Getting around Bangkok

Arriving: which airport

Check which one your ticket names: they are separate airports, and AOT runs a free shuttle between them only for passengers connecting between flights. The Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang guides give the exact floors, gates and prices.

Leaving by train: Aphiwat or Hua Lamphong

Bangkok has two intercity rail stations. Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal is the departure station for the Chiang Mai trains and other long-distance services, and it connects with the MRT Blue Line and the Red Line. Hua Lamphong still has other departures, including the train to Pattaya on some dates.

Read the station on your ticket rather than the word "Bangkok". Some northern trains also stop at Don Mueang, which is handy if you are staying near that airport. The train guide and Bangkok to Chiang Mai give the timetables.

Leaving by bus: three terminals

The Transport Co. lists separate Bangkok terminals. On the routes covered here:

• Mo Chit 2 (Chatuchak): coaches to Chiang Mai and, on the dates checked, to Phuket.
• Ekkamai (Eastern Bus Terminal): Roong Reuang coaches to and from Pattaya.
• Southern Terminal: arrivals from the south, including return coaches from Phuket.

Minivans to Pattaya leave a separate minibus station at Mo Chit, and Mo Chit 2 is not the BTS Mo Chit station, so allow for a ride between them. For Pattaya from the airport, the coaches at Suvarnabhumi Gate 8 avoid the city entirely; see Bangkok to Pattaya.

Getting around: MRT, BTS and boats

The MRT Blue and Purple lines take contactless bank cards at the gates. According to Nation Thailand's report of the operator's plan, the old MRT and MRT Plus cards stopped working there on 1 June 2026, and Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay contactless cards are used instead. Use the same card to tap in and out.

The BTS Skytrain is a separate system with its own tickets. Check the payment options at the station before you assume a bank card works on both.

Paying by QR code: merchants that display a Thai QR code accept it, and AOT lists QR payment on Phuket's airport bus. The Bank of Thailand lists visitors from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam as able to scan Thai QR codes with participating apps from home, including Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay for China and Paybooc for Korea. Check that your own bank or wallet takes part before relying on it.

On the river, the Chao Phraya Express Boat runs flag-coded lines. The operator lists the orange flag line at 19 THB for any distance between Nonthaburi and Wat Rajsingkhon, and other flags at 24 to 36 THB. Check the flag on the boat before boarding.

Taxis and late arrivals

At both airports, the official taxi queue uses the meter, plus a 50 THB airport surcharge and any expressway tolls.

For a night arrival, rail is not an option after the lines close: the Airport Rail Link runs 05:30–24:00 according to AOT. The regular taxi queues at both airports run 24 hours.

Thailand Transport Hub

Written and maintained from Bangkok. The people behind this site have lived in Thailand for two decades and cross these borders themselves. Routes and visa rules get rechecked whenever something changes, not on a fixed schedule that lets stale information sit for months.