I finally found it! Train station close to National Palace and Wat Pho

If you’ve been following my shenanigans in Bangkok, specifically how i ended up at the Grand Palace (that post is HERE) and how to get to Wat Pho via public transport (post is HERE) then you know that i had great difficulty, although worth it in the end, when it came to getting to the Wat Pho/Grand Palace area via public transport.

This “new” way, I’ve found does not include any boat rides for those of you who get sea sick, like me. It does include a change of train lines though. If you plan on visiting Wat Arun while you’re around the Grand Palace / Wat Pho area, you will still have to take the ferry across the river as this MRT station is on the same side of the river as Wat Pho and the Grand Palace.

This MRT station is about a 10 min walk from Wat Pho, basically in a straight line, so you wont have to navigate any side streets or anything like that. How I didn’t find this station in my visits to this area is beyond me even more baffling is why it didn’t come up (if it did, it was so obscure I missed it) in my Google searches.

Well, the reason, was because … drumroll …. it didn’t occur to me that there were two train lines/systems. The BTS (which i thought was the only one) and the MRT line. So I Googled ‘BTS’ stations. My daughter’s bf Googled ‘MRT’ stations (because he’s from Singapore and they call their train system ‘the MRT’). I can’t really tell you which way to go from Wat Pho since the complex is huge and with multiple entrances/exits but if you just use Google Maps with the “magic” search term you should have no problems finding the station and subsequently the path to it.

The “magic” search term is … Sanam Chai MRT Station. The photo above is the entrance to the station, which is underground. This explains why I couldn’t see the tracks when I was looking up and around for train tracks, hahaha. In case you’re wondering, Sanam Chai MRT is on the blue line.

Since the MRT station is not a BTS station, the Rabbit card (prepaid BTS card) is not accepted. Instead you have to use the machines at the station to buy a token. Once you get the token, you ‘tap’ it on the card reader at the gantry and only when you exit do you put the token in the slot of the gantry/turnstyle thing. Just like on the Airport line, if ypu’re interested in getting to Suvarnahbumi Airport or Don Mueang Airport from the Sukhumvit BTS line or vice versa then check out my post about that journey HERE.

To get to the Sukhumvit Line (light green line on the maps) from Sanam Chai MRT station, get on the train heading to Bang Sue Station. Ride this train to Sukhumvit Station which is about 7 stops away. When you alight at Sukhumvit Station you need to take a short walk to the connecting station on the light green Sukhumvit Line named, Asok station. There’s clear signage to guide you, so don’t worry. The ride will cost you $28 baht (from Sanam Chai Station to Sukhumvit Station). Just to be clear, there is a Sukhumvit Station which is an MRT station on the blue line and a Sukhumvit Line which is the light green BTS line.

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Public Transport to Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi Airports

Close up of the Don Mueang Airport signage

Here’s a quick guide for getting to Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi Airports using public transport. Specifically via the Sukhumvit BTS Line (the light green line on the maps). Hope all you Steemfest goers find this helpful. For more tips on Bangkok, consider checking out my other posts. You can find them on my Travelfeed profile.

Don Mueang Airport

If you’re already in the city, ride the BTS until you get to Mo Chit station where you’ll alight and exit the station. You’ll be looking for and exiting at exit 3 with signage saying something along the lines of “bus stop to Don Mueang Airport.” Check out the signage regarding the buses you can hop on at the bus stop. In the picture below is what it looked like for me when I was there. The other picture below is the numbered stop list (for the full list go to the website, the URL is in the photo) .

Get on the bus and wait for the attendant to get to you. Tell them where you’re going and give them the amount they say, kind of sketchy to me, but I guess that’s the way it works. I took Bus 510 which had air conditioning and it cost me $20 Baht to Don Mueang Airport. Non air conditioned buses are cheaper but probably older too, the choice is yours. Inside the bus there was a screen that indicated the next stop.

Get off at the stop named ‘Wat Don Mueang’ and keep in mind that the bus might drop you off at the actual bus stop or in the middle of the road near the bus stop (depending on traffic). We alighted in the middle of the street which was more convenient to get up to the overhead walkway as the stairs were in the meridian.

You can see the airport across the very wide road and to get there you should use the overhead walkway by going up the stairs located in the meridian. Keep going until you reach stairs going down and head towards the ‘Family Mart’ convenience store then turn right and go past the flags and security guards. You should come up to the huge Blue T1 signage.

Coming back from the Don Mueang Airport I took the Airport Shuttle to Mo Chit in an air conditioned bus for $30 Baht and it took about 20 minutes, this was around 10:30 pm. There are a few shuttle buses going to a bunch of places, have a look at the pic above for more details.

For comparison, taking a regular taxi or grab from around the Ekkamai BTS station will range from: $400 Baht to $600 Baht depending on the time and traffic. I started my journey at 10pm and traffic wasn’t bad and it only took me an hour and a half.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

This ride is even simpler. From any station on the Sukhumvit BTS Line head to Phaya Thai BTS station and get off. There’s a short walk (with English signage pointing the way) to the connecting station on the Airport Rail Link (ARL) that will take you to straight into Suvarnabhumi Airport. You have to purchase another ticket too at a cost of $45 Baht at the gantry of the ARL station. It’s actually a plastic token rather than the usual paper ticket (you can’t use your Rabbit pre paid card), anyways, at the end of your journey just slip the token into the gantry to exit.

Airport Rail Link station at Phaya Thai BTS station

That’s what the Airport Rail station looks like (at Phaya Thai) it’s fully covered unlike any of the BTS stations that I’ve come across on the Sukhumvit line. It’s really straight forward so don’t worry, if I didn’t get lost, you won’t either, haha.

Consider following me for updates and to find not only my other travel bloopers, blunders and shenanigans but also photography related news/reviews and the occasional contest entry.

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you’re interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don’t hesitate to contact me for more details. Thanks in advance!

Comments & Critiques are always welcome, as are upvotes and resteems.

Thanks for viewing and best wishes!

PS. If you want to check out my other ‘works’, you can find them here:

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