Bangkok, in plain English
Clear, sourced references to getting around Bangkok and getting things done in the city — compiled from official data and resident experience, and kept up to date.
Getting around
Getting around Bangkok by train: BTS, MRT and the airport line
Every rail line, single fares, which fare card works where, and how to get in from both airports — the whole network in plain English.
Transport guide · EnglishThe nearest BTS or MRT station to Bangkok's top attractions
The closest station to the Grand Palace, Chatuchak, IconSiam, Khao San and both airports — and the honest answer for the spots with no train at the door.
Transport guide · EnglishBangkok fare cards explained: Rabbit, MRT and tapping a bank card
Which card you actually need, what each one covers and costs, and the 2026 switch to contactless tap-to-pay — without the maze.
Transport guide · EnglishRiding Bangkok's city buses: BMTA routes, fares and how to pay
Who runs the buses, what a ride costs, how to pay the conductor, which apps find your bus, and the unwritten rules of flagging one down.
Transport guide · EnglishGetting around the old town without a BTS station
No Skytrain reaches the Grand Palace, Wat Pho or Khao San — here is the honest choice between the MRT Blue Line, the river boat and a Grab, with 2026 fares.
Transport guide · EnglishFrom the airport into Bangkok: train, Grab or taxi
Suvarnabhumi or Don Muang into the city — the honest choice between the Airport Rail Link, Grab and a metered taxi, and what to do when you land after the trains stop.
Transport guide · EnglishGrab or a metered taxi in Bangkok: which is cheaper, and when
An honest meter usually wins off-peak; Grab’s fixed price wins in the rain, the rush hour and when a driver won’t run the meter — the 2026 comparison.
Transport guide · EnglishBangkok’s river boats explained: which flag to take
What the orange, yellow, green and blue flags mean, the real 2026 fares, where to board from the BTS, and when the boat beats the train.
Transport guide · EnglishBangkok rush hour: when to travel, and which interchanges to avoid
The exact peak windows, why the train beats the road and Grab when it’s busy, and the interchanges that crush at 6pm.
Staying connected · EnglisheSIM, local SIM or pocket wifi in Bangkok: which to pick
When a travel eSIM is the easy answer, when you need a physical Thai SIM for a local number, and why pocket wifi is mostly obsolete.
Transport guide · EnglishWhere to stay in Bangkok, judged by how you’ll get around
Sukhumvit, Silom, the Old Town, Ari and the Riverside compared by rail access and airport links — not another hotel list.
Transport guide · EnglishGetting around Bangkok in the rainy season
When a storm floods the street the boat stops before the metro does. Which modes keep running, and what to check before you leave.
Transport guide · EnglishChanging airports: Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang, and how much time to leave
The free connecting-passenger shuttle, the cheap train chain, taxi and Grab costs, and the safe buffer between BKK and DMK.
Transport guide · EnglishBangkok motorbike taxis: when the orange vests beat walking or a car
How the win system works, what a ride costs, the three times a motorbike genuinely wins, GrabBike compared, and a straight word on safety.
Transport guide · EnglishBangkok tuk-tuks: when they’re worth it, and when they’re a tourist trap
Why they cost more than a taxi, the gem-shop and closed-temple scams to skip, the few times a tuk-tuk genuinely wins, and where the MuvMi app fits in.
Transport guide · EnglishGetting home in Bangkok after the trains stop
When the BTS and MRT stop around midnight: how taxis, Grab, motorbike taxis and tuk-tuks compare late at night, and what changes out in the suburbs.
Transport guide · EnglishGetting around Bangkok with luggage or a stroller
Where the BTS and MRT lifts help and where they don’t, when the Airport Rail Link still wins, and when a taxi or Grab is worth the cost — plus where to leave your bags.
Transport guide · EnglishWalking in Bangkok: when it actually beats a train or a Grab
One skywalk corridor genuinely works end to end. The rest is heat, kerbs and missing crossings — here is how to judge which trips to walk.
Transport guide · EnglishLeaving Bangkok: train, bus or a cheap flight?
Long-distance trains moved station and most guides never noticed. Which mode actually wins for Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and the south.
Transport guide · EnglishHow to read a Bangkok address — and why the driver still calls
123/45 is a land plot, not a street number. Odd and even sois sit on opposite sides and never line up. The whole system, decoded.
Transport guide · EnglishDriving in Bangkok: rent a car, ride a motorbike, or don’t?
The car is the wrong tool inside the city and sometimes the only one outside it. The licence category that voids your insurance, and what compulsory cover really pays for.
Transport guide · EnglishBangkok’s hot season: the heat index decides your day
The season is declared, not scheduled — and it starts in February. The official four-band index, why the worst reading of 2026 came in the rainy season, and the rule against drinking on the train.
Transport guide · EnglishA Thai driving licence: your visa decides which one you may hold
There is no ninety-day deadline anywhere in the Act — but three immigration classes are shut out of the five-year licence by name, and a foreign licence excuses two tests, not three.
Living in Bangkok
The 90-day report and visa extensions at Bangkok immigration
What the 90-day report is, how and where to file it, and the basics of extending your stay at Chaeng Wattana — with official sources.
City-living guide · EnglishGetting your rental deposit back in Thailand
What the law entitles you to when a landlord won't return your deposit — the 2025 lease rules, the wear-and-tear line, and the steps to recover your money.
City-living guide · EnglishBefore you sign a Bangkok condo lease
Thailand’s strengthened 2025 lease rules bind landlords who rent three or more units — which is probably not yours. What to check and negotiate instead.
City-living guide · EnglishYour condo electricity bill, and the rate your landlord invented
The official Bangkok tariff is near 4 baht a unit. Many buildings bill 6 to 9. How to read the bill, and when the markup is actually unlawful.
Money in Bangkok · EnglishCash, card or PromptPay: how to pay for things in Bangkok
Where cash is still essential, where cards work, the ATM fee to watch, the DCC trap, and why most visitors can’t use PromptPay.
Living in Bangkok · EnglishDrinking water in Bangkok: tap, bottled, refill or a filter?
What the authority says about the tap versus the practical advice, and how bottled, the 1-baht refill machines, delivery and a home filter compare on cost.
Money · EnglishWhere to change money in Bangkok: SuperRich, banks or an ATM?
Why the city money changers beat the banks, the airport and your hotel, the truth about the two SuperRich shops, and when an ATM is the smarter move — with the one fee trap to avoid.
City-living guide · EnglishBangkok’s smog season: when the air turns bad, and what helps
Which months are typically worst, how to read Air4Thai and the AQI apps without scaring yourself, and what a mask, a HEPA purifier and staying indoors actually do.
Money · EnglishTipping in Bangkok: when it’s expected, when it’s not, and how much
Why Thailand is a light, optional tipping culture, the 10% restaurant service charge to check for, when to just round up a taxi, and the few places a tip is genuinely customary.
City-living guide · EnglishFood delivery in Bangkok: which app still exists
Half the apps recommended for Bangkok left the country years ago. Which four survived, which one works in English, and when walking out beats ordering in.
City-living guide · EnglishAlcohol in Bangkok: the hours changed, the dry days didn’t
The 2pm-to-5pm ban is gone and shops now sell 11:00 to midnight. The traps that remain: the morning gap, the dry days, and where a legal drink is illegal to open.
City-living guide · EnglishWhere to buy groceries in Bangkok
Wet market, hypermarket, supermarket, 7-Eleven or an app — what each is genuinely for, and which chain names quietly stopped existing.
City-living guide · EnglishOnline shopping and parcels in Bangkok
No Thai bank account? There is a working ladder of payment options. And since 1 January 2026, the tax-free small parcel from abroad is gone.
City-living guide · EnglishHome internet in a Bangkok condo
Your lease runs 12 months and the fibre contract wants 24. Building wi-fi, your own line or a data SIM — and the clauses to read first.
City-living guide · EnglishThai public holidays: which counter is actually closed
Thailand has four holiday calendars, not one, and in 2026 they disagree on two nameable days. What shuts, what stays open, and why the dates can move after they are published.
City-living guide · EnglishLaundry in Bangkok: washing is easy, drying is the problem
At 79% humidity a hung load stops rather than finishes — and the sour smell that follows has a name. The machine, the laundromat, the per-kilo shop and the dry cleaner, compared.
City-living guide · EnglishMoving in and out of a Bangkok condo
The juristic office decides your moving day, not your mover — lawfully, and entirely because the lift is common property. Where that authority stops, and the certificate a renter never needs.
Living in Bangkok · EnglishSending things home from Bangkok: density decides the bill, not weight
Which services charge you for the size of the box and which only for what is in it — the line runs through Thailand Post, not around it — plus the Fine Arts rule everyone quotes wrong.
Living in Bangkok · EnglishGym memberships in Bangkok: the one-year cap nobody mentions
No Thai gym contract may run past twelve months and none may renew itself — and you do not have to argue the point, because the statute deems the offending clause absent.
More plain-English Bangkok references are on the way. Spotted something out of date? Tell us on our corrections page.