NEWS:

• There are now larger vans going between the Mochit skytrain station and Muang Thong Thani. I will try to get a photo soon.

• A new terminal has been created for the vans to go to, still located near the central market but on the Easy Peasy side, as noted on the Maps page. Again, I will try to get a photo soon.

The founder of MTT is the Kajanapas family, and one of them, Keeree Kajanapas, is Chairman of the company which built and manages the skytrain in central Bangkok, Bangkok Transit System (BTS). The Kajanapas family has been into rail transport via their company Tanayong, so it is no surprise that they provide a link between MTT and the rail transport.

There is no rail link to MTT, but the elevated expressway to the rail station is essentially equivalent.

Taxis

People do occasionally ask the stupid question of whether there are taxis in Muang Thong Thani.

Step out onto any street in MTT with any traffic and a metered taxi will drive by within a few minutes, and usually within 1 minute.

Taxis are convenient because they take you door to door, anywhere. The cost to get to central Bangkok is about 150 baht plus 50 to 70 baht for the expressway, for a total of 200-220 baht, or about $7 at 2007 exchange rates. This compares with about 50 baht (under $2) for public transport plus skytrain or subway fare altogether, discussed next:

Transport to/from Victory Monument and Skytrain Stations

In front of the Popular Condo section at the north end of the central market / food court, there is a private fleet of minibuses and minivans ("roht dtu") which line up to bring passengers to Victory Monument ("Anu Sawaree"), the Mochit skytrain station, Silom, Ploenchit/Sukhumvit, and other places. At rush hour, they fill up quickly and get onto the expressway at the MTT ramp. At other times, they leave before they fill up and drive to the Chaeng Wattana ramp hoping to pick up a few people elsewhere in MTT along the way. Fare: just 25 baht (less than $1).

Be careful to get in the right one. The writing is not always in dual English and Thai. The manager and drivers are very friendly and will usually ask you where you are going. If not, then tell them and they will happily point you to the right van.

The logos at the bottom of the van are for Bangkok Land Public Company Ltd. (developers of MTT), Impact, and the BTS Skytrain (Bangkok Transit System, whose CEO is part of the Kanjanapas family who created and direct Bangkok Land PCL).

Victory Monument is right off the expressway, but MoChit is a short ways off the expressway. The advantage of MoChit is that it's the terminal station for the skytrain so you can be assured of getting a seat. MoChit is also on the subway line (and is a transfer station between subway and skytrain).

The minibuses to MoChit are larger than the minivans to Victory Monument. (The minivans are sometimes called "van cars".)

They all big fleets, and as soon as one fills up, it goes and another one starts to fill. This is the scene on both ends of the line, both at the MTT portal and at the destination portals.

At Victory Monument, the van cars going to Muang Thong Thani are located directly under the expressway, about 50 meters north of Victory Monument, on the corner of the minivan parking lot closest to Victory Monument. Again, be careful to get into the right vans, because there are other vans going other places. In the The Muang Thong Thani vans are on the corner closest to Victory Monument, so it's the easiest to find. As always, if in doubt, just say "Muang Thong Thani" and they will point you to the right van. If there's a line during rush hour, then go to the back of the line and wait a few minutes for the next van in the fleet. There are only 14 seats per minivan.

The Muang Thong Thani minivans quit around 10pm. However, you can also take the minivans to/from Pakkred from the northwest corner of Victory Monument (not under the expressway, but on Victory Monument itself, the northwest quadrant closest to the convenient entry ramp). Those continue to at least 1am, sometimes 2:30am and a little later on weekends. You get off right after they exit the expressway, near the traffic light for the entrance to MTT on Chaeng Wattana Rd. The sawngtaos end some time after 10pm, but there are almost always motorcycle taxis at the stand on the corner of Chaeng Wattana Rd.

Likewise, you can always wave down a minivan or bus coming from Pakkred. They come down Chaeng Wattana Rd. constantly. Be careful to get the right one. To/from Pakkred are more Victory Monument ("Anu Sawaree") van cars, as well as van cars going many other places such as Silom, RamIndra/Minburi/Bangkapi, Samut Prakarn, etc.

The Silom van cars also get onto the expressway right there at the Chaeng Wattana interchange, and get off the expressway at the Silom exit, then drive down Silom to within a city block of the Chong Nongsi skytrain station where the route ends and other van cars are waiting for passengers to go to MTT. The van cars also can drop off and pick up passengers in-between the Silom expressway exit and the end of the route near the Chong Nongsi skytrain station, e.g., at the jewelry trade center.

In addition to these van cars, you can also take the regular government BMTA bus to/from Victory Monument.

These buses start in MTT near the expressway, so it's possible to be the first person onto an empty bus. They are slower than the private buses because they also go thru Pakkred, enter/exit the expressway at Chaeng Wattana Rd., and exit one ramp before Victory Monument (Rama 6) then swing thru traffic to Victory Monument. At Victory Monument, they pass near the Pakkred van cars, and get onto the expressway at the Victory Monument ramp. There is more leg room on these, but you're not guaranteed a seat as you are on van cars.

Transport within MTT

There are "sawngtao" vehicles which constantly circulate thru MTT, along three routes, with the vehicles numbers 1, 2 and 3.

Route 1 goes between Chaeng Wattana Rd. (Pakkred) and in/around the Popular Condo side.

Route 2 goes down all of Bond St./Lakeside and in/around the Popular Condo side.

Route 3 goes down all of Bond St./Lakeside and to Chaeng Wattana Rd. (Pakkred).

You just wait on the road a few minutes and one will come. You wave it down, get in the back, then when you want to get out, you press the ringer button (several of them on the sides and ceiling). You pay 5 baht when you exit, at the window on the passenger side of the cab. The driver can give change but you must put the coin in the can.

The sawngtaos are white and have an artsy blue line drawing of buildings on the side.

There are also motorcycle taxi stands all over MTT. They are a lot safer out here, because there isn't the crazy traffic like in the center of town. Also, you don't suffer from the in-town pollution.

Motorcycle Taxis

Of course, there are motorcycle taxi stands placed all around MTT, including in its back corners. Empty ones are also constantly circulating around for flagging down.