Public Transit Decoded in Bangkok
A visual guide from the Bangkok travel guide — see all posters in Visual Guides.
Bangkok's traffic is the reason its rail network sits in the air. The BTS Skytrain runs on concrete viaducts above Sukhumvit and Silom, the MRT burrows underneath, two monorail lines loop the outer suburbs, and the Chao Phraya still does what it did before any of them, moving commuters up and down river for pocket change. The systems have different operators, which is why ticketing feels fragmented, but the geography is simple: two Skytrain lines crossing at Siam, an MRT loop through the old city, and boats on the river and the canal.
The networks
The BTS has two lines: Sukhumvit, in light green, running north to south through Siam and Asok, and Silom, in dark green, crossing it at Siam and reaching Saphan Taksin for the river piers. The MRT Blue Line loops through Chinatown, Sanam Chai and the old city before rejoining Sukhumvit at Asok. The Yellow and Pink monorails serve the outer east and north. The Airport Rail Link connects Suvarnabhumi to Phaya Thai in roughly half an hour, and the short Gold Line runs from Krung Thonburi past ICONSIAM to Khlong San. Orange-flag express boats stop at most river piers, and the Khlong Saen Saep boat cuts east to west through the jams.
Tickets and habits
A Rabbit card covers the BTS, the MRT uses its own card and tokens, and contactless bank cards now work on parts of the network, so assume you may need more than one method. Trains run from about six in the morning until roughly midnight, which means late nights end in a Grab or a metered taxi; insist on the meter if you flag one on the street. Rush hours, about seven to nine and five to eight, bring queues at Asok and Siam. For the last kilometre down a long soi, the orange-vested motorbike taxis waiting at the mouth of each street are quicker than anything else.