River trams in Bangkok. River channels and klongs of Bangkok. Chao Phraya river and canals of Bangkok - river transport

As in any major metropolis in the world, there is a well-developed transport network. Everyone can choose for themselves this or that way of moving around the city, depending on preferences and financial situation.

Tickets for intercity transport

If you need to go outside of Bangkok, then there are bus stations, railway station, Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports for this. Tickets can also be purchased online. Use the form below.

Bangkok river transport on Chao Phraya

Ferries run along the Chao Phraya River and have certain stops. They are easy to get to the main attractions:,. The central pier from which ferries depart is located next to BTS Saphan Taksin Station. They go quite far down the river, but tourists usually don't go further - a popular place with many shops, tour desks and cheap accommodation.

All ferries run from 6 am to 7 pm. The fare depends on the distance and is 10-32 baht. There are special ferries for tourists with an English-speaking guide. They go from the Central Pier to Pier No. 13 (where Khaosan is located), then turn around and follow in the opposite direction. Travel time one way is 25-27 minutes. Ticket price - 150 baht.

water taxi

This transport of Bangkok is a motor boat designed for several people. Unlike ferries, which follow a specific route and make specific stops, boats can go anywhere and drop you off anywhere. They may also wait while you take in the sights. Such a taxi is good because you can travel on it along the tributaries of the Chao Phraya River and see how the locals live away from the tourist trails. The trip costs around 800 baht. But this is the price for the whole boat, and if there are, for example, 4 people, then each will be 200.

Tuk-tuk taxi

This transport is the symbol of Bangkok, many souvenir shops even sell small models dedicated to him.

Tuk-tuk is a modified three-wheel motorcycle. No more than three people (adults) with suitcases can fit. Their parking lots are everywhere and many people use tuk-tuks as exotics, such as “well, how not to be in Bangkok and not try to ride this miracle”. The cost of the trip is discussed in advance. Bargaining is quite appropriate, albeit within reasonable limits. For a few kilometers you will be charged 15-20 baht, and to cross the whole of Bangkok, you need 200-300. The more people, the cheaper it is, because. payment is made not for each passenger, but for the entire tuk-tuk. You can get to almost anywhere in the capital. Tuk-tuk parking lots are located near popular tourist places - shopping malls, attractions, markets.

Moto taxi

This is the most the fastest from Bangkok's land transport, because of the maneuverability, you will not be stuck in traffic jams. Plus, he will take you to the place along the shortest distance - all sorts of lanes and nooks and crannies.

The passenger sits in the back seat and the trip begins. Sometimes it can fit two people, but driving in this way is dangerous. In general, motorbike-taxi is a rather traumatic type of transport - oops, and crashed at the turn. It is best avoided if possible, although it can be justified in case of urgency and rush hour. The price of the trip depends on the distance and is not much different from the cost of a tuk-tuk - through the whole city you will be charged 200 Thai rubles. Taxi drivers with motorcycles are located at almost every intersection, close to attractions and shopping centers in Bangkok.

This metered taxi. In our opinion, this is the best transport option in Bangkok (with the exception of rush hours when you have to stand in traffic jams). Taxis are foreign cars painted in different colors (a lot of pink and green). There is a sign "TAXI-METER" on the roof. The cabin is very comfortable, and the fare will be cheaper (according to the meter) than riding in a tuk-tuk, blown by all the winds. In a taxi, the air temperature is brought by air conditioners to 21-23 degrees. This is very nice considering that outside the window +30…+35.

If you have already been to Bangkok many times and know it well, then in this article you are unlikely to find something interesting for yourself. Rather, it is of interest only to those who generally know very little about the capital of Thailand, or who have never traveled along the river channels of Bangkok. Actually, I want to offer you two short, but convenient routes for moving from to some of the sights. Of course, there are tuk-tuks and colorful city buses, but they can get stuck in traffic jams, which does not happen with river buses.

How to get from Khaosan Road to Bangkok Business Center

You may need to get into the business center of Bangkok if you want to climb, or go to, or you will need various shopping centers, ranging from Pantip Plaza to Big C.

You can go there by bus, but the journey threatens to take a decent amount of time. Therefore, I now prefer to walk to the (Temple of the Golden Mountain) and from it take a klong to the Pratunam area, this is just the very center where all the above listed attractions are located. If you walk from Khaosan, then it takes no more than 10 minutes to walk to the temple, and you don’t need to reach it, just 500 meters short and there will be a river channel.

This is the move I like the most. Not only do you sail with the breeze through places that you cannot see from the bus window, but the boat itself is so colorful! Its roof is adjustable in height with rope mechanisms, this is necessary in order to swim under low bridges. The first time I was driving, the roof suddenly fell on my head and I could not understand how it happened! And the spray from oncoming boats, from which the oilcloth sides rise in the same way with ropes, where else can you see this? so I recommend this attraction, if not for constant movement, then at least one-time.

The fare is 12 baht. Opening hours are somewhere from 6 am to 19 pm, see the photos below for more details. There are different boats, express and with all stops (but not all berths stop anyway). It is also worth considering that during some kind of regatta, ferries operate only in the morning and evening.

If you want to find a hotel in Bangkok, somewhere near the center, so that it is convenient to see all the sights, it is convenient to choose accommodation on RoomGuru, a service where you can compare hotel prices in different booking systems.

I have stayed in Bangkok many times and in different hotels. I will not provide links to all my reviews, I will give only a few. — convenient for stopping near the airport and subway, — a good place to spend the night near Khaosan, located in the center next to the park.

How to get from Khaosan Road to Wat Arun, Wat Pho, Royal Palace

River slums - the cheapest housing

Walk around Bangkok on your own for fear of getting lost or being deceived by cunning taxi drivers or tuk-tukers. However, in fact, there is nothing complicated in moving around the city. You can easily arrange a self-guided tour: see the main attractions in bangkok in a couple of days, and without any negotiations with taxi drivers and other intermediaries. And at the same time admire the skyscrapers of Bangkok from the river.

How to do it? Everything is simple. Ride the waterbus along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. The river runs through the whole of Bangkok, so it is convenient to get to many temples in Bangkok along the river.

How to ride river trams on the river in Bangkok

In the photo: how to see the sights of Bangkok along the river

To do this, you need to have a navigator with you or, and use inexpensive river trams that constantly run along the Chao Phraya River as transport. Getting to the chosen place along the river is not difficult, as elsewhere in Thailand.

From where to start river tour in Bangkok

You need to start your trip to the sights on the Skytrain (BTS). Drive to Saphran Taksin station, get off and go down under the bridge to the river. And here you are at pier number 1 - “Sathorn Pier”.

Sathorn Pier in Bangkok - the beginning of the trip on the river

Arrow "to the left" shows the way to the river trams. Please note that two types of boats stop at this pier:

Chao Praya Tourist Boat - walking route for tourists
Chao Praya Express Boat - public transport, there are different routes (flags)
- orange flag
- yellow flag
- green flag

Choose the regular Expess Boat (Orange Flag). Before the trip, study the stop scheme, boats of different flags do not always stop at all piers.

If you follow the “straight” arrow, you will get to the pier where boats arrive from cool coastal hotels like “Mariott”, “Peninsula”, “Chatrium” or “Shangri La”.

How to buy tickets for the river tram

Do not react to various offers of tickets and “inexpensive” excursions at the “ticket offices” you see - these are all tourist affairs and river trams do not touch. Find the cashier at the table that says "Orange Flag" and buy a ticket. The ticket price is 14 baht per person - the right budget for a self-guided tour!

If you did not have time to buy at the box office, you can buy a ticket on board the river tram from the conductor.

Ticket office for tourist boats looks more elegant. Ticket prices too...

Boarding the river trams

Tourists are lined up before boarding. River trams run quite often. Be prepared that boarding and disembarking of passengers take place very quickly - do not yawn, look where you put your foot and do everything like the surrounding Thais.

How to get off the ship at the right place

When traveling along the river, keep an eye on the numbers of the berths. These will be such blue pointers with numbers. As you can see, everything is simple.

Inside Chao Praya Express Boat

Inside the river tram, everything is simple - the front rows of seats, boarding / disembarking pass through the back of the boat.

On the way, you will have time to take pictures and observe ordinary Thais, and the coordinated actions of the captain of the boat.

How to get by river to the main attractions of Bangkok

So, where do you need to get off in order to immediately get along the river to the desired attractions.

Water transport in Bangkok is well-deservedly popular among local residents. This is not surprising, because in fact it is a kind of “water taxi”, which allows you to comfortably get where you need to go and avoid minor troubles like traffic jams. In addition, during such a trip along the Chayo Praya River, you can take interesting photographs, admire the beauties of the city and just have a good time. River transport in Bangkok runs quite often. You will have to wait no more than ten to fifteen minutes.

Types of river transport in Bangkok

In order not to pay a lot, tourists need to pay attention to the carrier company that owns the “liked” boat. It may be that, at first glance, the same ships will go along the same route, but the cost of services is quite different.

There are a lot of firms - carriers providing this type of service in the city.

shipscompaniesChao Phraya River Express

This company owns express boats that carry out routes of two types. Daily - standard routes that run in the same direction (from six in the morning to seven in the evening). As well as special express trains that operate flights on weekdays, at the most “busy” time (from six to nine in the morning and from fifteen to seventeen in the afternoon).

The boats of this company are marked with flags of different colors depending on the route, without a flag they moor at all piers.

The cost of tickets for this transport is from ten to thirty baht, depending on the distance. It turns out cheaper than a trip by subway, even for a short distance.

shipscompaniesChao Phraya Tourist Boat

River routes of this company are designed specifically for guests of the city. The boat slowly moves up the river, stopping along the way at ten main city piers. This is done so that tourists can better view and photograph local attractions from the side of the river. During the movement, the guide tells about the history, cultural traditions and sights of the city.

The ticket price is only about fifteen baht, but locals rarely use such "tourist" boats, primarily because of the large number of stops and the slow speed of movement. You can also buy an unlimited day pass for 150 baht and ride all day on different boats of this company.

Cross-River Ferry ships

This company offers passengers a crossing from one side of the river to another at a very attractive price - just a couple of baht. The boats are small and run quite often.

river taxi

Otherwise called a longtail boat. They are very popular, primarily due to the fact that they develop great speed and follow the main tourist routes. These boats can be rented to ride the canals (klong) of Bangkok. The fare, as well as the rental price, is negotiable and depends on the distance.

How to find the right berth and the right boat in Bangkok

If everything is more or less clear with the price, then it remains to be clarified how to get on the boat you like. Actually it's not difficult. Often, near the pier there is a sign on which the timetable for water transport is written, and the number of the berth to which this or that boat arrives. There may be only one berth.

Berths are international. In Bangkok, they look exactly the same as in any other city in the world, it is impossible to make a mistake.

On the pier, you can see signs indicating where the "express" will moor, and where there is a place for a large ferry. However, few people look at these images - it is enough just to see where the desired boat has already stopped and head towards it. There will be more than enough time for this.

Important: express trains going in different directions can moor in the same place on the pier.

Below is a map of river transport routes with reference to all piers, attractions and metro.

Buying tickets

Tickets for various types of river transport in Bangkok can be bought at the ticket office located next to the pier or from the cashier sitting at the table. If there is no such box office, or there is no time to buy a ticket, so as not to be late for the boat, you can pay directly “on the spot”. The ticketer will either move along the ferry and come up himself - ask for payment, or will stand at the entrance to the boat. Sometimes payment can be collected already at the exit, upon arrival at the place.

UPDATE: After our last visit to Bangkok in 2017, I realized that the most convenient way to get around Bangkok is with the Uber app!!! Install it on your phone or tablet and call a taxi to any place without even knowing your address! And you will also get 75 baht for the first two trips, i.e. 150 baht just like that, if you enter the code syh57) We drove an average of 150 baht for a trip around the city for five for 40 minutes, inexpensive)))

How to get around Bangkok cheap? To do this, there are buses, metro, river transport and taxis in Bangkok.

With all this you can cope even without knowledge of any language. The main thing is to show a piece of paper with the name of where you are exactly going, that is, to have a printed name of the end point of your destination. If this is some famous landmark, then English is enough. But, of course, it's best in Thai too. When booking hotels, for example, you can see all the names and addresses in Thai and English. In addition, in such cases, I also take a screenshot of the place I need - a temple, an amusement park, etc. It especially saved me in Vietnam, in Saigon - there you won’t find a local with knowledge of English in the afternoon with fire, but if you show a picture - everything will be fine. they are happy to help, indicate the right direction and write the bus numbers. In Thailand, the mentality of the locals is such that it is not customary to show that you do not know something. Often people waved in any direction, as if showing the way, but did not admit that they did not even understand you. In my experience, showing maps to locals is also most often useless. But the printed names - that's it! If you book a hotel and plan to take a taxi, be sure to write down the reception phone number. And at the airport, immediately take a local SIM card (this can be done for free, throw some money on it). Since we booked several times not very expensive and well-known hotels (once even a very cheap one-star hotel), the phone number was very handy. When taxi drivers made amazed eyes even at a printout of the address with a map in Thai, it was enough to give them a phone with a number and everything cleared up. By the way, this saved us money, because taxi drivers did not have to wind circles in search of the right point.

Download map

So what did we drive around Bangkok?

View from taxi window

is my favorite vehicle. Unlike taxis on Koh Samui and other resorts, they are metered. The main thing, before getting into a taxi in Bangkok, you need to show the counter and say "taxi - meter." Without a meter, we only had to go once, when we were late at the stunning location of Muang Boran Park. However, even from there, three adults and a child were charged 300 baht (rubles) for an evening trip to the hotel.

Taxi in Bangkok is easy to catch. It is enough to raise your hand in the street. We used to walk to some nearby Tesco Lotus (my favorite supermarkets in Thailand, where you can almost always find a food court with delicious and inexpensive food), have breakfast or lunch, and there is a dime a dozen taxis in the parking lot, like all shopping centers. The exception is large shopping malls for tourists. Especially in the evenings, it is extremely difficult to get away from them by taxi, taxi drivers offer fixed prices two to three times higher than usual. And when we tried to leave in the evening even in the strongest downpour, prices increased by 4-5 times! Often shopping centers have special people, you tell them where to go, name your price (if it’s too low, they’ll explain right away)), and they immediately find a taxi for you.

How much is a taxi in Bangkok?

Cork in the center of Bangkok

We mostly traveled on yellow-green ones. Maybe it just seemed so to me, but the trips came out cheaper on them. When landing, the counter will already have 35 baht. Sometimes the amount comes out purely symbolic - a few kilometers up to a hundred rubles. The most expensive thing we paid was about 280 baht (= rubles) from the airport to the center and 350 baht from there, when we were in terrible traffic jams, almost through the entire city. Another small expense is toll roads. But moving on them is much faster. The passenger himself pays - so it is better to prepare small money in advance. The amounts were small, 20-25 baht, it seems that the largest is 50 baht. If you go far, you can pay a couple of times. By the way, drivers in Bangkok try to cheat less for money. Or maybe we just got lucky. Although the meter spins not only for mileage, but also for time, and standing in a traffic jam you can pay an extra hundred, several times the drivers showed us toll roads and asked, they say, this is a short way, but everything costs there (which was visible), let's Let's go long, but without traffic jams. We agreed as a result came out quickly and still cheap. They say that if problems arise, you can threaten the driver that you will complain about him and show him the phone number - in every car there is a sign with a photo, the name of the driver and the phone number of the company. I don’t know if this is true and if it scares taxi drivers as much as they write - we have not had to deal with this.

How to get from Bangkok airport to the hotel, to the center?

There are two main airports in Bangkok, planes from Russia usually fly to Suvarnabhumi airport, but if you need domestic flights, for example, fly further to Koh Samui, the flight will probably be from Don Muang airport.
Fortunately, it is easy to get a taxi at Bangkok airports. Ask where Publik Taxi is, they will tell you. There you will see several racks and queues for them. After the arrival of the plane, usually the lines are not small, but they move quickly. You show the address to the worker behind the counter, she understands where you should go, asks how many people and luggage. Gives a piece of paper - it must be kept until the end of the trip. Then he shouts to one of the taxi drivers, explains to him the address in Thai (sometimes we came across drivers who do not know English at all), the taxi driver escorts you to the car - large or ordinary. By the way, there is a huge gas cylinder in the trunk of a taxi! The last time we went in a taxi with an insane amount of things, with two strollers, a folding bed, etc., and were simply shocked when it turned out that there was practically no space in the trunk. I had to load everything into the cabin, and the three of us with the child occupied one and a half seats in the back - I generally hung in the air between my husband and the car door. There are a lot of impressions left) By the way, the taxi driver will still take 50 baht for the return trip, this rate is fixed.

At the same time, I remembered a very relevant question for many - how to get from suvarnabhumi airport to don muang airport?

How to find a free shuttle bus between airports

We often flew to neighboring countries to extend the Thai visa, then to Malaysia, then to Vietnam, then to Hong Kong ... And each time we arrive from Surat Thani (near Koh Samui) to one airport and depart from another.
In addition to taxis and buses, there is a wonderful and completely free shuttle bus that runs between the two airports of Bangkok. In order to get to the airport for free, you need to show your ticket (if it is in electronic form, a printout) before boarding. It runs from 5 am to midnight according to the schedule in the photo. We drove several times for 45 minutes, but they say if there are big traffic jams, it can take an hour to go. A taxi will travel about the same, but will take 400 baht.

In addition, there is such a wonderful thing -

Subway above ground

Just from the airport in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Suvarnabhumi) - the most convenient way to leave - Metro! Look for the inscription Suvarnabhumi Airport City Line. At the ticket office, point to the station you need with your finger and get a token. At the entrance, you need to attach it to the turnstile and keep it until the very end of the trip. When exiting, you throw it into the hole in the turnstile, without it it will be difficult to get out of the subway. The metro costs from 15 to 45 baht, if I remember correctly, to the inexpensive Nasa Vegas hotel, where we stayed a couple of times, located right next to the metro, the fare was 30 baht. Again, if I'm not mistaken, as I could have already forgotten, it took about thirty minutes to go. Just do not confuse it with the express, it goes from the airport without stops, but it already costs 150 baht from the nose.

The metro in Bangkok is generally a convenient thing. We usually tried to choose a hotel within walking distance from it, took the metro to the nearest station to the desired attraction, and then took a taxi. This way we avoided all the traffic jams of Bangkok in the center and saved on taxis.

Metro in Bangkok, in addition to the Airport City Line - ground MRT and underground BTS Skytrain. If you go by land, which we most often did, then you can also admire the views of the city, areas that you would not have reached so easily. The cost depends on the number of stations and, as I recall, does not exceed 45 baht per person. There are tokens in the underground metro, and cards in the surface metro. You can buy at the box office or vending machines. In the latter, you can choose English, but even without it, in principle, everything is clear.
Download scheme

Liked it a lot river tram, water transport of Bangkok.

"minibus" in Bangkok) 20 rubles.

In this way, you can combine a trip with a walk through the Klongs of Bangkok. We used these boats in Bangkok only twice, along approximately the same route, when we visited the Ratchanadam Temple and the Temple of the Golden Mountain located not far from it. If sailing from the center, the boat stop near the Pratunam shopping center, under the bridge at the intersection of Phetchaburi and Ratchadamri streets. Get off at the Phan Fa Lilat stop, it costs 12 baht per person. There are boats that follow just the right route, which is called the Golden Line, and it will be convenient for you to travel from end to end.

Well, if you don’t live in the center, but the river buses go past you, then it’s best to swim on them for shopping in the city center, stops near the main shopping centers, Baiyoke Sky hotel with an observation deck.
Download scheme and map

Ticket - 12 baht = rubles

View from the boat

By what principle they take money for travel - I don’t know, according to the logic of things - they have to pay for the distance, but for some reason, those who got on later than us and swam to our stop (terminal) were charged more! However, the amounts are simply ridiculous, as I understand it - up to 20 baht per person.

You can get here on such a boat

As a cheap excursion, it is quite possible to sit at any stop and ride one way and the other. True, you can’t see much from the boat, because the water splashes heavily on those who are on the edge, and usually they raise the sides from the splashes. And for those in the middle, the view opens through the neighbors.