Bangkok Transport Options & Wat Arun - The Temple of Dawn

I did that for 14 years so effectively had, 7 years in Thailand from the late 80s and throughout the 90s and this also coincided with me having al little Travel Agency & Telephone Service on the, then, ‘Traveller Island’ Koh Pha-Ngan.

Back in those early days, I would arrive and spend a week in Bangkok before heading down by train, to the islands in the Gulf of Thailand.

In 2001 I got married to a girl from Chanthaburi which is a province by the Coast in the Gulf of Thailand between Rayong and Trat provinces and close to the border with Cambodia.

After that, whenever we arrived at Bangkok Airport, we would be met by family and whisked away for the 2.5-hour drive to Chanthaburi.

Consequently, Bangkok was developing, and whilst I was still spending lots of time in Thailand, I wasn’t keeping up-to-speed with Bangkok.

So, I decided to spend a week in Bangkok, primarily to re-educate myself on the Transport systems.

For many years, Bangkok traffic was awful and constantly gridlocked. It was always a challenge and a nightmare going anywhere.

This was compounded when they started building the BTS Skytrain, because it is situated above the main roads, but they had to build the structures in the middle of these roads which supported the lines and the stations.

Eventually the Sukhumvit Line opened, and this went one way or the other, forking at one end.

Now, the Sukhumvit Line has been extended and other lines added, so there are 7 lines in total covering all areas of Bangkok.

The BTS Skytrain is a nice way to get around Bangkok because it is clean and air-conditioned and fast. Being above the road, the Skytrain never gets gridlocked, and you do have views of Bangkok above, below and to the sides. Individual journeys are cheap to begin with anyway, but if you plan to take multiple journeys you can buy a One-Day Pass.

For longer durations there are the Rabbit Cards with different cards depending on the age demographic.

It is easy to buy tickets and travel cards as they do have the self-service machines in multiple languages, or the staff in the ticket booths all speak good English anyway.

The Metropolitan Rapid Transit or MRT is what we would liken to the London Underground.

It is a work-in-progress with 4 lines currently in operation and incorporating 107 stations including Bangkok BKK Airport, Hua Lamphong Railway Station, Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal and many other places of interest.

The MRT is very modern and clean with glass doors on the platform, so you never actually see the tracks.

Again, as with the BST Skytrain there are self-service machines or you can go to the ticket booths, where they do speak English. If you tell them where you want to go, e.g. The Grand Palace, they will advise which stop you need to get off at.

You can buy single journeys, where you get a round, plastic token, which you put into the barriers to enter and this is then returned to you, then at your destination, the machine swallows your token when you exit.

You can also buy prepaid cards for multiple journeys.

On the train, there are maps advising where you are and what the next stop is and on arrival at each stop there is an announcement in Thai and English.

Bangkok is a city that has the mighty Chao Phraya River running through it and so, complementing the BTS Skytrain and the MRT are the Ferries and River Taxis.

There are Piers on both sides of the river at regular intervals serving all of the most popular places, including The Grand Palace, Wat Arun and ICONSIAM Shopping Mall.

Fares vary depending on distance and the size and type of Taxi/Ferry, some are small and quite basic whereas others are bigger and very comfortable.

Whilst in Bangkok I took lots of journeys to various places around the city often incorporating the BTS Skytrain, MRT and the Ferries/Taxis.

One of the places I visited was Wat Arun or The Temple of Dawn, which is a Buddhist Temple on the other side of the river. Wat Arun often appears in brochures and other promotions and is particularly beautiful when lit up in the evening.

Here I took the MRT to Sanam Chai and then jumped on a Ferry for £1 from Ragini Pier across to Wat Arun and a different Ferry back for approximately 12p.

Even if you don’t want to go anywhere in particular, it is nice to get on a river taxi at one location on the river and just stay on for an hour to have a little boat trip with a cool breeze and to see all of the views from the river, including for me, seeing where all the hotels are on either side of the river.

It would be amazing to stay on the river with a view in the evening of Wat Arun, lit up in all it’s glory, and a couple of hotels that I might recommend are Riva Arun and SALA Rattanakosin, which is actually, directly opposite.

Going back to the 1990’s the main Railway Station was Hua Lamphong and I used this a lot when taking the overnight sleeper down to Surat Thani and then continuing with a ferry to the islands, but I also took the sleeper between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in the North and Bangkok and Nong Khai in the North-East.

Hua Lamphong looks quite colonial in style and reminds a bit of Paddington Station in London.

It is still used now, but primarily for the slower, ordinary trains.

There is however, a new, bigger and more glitzy station called Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal. This is where all the fast and modern trains depart from.

I did use this station when I went on a day trip to Ayutthaya (the Capital circa 1350) to see the Temple sites. Here I took a Rapid Train that took 1 hour and cost approximately £1.

Please note, if you are buying a train ticket to go from one province to another, you might need your passport. I was asked for mine, but I had left it in the hotel safe. Luckily, they gave me a ticket anyway.

Bangkok is a very easy city to travel around. If you are nervous, just take a leap of faith. The transport systems are all modern and staff working in these stations speak English to a good level.

It is certainly a well-trodden path and has been for a long time.

I am possibly a little bit blasé about it because Thailand has been a big part of my life for over 35 years, but travel around Bangkok is safe, fun and easy.

If you have any questions or concerns, please ask me, as I am always only too happy to help.