How to Use Bangkok’s BTS and MRT: Fares, Cards, and Tips for Travelers

Once you’ve picked a hotel near a station, actually using Bangkok’s rail system is refreshingly simple — cheaper and faster than almost any other way of getting around the city. Here’s what to know before your first ride.

Fares at a glance

System	Single journey fare	Day pass / card option
BTS Skytrain	16–59 baht, based on distance	140 baht one-day pass; Rabbit Card for stored value
MRT (Blue Line)	17–45 baht, based on distance (up to 51 baht with a Purple Line transfer)	Stored-value smart card, or contactless bank card

Children under 90cm tall ride the BTS free; taller children pay full fare.

Ticket and card options

• Single journey tickets. Sold only at vending machines, not staffed booths — older machines take coins only, newer ones accept notes. Fine for occasional riders, but tedious if you’re taking multiple trips a day.

• Rabbit Card (BTS only). A reusable stored-value card with a 100 baht deposit. Loading cash gives a small per-journey discount, and prepaid trip packages are available for 30-day validity — though outlying stations outside the main network add a flat 15-baht surcharge not covered by trip packages. This card does not work on the MRT.

• MRT stored-value card. A separate rechargeable card for the Blue and Purple Lines, available at MRT ticket offices. Not usable on the BTS.

• Contactless bank cards (EMV). Increasingly the simplest option — Visa or Mastercard debit/credit cards from supporting banks work directly on both some BTS and MRT gates, skipping the need for a dedicated transit card entirely. Check whether your card is supported before relying on it as your only option.

Operating hours

•          BTS: First trains around 5:15am (Sukhumvit Line) or 5:30am (Silom Line); last trains around midnight, with slight variation by direction.

•          MRT Blue Line: Runs 6:00am to midnight daily. Weekday trains come every 3.5–4 minutes at rush hour, 5–7 minutes off-peak, and every 8 minutes on weekends.

Practical tips

•          Avoid rush hour if you can. Roughly 7–9am and 5–7pm on weekdays get genuinely crowded — not dangerous, just tightly packed.

•          Keep small notes and coins handy for single-journey ticket machines, especially older ones that don’t accept notes.

•          A Rabbit Card is worth it if you’re staying a week or more and riding the BTS daily — the per-journey discount and skipped queue time add up.

•          Don’t assume one card covers everything. Plan on either two separate transit cards or checking your bank card’s compatibility before your first ride.

Our take

For a short trip, single tickets or a contactless bank card are simplest — don’t bother with a Rabbit Card deposit for a two-day stay. For anything longer, get the Rabbit Card on day one; the convenience of tapping through gates without queuing at a machine each time is worth the small upfront hassle.

Frequently asked questions

• Can I use my phone to pay for BTS or MRT? Contactless mobile payment support varies and isn’t universal yet — a physical contactless bank card or a Rabbit Card is the more reliable option for now.

• Is the BTS or MRT safe to use late at night? Yes, generally — stations are well-lit and monitored, though note the roughly midnight closing time on both systems, after which you’ll need a taxi or ride-hailing app.

• Do I need exact change for ticket machines? Not exact change, but having smaller notes and coins available speeds things up, especially at older machines that are coin-only.