10 Bangkok Train Stations Every First-Time Visitor Should Know
Most first-timers waste hours figuring out the train system. They end up taking expensive taxis everywhere or, worse, booking hotels near the wrong stations and spending half their trip getting around.
Bangkok Airport Rail Link to Makkasan
The Bangkok Airport Rail Link is very convenient.
Makkasan is important. You land at Suvarnabhumi Airport, you’re tired, you’re sweaty, or you need to get to your hotel, and most people grab a taxi or a Grab at the airport. It’s easy, for sure, but you’re going to sit in traffic for an hour and the meter is running all the time. If the meter is running, the better way is to take the Airport Rail Link from Suvarnabhumi Airport all the way to Makkasan for $1, with no traffic, in 40 minutes. Easy-peasy and air-conditioned.
The good thing about Makkasan is that you can connect to the subway system here. If your hotel for any reason is near the Victory Monument or near a BTS line that goes north, then it’s smarter to invest 10 more, which is 25 cents, and exit not at Makkasan but at Phaya Thai. Why? The green line is the BTS Skytrain, and then you can go to Victory Monument, Ari, Chatuchak, and so on, and of course down south to the shopping area.
Phetchaburi Subway Station
This is Phetchaburi, a very important subway station. This gives you the opportunity to go to the Sukhumvit area, the Siam area, Chinatown, and the old town.
It’s the one that you need when you exit at the Makkasan interchange to the subway. You walk on a skywalk 200 m, something like that, and you can’t miss it. It’s just subway MRT. That’s the name of the subway in Bangkok. It is the blue line, the big blue line, the biggest, the oldest, the first one.
It’s one stop to Sukhumvit with the red-light districts, the parks, and the party. You can go to the Khlong Toei Market, Lumpini Park, and so many insane places. It covers everything you need.
The good thing about Phetchaburi is that there’s a canal boat pier too, the Asok Pier. When you exit at Phetchaburi, you just walk down and then you can take the boat all the way to the old town.
Sukhumvit Subway Station and Asok BTS Station
The third important station is also in the area, and it is more like two in one. It’s the already-mentioned Sukhumvit subway station. It is almost the same but different, with an Asok BTS Skytrain above street level and the subway down there.
So if you’re a single man, Asok and Sukhumvit are your best friends.
Ekkamai Eastern Bus Terminal
The next station is not so far away from Asok, and it is Ekkamai. Whenever you want to leave Bangkok, if you want to go to Pattaya or Koh Chang, this is the Skytrain station. There is the Eastern Bus Terminal here.
The Ekkamai area is not only a bus terminal. There are plenty of temples, food, cinema, sports, and hotels. It’s an insane area, a mix of touristy and non-touristy. Very good.
Sala Daeng and Silom BTS and MRT Stations
For station number five, we are leaving Watthana and Khlong Toei, these two districts, and going to Silom. Silom is not really the district, but many people just say, “I stay in Silom,” but this doesn’t exist. You stay in Bang Rak, but the station is Silom and the road is Silom. So that’s why it’s okay.
Exactly like the Asok-Sukhumvit combination with the subway and the Skytrain above, this one is almost identical. You have the BTS line and you have the MRT subway line all in one.
If you want to be connected a little closer to the old town and Chinatown and want to have one of the best parks in the world, then this is your place.
There’s Lumpini Park. Then you have Patpong, the third red-light district, and the not-so-cool night market. One of the many things that you can do here is visit the Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu Temple. Beautiful temple. It’s a good area. My beloved Snake Farm is here. It’s more of a business and gay area, just so you know before you choose.
Siam Shopping District and BTS Interchange
Station number six is Siam. Siam is not only the former name of Thailand, it’s also a Skytrain station. This is the shopping hub and the tourist hub. Everyone ends up here eventually. Siam is also the interchange station for the BTS Skytrain that goes north, south, east, and west.
What’s there? Malls. Malls. Malls. Malls. Malls. Places that I never visit, and for me this is a waste of time, but I know that 99% of Bangkok visitors think this is the only thing that you can do in Bangkok, so they love to go there. This is a complete street full of malls. They are called Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, Central Embassy, Siam Square One, and MBK, all of this that nobody should need on holidays, but okay.
There are two truly interesting things. The Jim Thompson House belongs to an American entrepreneur who allegedly left and nobody knows where he is, and now his beautiful house is a museum. The second thing is the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center. Free, very good. Also free is the Erawan Shrine. Wonderful. People pray and temple dancers dance, and it’s a wonderful scene.
You’re not super far away from Banthat Thong. This is one of the most insane food areas in Bangkok. The whole street and the side streets, everything is just for one purpose: eating. Another interesting thing, not too close to Siam, but if you are in the area, is Chulalongkorn University Centennial Park. This park is basically there to collect rainwater and protect Bangkok from drowning.
Hua Lamphong Station and Chinatown
The old main train station and the gate to Chinatown is Hua Lamphong. It’s a subway station on the blue line. The new one is up north, but Hua Lamphong is beautiful, old-school, and historic. There’s the national anthem playing at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Everybody freezes and stands up. That’s beautiful.
Its architecture is an exact copy of Frankfurt’s main station in Germany. They just looked at the world and said, “Oh, yaman beautiful same same.” If you’re from Frankfurt, you’re in for a treat.
The surroundings are why you should know Hua Lamphong. There’s a lot of traffic and action. This is an incredible temple area, with the Chinatown Gate and the fantastic Yaowarat Road, the most famous street-food heaven in all of Thailand. When you’re in Bangkok, you have to go there.
Sanam Chai and Bangkok Old Town
Also in the area is station number eight, the old-town station for me. That’s Sanam Chai. This one is the last one before the river. It’s a subway station on the blue line.
You have Museum Siam, Wat Pho, the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, and the Tha Tien Pier that leads to the Wat Arun pier. It’s the most important area. Imagine 10 years ago, they didn’t have a subway that goes to the old town. You had to take a boat. It’s okay, but now it’s so convenient. You just ride your subway for a dollar or two and exit directly next to the museum. You are stepping out into history. Fantastic. You have the whole old town for you.
Saphan Taksin and Sathorn Pier
Before there was a subway to the old town, you always had to go to the next station, station number nine, Saphan Taksin. Saphan Taksin existed years before the subway existed here. Saphan Taksin is important in many ways. One, you have the Sathorn Pier, which was for the longest time the most convenient, coolest gateway to the old town.
Saphan Taksin hasn’t lost its coolness because there are so many things to see. There’s Wat Yannawa, the temple that looks like a ship. The one with the golden dome is Lebua, the famous one from Hangover 2.
There’s the Shangri-La Hotel and the Mandarin Oriental, maybe the most expensive ever. There’s incredible food and, as I can say, the billion-dollar mega mall, ICONSIAM. It’s the only mall that I visit, not because I spend my time shopping, but because there are some terraces upstairs with an incredible view of Bangkok.
The second thing that I love about ICONSIAM is that on the lowest floor, there’s a little floating market, like a street-food market. It’s a nice mix: a billion-dollar mall and cheap pork skewers. You get there by ferry from Sathorn Pier.
Mo Chit and the Northern Bus Terminal
Number 10 is Mo Chit. It sounds a little bit like “more,” but no, no, not the same. Why do you want to be here? Because this is basically the Chatuchak Skytrain station. There’s a huge park. You’re very close to the Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, the new central station. It’s the modern, big one. From there, you’re very close, or closer, to Don Mueang Airport, the airport to the north.
