Public Transportation in Bangkok: How to Use BTS, MRT, and Tuk Tuks 🇹🇭
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- čas přidán 22. 04. 2023
- A Guide to Using Public Transportation in Bangkok: How to Use BTS, MRT, and Tuk Tuks 🇹🇭
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I agree with you regarding the subway/rail transit system in the US compared to Asia. I’ve ridden in NY, DC, Chicago, LA, San Fran and San Diego and they are filthy and unsafe compared to Thailand, Seoul, and Japan. I like the safety screen that prevents people from falling or being pushed onto the tracks unlike NYC where the psychos are always pushing people on the tracks. It’s sad that the US transit system isn’t as nice, clean and SAFE like the Asian transit system.
The Hong Kong subway transit system is top notch as well
@@erichchan3 Taipei as well
Dc transit system is fine
DC transit system is filthy and unsafe
Can't speak for any of the other transit systems you mentioned but I was pretty surprised that the culturally legendary NY subway was honestly worse than the Delhi metro. Then again, given America's over-reliance on private automobiles, I think the sorry state of the public transport there is more of a self-fulfilling prophecy born out of short-sighted prosperity.
Just remember, during rush hour, the interchange between Asok BTS to MRT, the escalators going up from MRT are one-way only. You can descend from BTS on the right before the escalators. I see so many tourists trying to push their way through only to realize it's one way during Rush Hour.
BTS,MRT: Thailand is a developing country that dared to implement an electric metro system decades ago, not by government initially but by a private enterprise under build-operate-transfer concession basis. When a housing developer Tanayong group proposed to Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BKK city government) to build an electric skytrain linking the major nothern/eastern provincial bus terminal (Mor Chit) into the city center (CBD) itself about 30 years ago, local Thais and expatriates were skeptical because previously HK Hopewell and Canadian Lavalin had proposed such project in Bangkok to the national government but failed hopelessly to complete the project. In the case of Lavalin, only about 1% was completed while Hopewell did a little better upto 5% before both concessionaires abandoned the project due to financial difficulties. However, elected Bangkok governor at the time Gen Chamlong Srimuang did not listen to experts' advices and granted Tanayong concession to carry out the project. Tanayong managed to borrow enough funds from local and overseas banks to build the civil structure running above the main roads, thus did not have to pay any land expropriation fee. When the civil structure was completed, Tanayong bought train and signal system from German Siemens as well as contracting Siemens to help run the system for 10 years. The first year official opening was about 23 years ago in 1999. Even then, some Thai and expatriates still voiced doubts whether the skytrain could earn enough revenue to cover the running costs as well as earning enough profits to pay off principals and interests as the first year's ridership was not great barely covering the operating costs. However, within 10 years the skytrain (Bangkok Transit System or BTS) turned profitable and after 23 years, the BTS is earning huge profit and has long paid off all debts. When the national government saw BTS success, it planned its own MRT (Metro Rapid Transit) systems, covering more lines. However, since some lines are run underground and some above ground, no private companies dared to do the same as Tanayong (now renamed BTS Group) as the civil construction is very expensive. So the national government established MRT state enterprise to design the lines and tender civil constructions using government budget. Once civil construction is completed, MRT tenders bids for private operators to secure the train system as well as running them under concessions. Bangkok is now covered by BTS/MRT/SRT (State Railway of Thailand which runs the Red Line to the suburbs and Airport Link from Suvarnabhumi airport to City center) systems more than 250 kilometers altogether.
Note: Currently
Light Green Line (Sukhumvit Line)
Dark Green Line + Gold Line (Silom Line)
Blue Line (Circle Line)
Purple Line
Airport Link Line (Suvarnabhumi Airport)
Dark Red Line (Grand Station - Don Muang AirPort)
Light Red Line (Grand Station - TalingChan)
Yellow Line (Scheduled Open Last Quarter 2023)
Pink Line (Scheduled Open Last Quarter 2023)
Orange Line(Scheduled Open 2025)
Also sees Metro systems history and planned expansion czcams.com/video/i3sFfqq3N4Q/video.html
Thanks. Very informative. Appreciate your time.❤
Awesome! Thanks for the detailed info
Thanks for the history of these public transportation in BKK. I am Thai and happy to see Thailand has developed a lot.
Thanks for the detailed information. People like yourself help others so much.
Quite a contrast from BTS to BART (SF Regional equivalent) > upon returning to SFO 2 weeks ago from a month in Thailand I took BART from SFO to the closest station to my home > 1 way fare = $13+ US & was surrounded by odors of human waste w/a few homeless sleeping on the train > this was a Mon am at 6 > the train was disgustingly dirty ...whereas all my BTS experiences for 3+ weeks were impressive for public transit > for a system that's heavily used, it's incredibly clean & quiet > very obvious the Thais take great pride in keeping things clean & orderly.
It's become embarrassing to admit I'm from the SF Bay Area
Seattle same. Sad
i burned all my t-shirts that have california on them
@@gregh7457 > Calpocylpse
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area as well. The new BART trains are really nice but the surroundings area's around BART are horrible. So much crime and filth now. Not like when i was growing up in the 1970's. But the inside the BART terminals are getting better.
dame just feel the same, just came back to Thailand and also took BART from SF airport to SF dowtown - there were lots of homeless people in train.
The Visa option is a GREAT travel tip; Sooooo helpful on this one
For Master Card can use ????
@@kingcantona1923 you can use mastercard too.
Happy wonderful Birthday 🎉and thanks for the great content!
Happy Birthday! I appreciate you putting out videos for us on your day. Enjoy.
Happy Birthday! Thanks for sharing your tips!
Happy birthday, man. Love your videos. Cheers from Serbia
Thanks for the video ! I’m here now and needed to learn the system. Happy birthday !
Cheers Forrest, great video. I'm about to hit the Bangkok trains today for the first time! SH, Australia
Great travel vlog. To the point and just the tips I was looking for. Thank u
Your videos are really high quality, Forrest. Well done.
This is exactly what I needed to see. Thanks for the simplistic vid format. Happy belated birthday bro
This was very good and informative video! Good job and thx! 😎🇫🇮🇹🇭
You deserve so much more subs man you have an amazing chanel 😊
Great video - great tips thank you 🙏🏾 happy birthday 🥳
Thanks Forrest. Enjoyed that.
For those of us expats that live outside of Bangkok but have to drive into the city for embassy appointments and to take the family shopping. The first thing I do is get a hotel close to a sky train station and park my car. To get to the embassy I use a taxi, but for the shopping and getting around Bangkok I use the sky train or subway. Only leaving to go home (then early in the morning) do I use my car in Bangkok.
Extremely well explained…thanks!
omg this is so helpful! my family will be visiting Bangkok next year for the Coldplay concert and its our first international travel. thank you so much!
Happy Birthday!! Thank you!
Happy birthday Forrest.
great info Forrest, Thx,
Fantastic video. While I love the food, expats retiring to Thailand, and condo tours, this daily life video is awesome. Just to see how advanced Bangkok is, but contrast the similarities and differences with the US. Exactly what someone would need to know when visiting!
Keep up the great work, I love your stuff.
Awesome vlog Forest. Went to Bangkok’s China Town for the first time when I visited Thailand in late January. Compared to the China Town in London, Bangkok’s is just wild! Stayed at the Hotel Royal Chinatown too which has great views of Bangkok from the rooftop bar. Happy Birthday as well Forest. Another year closer to uncle status. 🤣
HAPPY (heavily belated) BIRTHDAY LEE
Very helpfull! Thanx Lee
Very helpful video. Happy Belated Birthday 🎉
Wow thank you! this was very helpful!
Happy Birthday, Forrest!! Seems like you've never aged a day!!!
Came to this video from the "ultimate guide to airport rail link" video. Both are really helpful, informative and... makes me long to hurry up and get over there. Thumbs-up, and thanks.
Have you ever been? I’m on my first trip outside 🇺🇸 at 41 and in BKK to finish my last week. Phuket is paradise omg words can’t explain. Rent a motor bike there and just go! So many things to see and do
Great informative video! 👍
Awesome video it’s going to really help me when I come to Bangkok for November 2023. I’m excited to look at your other videos.
How was it?
Nice video brother. Very useful .. next to include are the canal boats
Happy Birthday Forrest 🍻🎂🍾
Chinese doing a Thai Accent like a dude strung out in a Mankini during April and no sun screen😉🤣
Thank you for the useful information. I just got back from Bangkok and your video really helped me attempt the Thai train system. You are one of the few (or only) that actually talk about the contactless Visa card that can be used at the train turn-styles. I couldn't even find any (Visa) info on the BTS site. It is so much easier than having to buy tokens or refill cards. I don't know why the Sky train doesn't use the same Visa system as MRT, although buying a ticket is not a big deal. My wife and I Stayed right next to the ASOK (across the street from Terminal 21) station and got a day pass for the BTS Skytrain and it allowed us to see so much more in an efficient amount of time. Very crowded but not dangerous at all (unlike the mentioned US cities), and air conditioned. The train system is like an attraction in itself! It's like a treasure map, and you need to find the gold, your destination . It worked out so well, we took the Airport Link back to BKK at the end of our trip. So much easier than a Taxi!! WE (US) can learn a lot from this Mass transit system and how it is supposed to work.
Happy 🎉Birthday 🎉 young man!
hey HBD Forrest !
You make me miss Bangkok soo much! 🙏 I'll be there in 2 weeks! 😍
Happy Birthday. Have fun and enjoy live.
So . . . how young are we today Forrest ? ;) Loved this video as it is super-helpful and informative. It really serves to take the intimidation out of having to figure out public transportation. Well done !
For the bts get a prepaid rabbit card and a metrocard for the mrt if you are staying longer then a couple of days , saves you the hasle to hunt for coins.
what line do you use the METROCARD for??
Happy birthday. All the best to you.
Thanks for the Chase tip, excellent!
Happy birthday!! Best wishes
Thanks for showing public transportation 😊
I'm glad to know about the visa tap thing, I have a United card so I get flight miles and no currency exchange charge
I hope you celebrated your birthday with a few Changs at Why Not Bar on Soi Nana. Another awesome video.
Thank you for your video. It's Great. Happy Birthday
Didn't know I could tap my Visa to pay for MRT! This is a huge time-saver! Thanks so much!
do you get a foreign exchange fee added????
Not on my card.@@Primevals33
@@Primevals33 you may be charged about 1-3% which is very minimal in Thai Baht. To trade with versatility it's very convenient esp. on rush hours.
@@noi747 It's not the Thai baht I am worried about but the American dollar? I will check with my bank. Thanks so much :)
@@Primevals33 that will depends on your credit card whether they have a foreign transaction fee of not.
So helpful! I last visited bkk in 2000 with a friend but will return this year 2023 alone so im very nervous😢 glad i checked out your vids.
How was it?
HEY FORREST ,happy brithday
Very well explained thanks
Happy Birthday! We reached the dirty 30 yet? Once I get out of the military I am thinking of moving to Asia as well from the States. Love the content, keep it up bro!
Transit systems in the US suck. I got pretty good with the MRT and BTS while in Bangkok. By the end of the first day it's pretty easy. I will recommend your video to friends coming to Bangkok to explain the transit system. Good to know about Visa tap to pay for the MRT, but beware minimum foreign exchange fees from your US bank. I also overpaid for the taxi from the airport like a typical tourist, but still cheap compared to the US. Sometimes you are tired and don't feel like haggling. I did a Tuk Tuk in Chiang Mai. Went on the highway. I'm sure my life would have flashed before my eyes if I could have seen where we were going (I'm so tall the canopy prevented me from seeing straight ahead.)
Welcome to Thailand. The pink line is preparing to open this August. We give you a try and review there. There's a lot of new things in Thailand for you to discover.🎉
Nice one. Happy birthday(lately) Bro.
Goooooood video!!!!!!!!!
This year , New monorails is MRT Yellow and Pink line
Thanks for the video!
Love the video 👍💪
Its really useful. I am gonna go to Thailand next month. Its my first solo trip and i thought its better to use public transportation for person travel alone and interesting experience. Its not complicated as i thought. Thanks for guiding
Hi. So what part of Bangkok did you go to and what type of transportation? Did you take a taxi to your hotel/ AIrbnd OR DID YOU USE THE SKYTRAIN??
@@Primevals33 i visited some places in Bangkok. Skytrain is convinient and cheap. i live it. u can take airport link to ur hotel from airport. its useful and easy
hi Lee ! ...i am interesting what kind of gear you had for taking these informative video ! thanks for your kindness
Greetings from Norway to Mr Lee
Thank you for the information
thank you sir very helpful.
Happy b day bro! I’ll be there in 14 days. Lets link up!
Its an incredible system .. the overlapping BTS skytrain and MRT underground metro .. only glitch is you need a top-up card for each system - MRT and rabbit cards.
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY 😊
Wishing you a very happy birthday 🎂 Forrest Lee from Bob Expat living in Thailand soon.
Hey Forrest, I'm happy I came across your videos, subscribed and still going through your videos 😅 I'm relocating to Bangkok for work and would love to hear about your opinion on the best neighborhood/district.
@@ShadyD365 works going to be at Phra Ram 9. Colleagues told me it's a great area but since we have a little dog, they reccomended Thong Lo. What do you? Thank you in advance!
@ForrestLee: Could you please make a video on how to use both, non-airconditioned and air-conditioned busses in BK, and what are the ticket prices? That would be very helpful. I have a feeling that 99% of tourists do not use busses in BK at all. There is no clear map of bus lines, their routes, their schedule or cost per ride. Very confusing.
your vlog helpfull, MRT more practicable for tourist with visa holder easy option payment. thank you
Happy belated 🎉birthday 🎉🎉
Hey Forrest! I enjoy your channel and i notice similarities between your way of approaching life and my. Would be great to hear your views on marriage and especially in the context of yourself in East,
Also, the rabbit card for BTS. Handy, as you don't need to continue to line up for tickets each and every time
Thailand started bus service in Bangkok nearly 100 years ago, it was run by private bus operators at a reasonable price but still making a decent profit. However, about 45 years ago, a certain political party campaigned to make bus in Bangkok free and when this party came to power as a coalition govt, it nationalized bus services, buying the private operators and created Bangkok Mass Transport Authority (BMTA) to run a free bus service for a few years. When the govt could no longer afford the huge annual subsidy, it allowed the BMTA to charge a cheap ticket price for non-aircon buses and then introduced air-con buses at 2-3 times the price of non-aircon buses. The non-aircon buses have been running at a loss since then up to today while the air-con buses run at break-even. The BMTA then granted private bus operators to run non-aircon and air-con buses again about 30 years ago to reduce the BMTA's mounting debts as private operators seem to know how to run buses at a decent profit even though they charge the same ticket fares as BMTA's own buses. To this day, BMTA non-aircon red/orange buses are still relatively cheap less than 10 baht, one of the cheapest fare in the world. Every year, the national govt allocates a supplementary budget to shore up BMTA's inefficient operation. It is apparent that the first populist policy of Thai govt does not work as is the case worldwide such as the bankrupted Venezuela and father of populist policy Argentina which seeks IMF help at least 6 times since WWII.
I was riding the busses in Bangkok 54 years ago when the price was 50 stang. Often would ride a bus to the end of the line and return for a cheap tour of the city.
Back then the tallest building in the city were the Watts. Very common to see both men and women on the streets of Bangkok wearing sarongs. You knew you were in a foreign country then. No McDonald's, Starbucks then, there were no laws concerning marijuana, only the some farmers smoked it in their bongs and could be bought for $1 a kilo.
Happy Birthday 🍰🎉
Happy birthday 🎈
Happy Birthday 🎈
I m your big fan
go go go
Great Video. Been a while since I have been to Bangkok. Do they still have a daily all you can travel option?
thank you for information
Happy birthday 🎉🎉🎉
Happy Birthday! One Q is when using the credit card does it automatically know what to charge you without knowing where your going? That was a great vid Thanks!
Happy birthday 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore really has the best transit system in SEA
Great video. I'm in Bangkok right now and I am lost af
You did not mention the other option: If you want to get a prepaid multi use card you can use a CC or cash to get a Rabbit Card (BTS) or MRT card, but you will need your passport when doing so. I think they require a set minimum of a few hundred THB. Rabbit Cards can also be used to buy stuff at many shops. I think the new Red line to DMK, BKK Airport line, and other lines have their own systems which is sort of crazy.
As a general rule: Don't walk on escalators in Bangkok. It is even written in MRT. Difficult to understand for Europeans and US-Americans, but that is more efficient than the "Stand right, walk left".
Actually, it is far less efficient.
The sky train looked easy enough. Can you get it from airport to central Bangkok? Cheers
Homey, Happy belated birthday. Tried all four transportation including boat taxi. Bike taxi too risky. Some bikers taxi don’t provide crash helmet. Mandatory by law? 411 much appreciated. Jai yen yen
I wasn't at Bangkok for few years by now. Has ARL, BTS, MRT, SRT still there own proprietary ticket system?
Taxis are usually not that convenient because they having a habit to stock in traffic.
When you stay longer the a few days you should get a rabbit card. This is a prepaid card you can tap at enter an exit (At least at BTS).
This saves you some time as the queues in front of the machines are very long at rush hours. Especially at Siam Station.
Also to mention are the river an klong (canal) boats. The also can get around the 24/7 traffic jam of Bangkok.
The BTS-MRT-ARL system is very clean and fast. But 5 lines for a city in the size of Bangkok is not nearly enough.
(I count the airport rail link (ARL) but not the Golden Line that is only a marketing tool for Icon Siam)
But that is getting better now with Red SRT and Yellow MRT Lines.
A other problem is that you have different ticket systems each system. If it is still like that.
Still the same 😂
Thank 🐦 you for your everyday practical video.
The sound is a little tinny.... so hard for me to hear but otherwise it's awesome!
Tuk Tuks are of course a form of taxi. These days they mainly serve tourists for a fun ride rather than commuting. Avoid when traffic is heavy you don't want to sit there breathing exhaust fumes for too long.
Very nice Forrest. Like the content...H Belated BD
Great content- definitely need to know stuff. HBD 🥳
Great video! Put a map location for the dim sum place.
Thanks