Getting Around in Thai: Taxis, Tuk-Tuks, BTS, Boats and Directions

To get around in Thai, you need one verb and a handful of words. Say ไป bpai (“go”) + the place + ครับ kráp or ค่ะ kâ, and any driver understands where you want to go: ไปสยามครับ bpai sà-yǎam kráp, “to Siam, please”. Add ตรงไป dtrong-bpai (straight on), เลี้ยวซ้าย líao sáai (turn left), เลี้ยวขวา líao kwǎa (turn right) and จอดตรงนี้ jɔ̀ɔt dtrong-níi (stop here), and you can finish any ride exactly where you want.

This guide goes through each way of getting around, from the metered taxi to the canal boat, with the phrases that actually come up and what to expect in each situation. Men end their sentences with ครับ kráp, women with ค่ะ kâ (or คะ ká in a question); the guide to Thai polite particles explains why it matters so much.

The one pattern you need: ไป + place

Thai has no word for “to” in this sentence. You simply put the destination after the verb:

ไปโรงแรมครับ bpai roong-rɛɛm kráp: (I’m going) to the hotel, please.

ไปสนามบินไหมคะ bpai sà-nǎam-bin mǎi ká?: Do you go to the airport?

The second sentence, with the question particle ไหม mǎi, is how you ask a taxi, a tuk-tuk or a motorbike driver whether he will take you. In Bangkok a driver can refuse a fare that does not suit him (too far, wrong direction, traffic), so asking first is normal and not rude. You will also hear ไปที่… bpai tîi…, “go to (the place)…”, which is slightly more formal and common with addresses.

Taking a taxi in Thai

Bangkok taxis are metered, and you pay what the meter shows; at the expressway toll booths, the passenger pays the toll. These are the phrases you need from the moment you get in:

A few practical points:

• Ask for the meter before the car moves. If the driver quotes a flat price instead, you can accept, negotiate or get out and take the next taxi. A polite ไม่เป็นไรครับ mâi-bpen-rai kráp (“never mind”) ends the conversation without friction.
• Have the address in Thai script. Many drivers do not read Latin letters, and hotel names often have a Thai name that sounds nothing like the English one. Showing the Thai address or a pin on a map works better than repeating a name louder.
• Know the two airports by their Thai names. Suvarnabhumi is สุวรรณภูมิ sù-wan-ná-puum, Don Mueang is ดอนเมือง dɔɔn-mʉang. Say bpai sù-wan-ná-puum kráp and you will not be taken to the wrong one.

Tuk-tuks: agree on the price first

A tuk-tuk, ตุ๊กตุ๊ก dtúk-dtúk, has no meter. The rule is simple: settle the price before you sit down. Ask “go to … how much?”, then accept or make an offer:

ไปวัดโพธิ์เท่าไหร่ครับ bpai wát-poo tâo-rài kráp?: How much to Wat Pho?

ร้อยห้าสิบบาท rɔ́ɔi-hâa-sìp bàat: A hundred and fifty baht.

แพงไปครับ ร้อยบาทได้ไหม pɛɛng bpai kráp. rɔ́ɔi bàat dâai mǎi?: That’s too expensive. Would a hundred be OK?

The last phrase is useful because some drivers offer a very cheap ride that includes stops at shops along the way (แวะ wɛ́ means “to stop by”). If you only want to get from A to B, say so before you leave. The numbers you need to understand prices are all in the article on Thai numbers.

In the early story In a tuk-tuk with Lek, Hugo wants to go to the temple and Lek, a talkative driver, names his price. It is exactly this exchange, at beginner level.

Motorbike taxis: วินมอเตอร์ไซค์

At the mouth of most sois, the ปากซอย bpàak-sɔɔi, drivers in numbered vests wait at a stand called a วินมอเตอร์ไซค์ win-mɔɔ-dtə̂ə-sai, or just วิน win. They are the fastest way down a long soi or through a traffic jam, รถติด rót-dtìt. Prices for short, common trips are often fixed and sometimes posted at the stand.

Notice ช้า ๆ cháa-cháa: the sign ๆ repeats the word before it, so you say it twice. Asking for a helmet is perfectly normal, and so is asking the driver to slow down.

BTS and MRT: stations, lines and exits

Bangkok’s skytrain (BTS) is รถไฟฟ้า rót-fai-fáa, literally “electric train”. The underground (MRT) is รถไฟใต้ดิน rót-fai-dtâai-din, “train under the ground”. Station signs and announcements are in Thai and English, so the Thai here is mostly for asking people.

ขึ้น kʉ̂n and ลง long are the verbs for any vehicle: you “go up” onto a train, a bus or a boat, and “go down” from it. So “I get off at Siam” is ลงสถานีสยาม long sà-tǎa-nii sà-yǎam, and “which station do I get off at?” is ลงสถานีไหน long sà-tǎa-nii nǎi? Every train announces สถานีต่อไป sà-tǎa-nii dtɔ̀ɔ-bpai followed by the name: listen for it and you will never miss your stop.

Large stations have several numbered exits, so ask ทางออกไหน taang-ɔ̀ɔk nǎi? (“which exit?”). That is exactly where Hugo gets stuck in The skytrain: getting to Siam is easy, getting out of it is another matter.

Boats: river and canal

Boats are a real means of transport in Bangkok, not just a tourist outing. Three words cover most of it:

On the Chao Phraya, the express boats run up and down the river and the flag on the boat shows which line it is. Small ferries simply cross from one bank to the other. On the canals, long boats carry commuters across the city; they stop only briefly, and you usually pay a fare collector on board. Ask ไปท่าไหน bpai tâa nǎi? (“to which pier?”) or tell them your stop: ลงท่า… long tâa…. In the story “The canal boat”, Hugo discovers that the khlong is the fastest way across Bangkok, and that you get splashed.

Asking for and following directions

When you walk, or when you guide a driver to a door he cannot find, these words do the work:

Two traps deserve attention. First, ใกล้ glâi (near, falling tone) and ไกล glai (far, mid tone) differ only by their tone. If you say “is it near?” with the wrong tone, you ask “is it far?”. The guide to the Thai tones explains how to hear the difference. Second, Thai people often answer a directions question with a gesture and ไม่ไกล mâi glai (“not far”), which can mean anything from 200 meters to a short ride. If you want to walk, ask dəən bpai dâai mǎi? directly.

A complete instruction to a driver sounds like this:

ตรงไป แล้วเลี้ยวซ้ายที่ไฟแดง จอดตรงนี้ครับ dtrong-bpai, lɛ́ɛo líao sáai tîi fai-dɛɛng… jɔ̀ɔt dtrong-níi kráp: Straight on, then left at the lights… Stop here, please.

Useful places to ask for

Put any of them in front of yùu tîi-nǎi: ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหนครับ hɔ̂ng-náam yùu tîi-nǎi kráp? is the most useful sentence in this whole article. For a list of travel phrases beyond transport (hotel, food, health), see Thai phrases for travelers.

Ride-hailing apps

Grab and Bolt operate in Bangkok and the main tourist cities, for cars and motorbikes. The price is shown before you book, and the destination is set in the app, which removes the negotiation. Thai still helps: drivers often call or message to find you, and a simple อยู่หน้าเซเว่นครับ yùu nâa see-wên kráp (“I’m in front of the 7-Eleven”) saves a lot of waving.

How to practise

Transport phrases are short and repetitive, which makes them ideal for listening practice: you hear the same bpai, líao, jɔ̀ɔt again and again in different places. In Kru May, the stories about Lek’s tuk-tuk, the BTS and the canal boat use exactly these words, with every sentence recorded at natural and slow speed so you can copy the tones before you try them on a real driver.