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Travel By Bus In Thailand
If you want to travel around Thailand, bus is a practical mode of transportation. The fares are reasonable and buses run more often than trains.
Bus Terminals
Bangkok has 3 main bus terminals: Central station (Mo Chit), Southern station (SaiTai) and Eastern station (Ekamai.)
Central Station - Mo Chit
This is the biggest bus station in Bangkok and it's also the busiest.
How To Get There:
Located on Kampangpetch road, not far from Chatuchak weekend market, also called JJ market. Take skytrain (BTS), the Mo Chit line to Mo Chit station. Then, catch a taxi to Mo Chit bus terminal, which is about 2 km away.
Destinations:
Northern provinces, such as Sukhothai, Tak and Chiang Mai.
North-Eastern provinces, such as Nong Khai, Khonkaen and Udon Thani.
Central provinces, such as Ayuthaya and Kanchanaburi.
Eastern provinces, such as Chonburi.
Southern provinces – only certain routes.
Southern Station - SaiTai
How To Get There:
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Cross the Chao Phraya river, from East to West, to the Thonburi side. The Southern station is on Boromaratchachonanee road and it's quite a ride from the city center. The most convenient way to get there is by taxi. However, if you stay round Sukhumvit road or Khaosan road, you can take a/c bus #511.
Destinations:
Southern provinces, such as Surat Thani, Krabi, Phuket, Trang, Koh Samui and other popular islands.
Eastern provinces, such as Chonburi.
Eastern Station - Ekamai
How To Get There:
Located on Sukhumvit road, near the Bangkok Planetarium. Take skytrain (BTS), the OnNut line to Ekamai station. The bus terminal is only a few minutes walk from the BTS station.
Destinations:
Eastern provinces, such as Chonburi, Pattaya, Sattahip, Rayong, Chantaburi, Trad and the islands off the coast, including Koh Chang, Koh Samet and Koh Sichang.
North-Eastern provinces, only certain routes.
Here's a great online bus schedule.
Helpful Information
Each bus terminal is rather big. As a result, it may take awhile to find ticket counters, departure gates and other places round the station.
These bus terminals all have ATMs, pharmacies, restaurants, shops, 7-Eleven and storage areas.
Pharmacies at bus terminals generally only carry medicines that sell well.
Baggage cart services are available, usually near the main entrance.
There are shuttle buses and vans, called rot too in Thai, running between the bus terminals. You can also take a/c bus #28 and #170 to go between Central station (Mo Chit) and Southern station (SaiTai).
There may be pickpockets around the bus terminals, like anyplace where there are crowds of people. Keep an eye on your bags and belongings at all times.
Bus Terminals Outside Bangkok
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Most big cities have bus terminals within the city limits. Otherwise, you can take the bus from the bus stop along the highway. There are usually local taxis or motorcycle taxis waiting around there to take you into the city center.
Inter-City Buses
Both government and private buses operate throughout Thailand. The government buses all have a golden emblem attached to the side of the bus, while the private buses feature a sprayed version of the same emblem.
Types Of Buses
Most of the inter-city buses are air conditioned. However, certain regional buses are non-air conditioned. These fan buses are orange.
There are generally three types of air conditioned inter-city buses: Second class, first class and VIP.
A number of these buses are double deckers.
A simple way to differentiate between various types of buses is by looking at the color stripe on the side of the bus. These are the different color stripes:
Orange stripe - second class (40 seats)
Blue stripe - first class (40 seats)
Yellow stripe - VIP (32 seats)
Pink stripe - VIP (24 seats)
The destination is written on the side of each bus, followed by a Thai code and two numbers connected with a dash.
For example: Bangkok – Phuket ม.2 63-343
The first number indicates the destination, while the second is the bus number.
When traveling long-haul (over 5 hours), every bus on the same route stops half-way for a meal at a restaurant complex along the highway. Certain long-haul buses offer a free meal, instead of a snack box. In this case, you will be given a food coupon with your ticket. The food served at the restaurant is usually rice soup or plan rice with a few choices.
It can be quite confusing to locate the bus after the break. So, it's a good idea to memorize the two numbers on the side of it.
All buses of the same class offer similar fares, no matter which company you travel with. Most of the time travel agencies add hefty commissions to the ticket prices.
In my experience, fan and second class buses often take more passengers than there are seats available, especially during rush hour. As a result, these services are usually slow since they pick up and drop off passengers along the way.
Only VIP buses and first class buses have toilets.
Ticketing Policies
The following policies apply to government buses. Private bus companies have their own policies.
Buying Tickets In Advance
Tickets can be purchased up to 60 days in advance at all government bus-ticket offices, called Boh Koh Soh in Thai, during office hours (8 am - 4 pm).
For second class buses, tickets can only be purchased at the ticket counter, or on the bus, on the day of travel.
During public holidays such as Songkran in mid-April, it's advisable to buy first-class or VIP tickets in advance so that you have a guaranteed seat.
Changing And Refunding Tickets
You can only change a ticket once and it's free of charge. Note that tickets that have been changed, cannot be refunded. There is a 10% refund fee. Both changing and refunding tickets must be done before 3 pm on the day of travel.
Have a good trip!
Feel free to share your experiences with me!
Email me at info@thailandbreeze.com
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