© Maksim Romashkin・Pexels License

Thailand

Bangkok

Temples and skyscrapers share the skyline. To escape the traffic, ride the elevated BTS or the river boats.

River & canal boats (เรือด่วน)

The river and canals still run on cash - on the express boats you pay at the pier booth or on board. The electric Thai Smile Boat is the only one that takes a card tap. The stern flag tells you the line and the fare.

Updated on July 30, 2026

How to ride

  1. 1
    Know which boat you're looking at
    Tell the line and fare by the stern flag. Old town to Pratunam or Sukhumvit? That's the Saen Saep canal boat, not the river.
  2. 2
    Pay cash at the booth or on board
    Buy a paper ticket at the booth or pay the conductor once aboard - carry notes under 100 THB and coins.
  3. 3
    Board fast - boats barely stop
    Wait for the whistle and for those getting off, then board briskly - boats stop for mere seconds. Grab a rail as it pulls away.
  4. 4
    On canal boats, raise the splash sheet
    On the Saen Saep boats, pull the rope beside your seat to raise the blue splash sheet - canal water is best kept off your skin.
  5. 5
    Track your stop yourself
    Count piers by N-number (Sathorn is Central Pier; Tha Chang N9 for the Grand Palace) and follow your dot on Google Maps.
  6. 6
    Overshot? Ride back
    If you overshoot, boats run the other way too. Reliable English announcements exist only on the Tourist Boat.

Fares

Single fares7

Express boat orange flag (flat)
Weekday rush hours only. As of the July 17, 2026 revision.
17 THB ≈ $0.5
Express boat yellow flag (flat)
This flag covers weekday daytime plus weekends and holidays.
22 THB ≈ $0.7
Green-yellow & red flags (rush-hour specials)
Distance-based green-yellow 15/22/34 THB and air-conditioned red flag 31 THB - weekday rush only.
15〜34 THB ≈ $0.5–1
Saen Saep canal boat (by distance)
Pay the helmeted onboard conductor in cash. As of the June 17, 2026 revision.
15〜25 THB ≈ $0.5–0.8
Thai Smile Boat (flat)
The electric boats - the only ones where you can tap a card on board.
30 THB ≈ $0.9
Cross-river ferry
Anywhere from 3.5 to 7 THB by crossing - the Wat Arun ferry runs 4-5.5 THB. Cash only.
3.5〜7 THB ≈ $0.1–0.2
Tourist Boat (blue flag) single
English announcements and a route map included - not actually a bad deal for the sightseeing piers.
40 THB ≈ $1

Passes & multi-ride1

Tourist Boat one-day pass
Unlimited hop-on hop-off 8:30-19:15 - pays off from your third ride.
150 THB ≈ $5

Estimates use exchange rates as of September 5, 2026

A Tourist Boat at Sathorn Pier — a blue flag at the stern, “HOP ON HOP OFF” on the hull Taken Jun 2019 © Chainwit.・CC BY-SA 4.0

Payment

Tap to ride
Thai Smile Boat only - tap the onboard reader. No other boats take cards
IC card
HOP card tops up via Thai banking apps only - impractical for visitors
QR ticketing Unverified
Street PromptPay-style QR payment assumes a Thai bank account
Paper tickets
Paper tickets from pier booths are the norm - keep yours until you're off
Cash
The default everywhere - pay at the pier booth or the onboard conductor

Quick facts

Hours
Roughly 5:00-20:00, varies by line
Frequency
Every 5-30 min
Fares from
17 THB+

Heads-up

  • Fares track diesel prices - carry extra small change

    Fares track diesel prices - four-plus revisions in 2026 alone. Assume the numbers here may have drifted a baht or two and carry extra small change.

  • The 'boats aren't running' line steers you to a charter

    Touts around the piers and Grand Palace run the classic "boats aren't running / the temple is closed today" line to steer you into overpriced long-tail charters. Buy from the pier booth and walk on.

Timetable

Operating hours Roughly 5:00-20:00, varies by line
Typical duration About 30 minutes from Sathorn to the Grand Palace area - and traffic doesn't exist on the water
Check the official site for the latest times and service status

Route map

5 lines ·49 stations
© OpenStreetMapOpenMapTilesData (ODbL)