: The buses are quite hard to work out so if you are visiting for a short time you will probably never use them. Victory monument on the BTS is where you can get a bus to more or less annywhere in Bangkok. For buses outside Bangkok there is the North Bus terminal which I used to go to Cambodia near Chatuchak (Mo Chit) and for the East and South you can get buses from Ekkamai beside the Ekkamai BTS station. For VIP more expensive coaches Kha Sarn Road will have these.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: A tuk-tuk is similar to a motorbike with 3 wheels and a carraige at back. They are good fun to travel about in but watch you don't get overcharged as they don't have meters. The price should be arranged before getting in and should be the same or even less than a normal taxi.

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