Bangkok

Bangkok is infamous for its congestion, but these days there are ways around it: hop on the Skytrain BTS and metro in the city centre, or use boats to navigate the city's rivers and canals.

By bus

Local buses, operated by the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority องค์การขนส่งมวลชนกรุงเทพ (http://www.bmta.co.th/en/...), or just BMTA ขสมก, are the cheapest but also the most challenging way of getting around. There is a bewildering plethora of routes, usually marked only in Thai. Even Thais have a hard time with these, but at least they can call the 184 Bus Route Hotline, which is in Thai only. Bus stops list only the bus numbers that stop there and nothing more. They are also subject to Bangkok's notorious traffic, often terribly crowded, and many are not air-conditioned. If you want to get somewhere quickly and are not prepared to get lost, the buses should be avoided remember that taxis are cheaper than most local buses in the West. However, they make for a good adventure if you're not in a rush and you don't mind being the centre of attention.

But for the intrepid, and those staying in Khao San Road where buses are the only practical means of public transport, the only free resource for decrypting bus routes is the official BMTA website. It has up-to-date if slightly incomplete listings of bus routes in English, but no maps. You can also ask your guest house about which buses to take if you're going to a particular destination. As a printed reference, the 69 baht spent on the Bangkok Bus Map by Roadway is a good investment if you're going to travel by bus more than once.

The hierarchy of Bangkok's buses from cheapest to best can be ranked as follows:

Small green bus

6.50 baht flat fare. Cramped, no air-con, no fan, famously suicidal drivers, usually not advisable for more than short hops. Run by private operators, they can be significantly faster than the BMTA-run buses.

Red bus

7 baht flat fare. More spacious and fan-cooled in theory. Unlike other buses, some of these run through the night 1.50 baht surcharge. These buses are BMTA-run.

White/blue bus

8 baht flat fare. Exactly the same as the red buses, but cost one baht more. These buses are owned by private entities operated in conjunction with BMTA.

Blue/yellow and cream/blue air-con

11 baht for the first 8 km 5 mi, up to 18 baht max. These buses are quite comfy. The blue/yellow striped buses are privately owned while the blue/cream buses

are BMTA-owned.

Orange air-con

Euro II, 13 baht for the first few km, up to 22 baht max. These are all BMTA-run, newer, and more comfortable.

Pink/white micro-buses

20 baht flat fare, paid into a fare-collection machine located next to the driver — exact fare only. Not quite common away from the city centre, these are air-conditioned, modern and only allow seated passengers making them harder to use at rush hour as many won't stop for you.

Buses stop only when needed, so wave them down arm out, palm down when you see one barreling your way. Pay the roaming collector after you board and keep the ticket, as there can be occasional spot-checks. Press the signal buzzer usually near the door when you want to get off.

Two further pitfalls are that buses of the same number may run slightly different routes depending on the colour, and there are also express services mostly indicated by yellow signs that skip some stops and may take the expressway 2 baht extra.

Airport buses allow luggage backpacks and suitcases, but regular buses do not. Enforcement of this rule varies.