How to Get Around Thailand

Thailand’s railways are run by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and radiate from Bangkok on four lines: north to Chiang Mai, northeast to Nong Khai (for Laos) and Ubon Ratchathani, east to Aranyaprathet on the Cambodian border, and south through Hua Hin, Chumphon and Surat Thani to Hat Yai and the Malaysian border at Padang Besar. Since January 2023 all long-distance trains use Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal (still often called Bang Sue Grand Station), which connects to the MRT Blue Line at Bang Sue and the SRT Dark Red commuter line. Only a few local and ordinary trains still leave from the old Hua Lamphong station, so check your ticket.

Classes matter more than train numbers. Third class is bench seats with fans and open windows, 230 to 300 baht to Chiang Mai: fine for the three-hour run to Ayutthaya (15 to 20 baht) or the Death Railway to Kanchanaburi (100 baht for foreigners), hard work for 12 hours. Second-class air-con seats are around 600 baht to Chiang Mai. Second-class sleepers are the sweet spot: seats convert to curtained bunks with clean linen at 9pm, a lower berth costs 850 to 1,050 baht and an upper 770 to 950. First-class sleepers are two-berth lockable compartments for 1,450 to 1,650 baht per person. The best trains are the Chinese-built special express sets (numbers 9 and 10 to Chiang Mai, 23 and 24 to Ubon, 25 and 26 to Nong Khai, 31 and 32 to Hat Yai), with power sockets and a dining car.

Buses go everywhere trains do not, and often faster. Bangkok has three terminals: Mo Chit (Northern, for Chiang Mai, Isaan and the north, near Mo Chit BTS and Chatuchak Park MRT), Sai Tai Mai (Southern, for Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin and the whole south, on the Thonburi side) and Ekkamai (Eastern, for Pattaya, Ko Samet, Ko Chang and the Cambodian border, at Ekkamai BTS). Government Transport Co. buses (BKS, orange-and-white) are reliable and cheap; private operators such as Nakhonchai Air and Sombat Tour run the premium routes with 24-seat VIP coaches, reclining seats, blankets, snacks and a toilet. Bangkok to Chiang Mai is 9 to 11 hours and 600 to 900 baht VIP; Bangkok to Krabi 12 hours and 700 to 1,100; Bangkok to Pattaya 2 to 2.5 hours and 130 to 150; Bangkok to Hua Hin 3.5 hours and 180 to 250.

Minivans fill the gaps between towns and are often the only public option for shorter legs: Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai (3 hours, 200 to 300 baht), Krabi to Ko Lanta (2.5 hours, 300 to 400), Surat Thani to Khao Sok (2 hours, 250 to 350). They leave when full, are fast, cramped and driven hard, and big bags may cost an extra seat. Avoid overnight minivans and the 762-bend road to Pai after dark. On any overnight bus, keep passport, cards and electronics on your body: thefts from the hold are a long-running problem on the cheap tourist buses sold around Khao San Road, so use the government terminals or the train.

Budget airlines make flying the default for the 700 km Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Bangkok to Phuket legs. Thai AirAsia, Nok Air and Thai Lion Air fly from Don Mueang (DMK), Bangkok’s older northern airport; Thai Vietjet, Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways use Suvarnabhumi (BKK). Fares booked three to six weeks ahead are 1,000 to 2,500 baht one way to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, Udon Thani or Hat Yai, rising to 3,000 to 5,000 in the last few days and over Songkran and New Year. Checked baggage is extra on the low-cost carriers (400 to 700 baht for 20 kg online, double at the airport), so compare the total with Thai Airways, which includes a bag. Flights take about an hour to the north and 1 hour 20 to Phuket.

Two routes are different. Ko Samui’s airport is owned by Bangkok Airways, so fares are 3,000 to 6,000 baht; the cheap alternative is flying to Surat Thani for 1,000 to 1,500 and taking the two-hour bus-and-ferry combination for 400 to 500. For Ko Tao and Ko Pha-ngan, fly to Chumphon (Nok Air) or Surat Thani and connect to a Lomprayah or Seatran boat. Allow a full hour, often 90 minutes in traffic, to transfer between Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi; a free shuttle bus links them for passengers with onward boarding passes.

Every island has a mainland pier and one or two operators. On the Gulf side, Lomprayah catamarans and Seatran run from Chumphon and from Donsak near Surat Thani to Ko Tao, Ko Pha-ngan and Ko Samui: Chumphon to Ko Tao is about 1 hour 45 minutes and around 700 baht, Samui to Ko Tao 600 to 700, and the slow Raja car ferry from Donsak to Samui 1.5 hours for 150 to 200. Combined Bangkok-to-island tickets (bus or night train plus boat) cost 1,100 to 1,500 baht and guarantee the connection. On the Andaman side, ferries link Phuket’s Rassada pier, Krabi, Ao Nang and Ko Lanta with Ko Phi Phi (2 hours from Phuket, 500 to 700 baht), and longtails run from Ao Nang to Railay in 15 minutes for 100 to 200. In the far south, boats from Pak Bara serve Ko Lipe and Tarutao (1.5 hours, 650 to 750), and from Trang’s Hat Yao pier Ko Muk, Ko Kradan and Ko Libong. East of Bangkok, Ban Phe to Ko Samet is 40 minutes and around 100 baht, and the Ko Chang car ferry from Laem Ngop near Trat 30 minutes and 80 to 100.

Bangkok’s traffic is the reason to learn its rail map. The BTS Skytrain (Sukhumvit and Silom lines, 6am to midnight) and the MRT (Blue and Purple lines) cover Siam, Sukhumvit, Silom and Chatuchak and, via the Blue Line’s Sanam Chai and Itsaraphap stations, the Old Town and Chinatown. Fares are distance-based, 17 to 62 baht on the BTS and 17 to 45 on the MRT, and the two systems use separate tickets, so you pay again at interchanges such as Asok/Sukhumvit and Sala Daeng/Silom. The MRT gates accept contactless Visa and Mastercard; the BTS needs a single-journey token from the machines or a Rabbit stored-value card (200 baht with your passport at any ticket window, 100 of it credit). A unified 17 to 45 baht fare across all lines is planned for 2027; the earlier 20-baht flat fare was for registered Thai citizens only and has ended.

Grab is Thailand’s dominant ride-hailing app and Bolt its cheaper rival; both work in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Krabi, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Hat Yai, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Ko Samui, with patchy or no coverage on smaller islands and in Isaan towns. You get an upfront price, a tracked route and an English interface, and both also book motorbike taxis (GrabBike, Bolt Moto) for 30 to 80 baht hops that beat traffic. Pay in-app or in cash. Drivers sometimes cancel short or traffic-bound trips; a 20 to 40 baht tip added in the app at busy times gets you picked up.

Bangkok’s metered taxis are plentiful and honest if the meter is on: 35 baht flag fall, then around 6.50 baht a kilometre plus waiting time, so 100 to 150 baht for a typical 20-minute ride, with tolls (25 to 75 baht) paid by you. Any driver who says “no meter, 300 baht” is not worth arguing with; close the door and flag the next cab. Outside Bangkok there are no meters in practice: Phuket, Samui and Krabi taxis quote fixed prices four to eight times Bangkok rates (Patong to Kata, 15 minutes, is 400 to 500 baht), which is why the apps matter most on the islands.

Tuk-tuks are a ride to take once, for the experience: they are always priced above a taxi, the fare must be agreed before you climb in (100 to 150 baht for a short Bangkok hop, 50 to 80 in Chiang Mai), and any driver offering a 20-baht city tour is taking you to a gem shop or tailor on commission. In Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, hiring one by the hour (200 to 300 baht) to circle the ruins is a legitimate deal.

Scooters rent for 150 to 400 baht a day (less by the week) and are how most visitors get around Pai, Ko Lanta, Ko Tao, Ko Chang and Chiang Mai’s outskirts. The rules are stricter than the rental shops suggest. To ride legally you need a licence that covers motorcycles plus an International Driving Permit from your home country (Thailand recognises both the 1949 and the 1968 convention IDPs), or a Thai licence; a car licence alone does not cover a scooter, and your insurer will not pay a crash claim if you were unlicensed. Helmets are mandatory for rider and passenger, with fines of up to 2,000 baht, and checkpoints in Chiang Mai, Phuket and Ko Samui fine foreign riders routinely (500 to 1,000 baht for no licence or helmet). Photograph the bike before you take it, use your own lock, and never leave your passport as a deposit; a copy plus 2,000 to 5,000 baht in cash is the norm at reputable shops.

Cars rent from 800 to 1,500 baht a day through the international firms at every airport, plus around 40 baht a litre for fuel. Thailand drives on the left, roads are well surfaced and signs bilingual, but overtaking on blind bends is normal and motorbikes come from every direction. Driving suits the Mae Hong Son Loop, the Isaan temple circuit and the Khao Sok to Khao Lak stretch, not Bangkok. Thailand has one of the world’s highest road death rates, with roughly three quarters of fatalities on motorbikes, so if you are an inexperienced rider the honest advice is to hire a driver or take the songthaew.

12Go is the one-stop booking site for Thailand: trains, buses, minivans, ferries and bus-plus-boat combinations with English timetables, foreign-card payment and e-tickets, for a fee of roughly 100 to 200 baht per booking. It is the easiest way to compare a Bangkok to Ko Tao night-train-plus-catamaran package against a flight, and to secure a sleeper when the SRT site refuses your card. Book direct when you can: the SRT D-Ticket site for trains, the airlines’ own apps for flights, and Lomprayah or Seatran for Gulf ferries. Grab and Bolt need a working phone number for verification, so set them up before you fly or buy a Thai SIM at the airport; Google Maps handles the river and canal boats surprisingly well, and ViaBus tracks the public buses.

Book ahead for sleepers (one to three weeks, longer for holidays), domestic flights (three to six weeks for the best fares), and anything over Songkran (13 to 15 April), New Year and Chinese New Year, when Thais travel en masse. Everything else, including ferries outside Full Moon Party week and all buses, can be bought the day before. Accessibility is uneven: BTS and MRT stations have lifts, the new SRT trains have an accessible coach and Suvarnabhumi is step-free, but songthaews, longtails, older ferries and most pavements are not.