Bangkok Transport

[dirtydog]

Bangkok being such a big place and full of people that can't afford a car or motorbike has many different forms of transport, some public and some private, from the humble motorbike taxi to luxurious limosines, although you don't see many of them about, ok lets stick with air-con taxis with meters, tonnes of them all over Bangkok. They also have boat transport, bus, minibus, trains and even helicopter hire, although I am not sure where the helicopters can land other than either of the 2 airports.

So first up on our Bangkok public transport thread is of course one of Bangkoks unique features, the poxy Tuk Tuk, noisy, dangerous and probably uninsured are just the nice things you can say about them, great for short journeys, will always try to rip you off, but hell, they get you to where you want to go and just weave between all the traffic jams so if your in a hurry to a business meeting these are just what the director ordered, of course being open to all weathers your hair will be all over the place (baldies will be ok) and you will stink of petrol and diesel fumes, but thats life in the big city.

Anyway, worth using at least once just for the thrill of racing through the Bangkok traffic and being open to it all, of course it is always worth checking which good hospitals are on the route you will be taking, nothing wrong with being careful, and Bangkok does have some great hospitals, just check your insurance is up to date as the better ones are a tad expensive.

Mr Somchai and his pink, green and blue Tuk Tuk.



And the Tuk Tuk beast itself. They will seat around 6 normal sized people, not very comfortably but it can be done

[dirtydog]

My personal choice of transport in Bangkok is of course the boats, really can't beat a fast long tail boat zooming down the Chao Phraya river trying to sink other boats with their waves, or even doing a James Bond and slicing over the middle of one, or was that Venice he done that?

Of course the river has plenty of other boat choices for those that wish to travel more sedately, ie slow old ferries type things, but for price, relaxation, views and even speed of actually getting to where you want to go if it is rush hour on the Sois of Bangkok the river boats can't be beaten, really nice way to travel, I highly recommend it.

This long tail boat wont crash or sink, it has the garlands to protect it on the front.

[Norton]

They will seat around 6 normal sized people, not very comfortably but it can be done

Not comfortable but you'll get to see all the hot spots in town. Gem shops, tailors, massage parlors to name but a few. What you won't get to see is the destination you want to go.

[Latindancer]

If you need to get through traffic, the motorcy taxis are great. They're cheaper than taxis, won't drive too fast, and as professional drivers, have good road awareness. Just watch out for your knees as you weave through traffic.
They wear different coloured vests in different areas, but usually don't go across town....they stick to a certain locale.

[dirtydog]

We got lots of minibuses in Bangkok, cheap way to travel long distances at a reasonable speed, although looking at the past years news reports on minibus crashes and deaths that reasonable speed maybe considered a bit too high to some people.
8 killed in minibus horror

Regardless of the dangers of transport you still have to get around in Bangkok so whats to be will be whats to be, hold no fears of the minibus, you may survive.

Anyway, the minibuses are a bit too small for farangs, many times there is only standing room and sometimes the standing room is all taken up with people standing, personally I think just use minibuses for journeys of around 50km, anything longer and the farang is going to get uncomfortable, also for local journeys in Bangkok it isn't worth any small saving and really isn't any quicker than say a normal taxi.

Minibus garage at Victory Monument.

[BobR]

We got lots of minibuses in Bangkok, cheap way to travel long distances at a reasonable speed, although looking at the past years news reports on minibus crashes and deaths that reasonable speed maybe considered a bit too high to some people.
8 killed in minibus horror (Eight killed in latest van horror)

That's about the only one I've read in which the van driver (who was a woman) does not appear to have any fault. I prefer riding in those things with female Thais driving them, they almost always drive much more carefully.

[Bangyai]

Just to confuse things , these are sometimes known as micro buses and these:




are known as mini buses.

The above mini bus is not air conditioned , takes standing passengers and generaly follows the rout of a larger namesake bus.

A micro bus on the other hand , is air conditioned and only allows 15 sitting passengers. Standing not allowed.

The old micro buses were terrible with bad air con and no roof space. The new ones pictured ( in the garage ) above are o.k except for the tallest of passengers ( with the exception of the back row and the middle seat in front next to the driver.

There are prose and cons in using a micro bus within the metropolitan area. The cons are that the drivers often wait around at bus stops until the van is full, wasting your time. Conversely, if they are full they don't stop at all unless someone wants to get off. This can make them pretty quick if you are the last one aboard. You can take a mini bus a mightly long way for the maximum fare ( in city ) of 25 baht. Bangyai right to Chatuchak market ( about 26k ) for 25 baht.

Large buses are safer, can be a few baht cheaper, but generaly take a bit longer as they are supposed to slow down at every stop and don't use flyovers over intersections so sit at traffic lights more frequently.

Non air con buses are dirt cheap, about 8 baht, and can be o.k. for short distances in the middle of the day when its easier to get a window seat. Nightmare during the rush hour over a long distance. There are still a few free routes too that were introduced by Samaks government.

[Dillinger]

I am not sure where the helicopters can land other than either of the 2 airports.

Some condos have them, Millenium Tower, Suk 18 has helipads

[klong toey]

I am not sure where the helicopters can land other than either of the 2 airports.

Some condos have them, Millenium Tower, Suk 18 has helipads

They land on a helipad near Suk soi 33 something to do with Abhisit,we live near those condos on Suk 18 never seen one land there.
Can also get from swampy fairly quickly if you want.
Bangkok Airport Transfers | Helicopter and Limousine Transfer in Bangkok
Use the link below for a few tips on how to get around.
http://www.transitbangkok.com/

[dirtydog]

The above mini bus is not air conditioned , takes standing passengers and generaly follows therout of a larger namesake bus.

I have been on one of them, once, awful thing it was, seats designed for under nourished midgets, the heat, well got to be there to believe it, even the wheel arches inside were considered seats, vowed that was my first and last time for those poxy things.

[Bangyai]

The above mini bus is not air conditioned , takes standing passengers and generaly follows therout of a larger namesake bus.

I have been on one of them, once, awful thing it was, seats designed for under nourished midgets, the heat, well got to be there to believe it, even the wheel arches inside were considered seats, vowed that was my first and last time for those poxy things.

Agree with that. Awful things. When I lived in Sukhumvit 71 ( Prakanong ) they were o.k. to get me the 2 k to the end of the soi and the BTS but that was about it.

[dirtydog]

The full size version of Bangyais micro bus, yes a lovely fan bus, last and only time I got one of these in Bangkok the price was 2 1/2 baht, that was a few years ago though.

The drivers of these buses are of course famous for there racing driving abilities, not many of us farangs could make it as a Bangkok fan bus driver, the ability to close ones eyes whilst swerving across 3 lanes wildly is just a skill set we don't have, stopping in the middle lane to let passengers off whilst laughing wildly as they get hit by cars undertaking you, yes its agreat life being a fan bus driver.

Actually these things really should all be trashed, hot, and I mean boiling hot, suspension that doesn't work, is it really worth saving a couple of baht to be so uncomfortable? Of course not, so boycott these crappy old buses, did mention the seats were made for midgets, cushion barely 5mm thick, 3 inches of leg room that even dwarf Thais find uncomfortable, they are horrid, just try one for the experience of actually doing it, you will hate it, trust me on that one



A special day for everyone on here, I went out specially to get a photo of the inside of one of these awful fan buses, just to show how bad they really are, now prepare yourselves, here it is, I kicked off all the low end riff raff before taking the photo, don't want fleas or anything like that on me.

[Bangyai]

In many places in Bangkok you can still get a ride in one of these :




Not on busy main roads but in side streets and the bigger housing developments. A bit cramped but better than walking 1 kilometre at mid day.

[Dillinger]

Can someone end this argument for me ?

Waht are the Subarus called in Thai that travel up and down the sub sois of Sukhumvit ? They can carry 6 people in the back and the roofs are lo so u have to position your head away from the bars so as not to ge knocked out on the speed bumps

It cant be just "subaru" ? ?

I say songthaew. Yeahi know its a lot smaller and has know rear entry¡exit to hang on to

Sorry cant find a pic, but i think that plays into my favour having searched subaru songthaew bangkok.

Cheers

[sunsetter]

they are horrid, just try one

some are free, and at the right time of day, just before noon ish, they are great for me to use to get to sukumvit, takes about 15 mins, and the view is great

[farmerfloyd]

Where is the most popular and used transportation in Bangkok? Sky Train
That is another subject another day. love it Better then most other countries. Holds 1000 people takes off like a 500hp Corvette.

[terry57]

Your doing some nice threads lately DD.

Thanks

[dirtydog]

How can we forget the Bangkok taxi, these are great now, a few years ago they made them all have meters fitted, it turned a load of scamming nasty gits into a more professional bunch that are called taxi drivers rather than %$#$%^%$ %$$%$#@

The taxis are generally in bright colours such as pink, yellow, green, the sort of colours you wouldn't have for your own car, this is due to most Thai men being desperate for a sex change, probably.

Anyway you got air-con, the shortest amount of leg room a car can have, not sure how or why they managed that, its ok for midgets and Thais though.

Flag fall is 35baht, soon to go up to 45 baht which makes it real expensive for short journeys, luckily we are all rich and the SAS, SBS, CIA or whatever pay good pensions



Now these Bangkok taxis are rare, but they got the leg room and everything, have to admit I don't know whether they charge a premium or not, would have thought they did, but if you got the choice of being crushed up in some tiny little car or sitting in comfort in one of these I know which I would choose, even if it was a little bit more expensive, I got long legs.

[dirtydog]

Another full size Bangkok Fan Bus but with the windows closed, it has been raining so it will be slightly cooler on there, enough to close the windows though? Pretty sure it's going to be a tad warm on there, but to let in the rain or not? Think I would go for letting in the rain, the heat on those things is just too much.

[natalie8]

I'm with Terry on appreciating these threads. I can vouch for the vans to go to and from Miangthongthani. They are good, fast, efficient and the drivers are friendly and courteous the majority of the time.

I do know that some van drivers are real d1cks, but in my 4 years of using them, I can't remember having any problems.

[Mister Fixit]

Nice thread, but you haven't mentioned the normal air-con buses yet, or done an analysis of the complexities of the Chao Praya Express boats and their schedules, which need 6 months of study ;-)

[klong toey]

Nice thread, but you haven't mentioned the normal air-con buses yet, or done an analysis of the complexities of the Chao Praya Express boats and their schedules, which need 6 months of study ;-)

Chao Phraya Express

[dirtydog]

The Bangkok songthaew isn't quite as big as the Pattaya ones, Pattaya they use ordinary pick ups, Bangkok I think they use the old Daihatsu and convert them with the 2 rows of seats, don't hold me to that though, they reckon you can get 10 people on them at a pinch, this route is 5 baht per person, when the daihatsu is full off they go, 50 baht earned at the end of the journey and back to the market they go, cheap way to travel but doesn't look too comfortable for the average farang, and Mr 140 kilo fatty isn't going to be welcomed onto one of these either, probably best to leave these to the exclusive use of the locals unless you rent the whole vehicle.

Boring exterior but nice colourful interior, just got to love that shade of green



10 people in that? Your pulling my plonker...

[Latindancer]

I catch them all the time. 10 seated, 6 standing inside, and 4 on the tailgate. As long as it doesn't have a smelly diesel exhaust I enjoy hanging off the back....they don't go too fast. Can't do anything like that in Oz.

[dirtydog]

Funny old Suzukis they have down the market, seem to be running a lot of these old suzukis down at wanglang market, not sure how many people they will take but the seating arrangement is quite interesting, probably good for carrying stuff also with all that floor space.

Can't be more than 5baht per person as they have the small 2 seat row vehicles doing that price so these would be empty.

At least the driver has air con on this one, thats a bonus



Had to kick off all the passengers to get this photo, nasty lot they were about it as well, told them it was for the internet so good for them, they didn't seem to understand though.