Welcome to Bangkok week! It's no secret that Thailand is a great place to live it up on a budget. As I'm settling into life here in Bangkok, I want to share what I have learned, so for the next week or so, I'll be dishing out tips on how to survive Bangkok like a local.
So, here you are in Thailand. Now how are you going to get from here to there? Didn't think of that, did ya?
Naw, just kidding, I'm sure you're at home, studiously planning away. Here's the lowdown:
The backpackers aren't lying: Thailand really is fantastic for budget travel. There are a lot of different options, but let's start with traveling within Bangkok.
Ultra-budget option: City buses. Cost: free to about 13 baht, which is about $0.37. They connect the entire city and surroundings, and some run all night long, often coming once every ten or twenty minutes. Google Maps knows most of the schedules if you search for public transit directions, but does make some mistakes, so if you've been waiting for a bus that should have shown up half an hour ago and Google says it comes every 10 minutes, it might not be running that day. They're sometimes air conditioned, and there's generally wind through the windows if you're not caught in traffic, so it's not too miserable.
Budget option: BTS and MRT skytrain. Cost: 35 thb ($1 USD) more or less, depending on how far you go. The BTS and MRT may surprise you with how clean, on-time, and efficient they are. Step inside the often-crowded elevated rail car, and you could be in London or Paris or somewhere fancy. All the trains even have little TV screens that play the same commercials and jingles over and over again for the entire month. You might think it would get annoying, but really it just makes me wonder what drinkable Essence of Chicken is, exactly, and how it makes a person very attractive and well-liked. They run every 3-6 minutes from 6:30 AM until midnight.
Still pretty budget option, to be honest: Taxis, mototaxis, Uber, Grabtaxi. Cost: variable and bargainable (sometimes), but generally 55 thb/5 km (plus tolls and sitting in traffic). Even if you hit traffic and your 5 km journey takes an hour (not an exaggeration), it's unlikely that your trip would cost over 100 thb, or $3 USD. Taxis are easy to come by in Bangkok, and boy, are they affordable by US and UK standards. If you're traveling as a couple or group, a taxi is often going to be cheaper than the BTS (although probably not cheaper than the bus). Just be careful of traffic--Bangkok traffic is unlike anything I've ever seen, save perhaps Manhattan at rush hour, only it's like that most hours. Nothing hurts like sitting in a taxi with motion sickness, watching the minutes tick by and the meter tick up, as you miss your lunch reservation.
Crappity-pooply option: tuktuks. My opinion on tuktuks as a transportation option is pretty obvious, but I'll explain why before you file this blog under "Definitely Written By Two Children Stacked On Top Of Each Other's Shoulders Pretending To Be One Adult." In ye olden times, before cars were everywhere, the humble tuktuk was the main taxi option in Bangkok. Now, though, at least in the capital, they're mostly shockingly overpriced touristy gimmicks trying to pass themselves off as legitimate transportation. If you enjoy haggling, then you'll love it, because the drivers I've run into charged five times the going rate for mototaxis or regular taxis. I took a tuktuk once, haggled a bit, still paid way more than I should have, and checked it off my bucket list. The next time a tuktuk driver shouted at my partner and me to get a ride, we were unfortunately outside a huge touristy mall, CentralWorld. He asked for 500 baht. We showed him the Uber app, which stated the ride was worth 80 baht, but he actually refused to haggle at all. Now, I certainly don't begrudge local people trying to make some money and have a better life, so if you want to support the local economy by taking a tuktuk and inhaling fumes in an unsafe vehicle for a lot of money, be my guest. On the plus side, word on the street is that tuktuk drivers know the city like the back of their hand, which could be worth its weight in gold because cab drivers often have no idea where they're going, and will almost never admit this.
There are also pickup truck taxi/buses of some kind in Bangkok called songthaews, but I have never used one in the city. I believe they tend to go to more out-of-the-way places that the regular buses don't, but I could be wrong.
I take songthaews a lot when I'm out in the country. Hold on tight; you can fall out.
Up next: Taxis vs. mototaxis vs. Uber vs. Grab: The Ultimate Showdown
Got tips? Got questions? Leave a comment!
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