Bangkok BTS and MRT: the Fares, the Cards, and the 45 Baht Cap

Bangkok’s rail network is run by several companies under two authorities, and the fare you pay depends on which of them owns the track under you. The government has spent three years trying to flatten that into one number. For a visitor, the important part is short: the cheap flat fare needed a Thai identity card and has been cancelled, the 45 baht cap planned for 1 January 2027 is for registered Thai citizens only as announced, and until further notice you pay each operator’s own rate.

The lines, and who runs them

• BTS Skytrain, the two elevated lines through the shopping and hotel districts: the Sukhumvit Line and the Silom Line. BTS’s own history page records no new station since Saint Louis opened on the Silom Line in February 2021.
• The Gold Line, 1.8 km and three stations from Krung Thon Buri across to Taksin Hospital, opened on 16 January 2021 and run jointly by the city, Krungthep Thanakom and BTS.
• MRT Blue Line, the underground loop through the old city and Chinatown. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority gives it as an original section of 18 stations over 20 km, plus an extension of 20 stations over 28 km, operated by Bangkok Expressway and Metro.
• MRT Purple Line, 16 stations over 22 km from Khlong Bang Phai to Tao Poon, mostly of use if you are staying in Nonthaburi.
• MRT Pink Line, a monorail of 30 stations over 34.5 km from the Nonthaburi civic centre to Min Buri, opened on 31 December 2023.
• MRT Yellow Line, the other monorail, down the eastern side of the city.
• SRT Red Lines, the commuter lines north and west from Krung Thep Aphiwat, which is also how you reach Don Mueang airport.
• The Airport Rail Link to Suvarnabhumi, covered in our airports guide, along with the Red Line’s airport stop.

What it costs

Line	Fare	Source
MRT Blue Line	17 to 44 baht, with 44 baht from 12 stations, since 3 July 2026	News report, Thairath English
BTS Green Lines, extension only	From 17 baht, since 1 November 2025	News report, The Nation
BTS Green Lines, main line plus extension	Capped at 65 baht a journey	News report, The Nation
SRT Red Lines	12 to 42 baht for an adult, 1.50 baht a kilometre	The operator’s own fare page
Purple and Red Lines together	No more than 40 baht a day, to 30 November 2026	The authority’s own announcement

The daily cap is the one bargain where the operators’ own announcements set no Thai ID or registration condition. One Thai news report (MGR Online, 16 October 2026) describes it as Thai nationals only. That is not confirmed. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority set a maximum of 40 baht a day for the general public across the Purple and Red Lines from 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026, and 30 baht a day for students. On 25 October 2026 the Deputy Government Spokesperson said a government committee had considered extending it to 31 December 2027 and that the Transport Ministry would put this to the Cabinet (Thairath report). It is not approved as of 28 October 2026: the official Cabinet summary of 27 October 2026 does not list the extension among its resolutions, so the end date stays 30 November 2026 for now. If the day’s real fares come to less, you are charged the real amount. It only works if you pay with a Mangmoom EMV card, an MRT EMV card or an EMV contactless bank card.

BTS fares are the gap here. The Skytrain publishes its fare table as an image its site would not render for us, so the only figures printed above are the ones in news reports of the November 2025 change. Expect a single journey across town to cost more than the MRT equivalent.

Why the 20 baht fare is not for you

Thailand has run a 20 baht flat fare since October 2023, when it started on the Purple and Red Lines. From 1 October 2025 the Cabinet extended it to 13 routes for one year.

The catch is in the conditions. The Government Public Relations Department’s own announcement limits the benefit to passengers holding a 13-digit Thai national identity number, registered through the government’s Thang Rat app and linked to an EMV bank card or a stored-value Rabbit card. A foreign passport does not qualify. If you have read elsewhere that Bangkok’s trains cost 20 baht to anywhere, that is the scheme being described, and it is not open to visitors.

The 45 baht cap, and what it changes

In June 2026 the Cabinet approved a different measure: a maximum fare of 45 baht a trip, which includes the 17 baht entry fee written into the old concessions, across every line in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, with no second entry fee when you change from one operator’s line to another. Journeys costing less than 45 baht are charged at their real price. The resolution that set the 20 baht Phase 2 measure was revoked at the same time.

The department’s own page of 19 September 2026 says the equipment is still being installed and gives the expected start as 1 January 2027, paid for with EMV contactless cards. On 13 October 2026 the Government Public Relations Department reported that, at first, everyone will pay the normal fare at the gate and the difference will be refunded later through the Pao Tang app to Thai citizens who register. Thai news reports of 9 and 10 October 2026 (Thairath, Naewna) quote the Deputy Transport Minister as saying foreign passengers will not receive the discount, and news reports say registration will need a Thai national ID. As announced, a visitor would pay the full fare. This is the plan as of 28 October 2026 and is not final.

Two cautions. The regulation behind it is still to be issued. Thai news outlets (Thairath, The Nation, 21 October 2026) reported that the Transport Ministry would ask the Cabinet on 26 October for a budget of up to 5.8 billion baht to pay the refunds, for a one-year measure running to 31 December 2027. The outcome is not confirmed as of 28 October 2026: the official Cabinet summary of 27 October 2026 does not list the budget among its resolutions. Registration through the Pao Tang app was reported as planned for December 2026. Dates on Thai fare policy move. Check before you count on it.

How to pay

A foreign bank card is now the simplest option on most lines. A news report of 27 February 2026 lists EMV contactless as covering six lines: Red, Blue, Purple, Pink, Yellow and the Airport Rail Link. The same reporting says the Blue and Purple Lines stopped accepting the old stored-value cards on 1 June 2026 and went EMV only, and that a Visa, Mastercard or UnionPay card issued anywhere can be tapped straight in. The Yellow Line’s operator states the same in its own words: credit cards from any Thai or international issuer on Visa, Mastercard or UnionPay, and international debit cards on those networks.

The BTS is the exception. The Skytrain runs on the Rabbit card, and none of the sources read as of 20 September 2026 lists the Green or Gold Lines among the EMV lines. A new Rabbit card costs 120 baht as an issuance fee, with no deposit, and takes a minimum of 100 baht of value at a time, up to 4,000 baht. Top it up at BTS, Yellow Line, Pink Line or BRT ticket offices, or at a machine in any station.

The MRT’s own card, if you want one, costs 180 baht to start: a 50 baht refundable deposit, a 30 baht issuing fee and 100 baht of travel. It holds up to 2,000 baht, a credit-card top-up has to be 300 baht or more, and it is suspended after two years without use. Refunds under 299 baht are paid in cash at a station; 300 baht or more goes to a Thai bank account, which rules it out for most visitors.

Single journey tickets still exist on the BTS, bought at the machines. Its conditions say a single journey ticket expires at the end of that day’s service, and is refundable only if you never entered the paid area, or left it at the same station within five minutes.

Hours

The Pink Line’s page gives 06:00 to 24:00 daily. The Blue Line’s page gives its hours as “06.00 am - 12.00 pm”, which reads as noon and is almost certainly meant as midnight, so treat the Blue Line as running to roughly midnight rather than to a time that can be quoted. The Red Lines run from 05:00 to midnight, about every 10 minutes at peak, 15 to 20 off-peak, and up to 40 minutes on the Taling Chan branch. BTS hours were not found in a readable form as of 20 September 2026; its trains start earlier than the MRT in practice, but no time is printed here without a source.

Rules worth knowing

• Tap out with the card you tapped in with. On the Yellow Line, failing to do so brings a penalty equal to the line’s maximum fare of 45 baht.
• No pets anywhere in the MRT system.
• Discount card types get checked. The Pink Line’s conditions require a student to show a student card and a citizen card on demand, so the adult rate is what a visitor pays.
• Trips loaded onto a Rabbit card are not refundable once they are on it, and BTS concessionary tickets cannot be exchanged for cash at all.
• Changing from the Blue Line to the Yellow Line at Lat Phrao within 30 minutes on the same EMV card earns a 15 baht discount on the Yellow Line’s entry fee, credited back to the card within days.
• Lifts. BTS asks passengers to take particular care of children, older and disabled passengers in its lifts, and several stations including Mo Chit, Siam, Asok, On Nut and Chong Nonsi have a call button beside the lift to reach staff.

Getting to the sights

The Blue Line is the one that reaches the old city: the authority’s route description runs it under Sanam Chai Road and beneath the river near Pak Khlong Talat, which puts Sanam Chai station at the Grand Palace and Wat Pho end of town, a walk that most visitors otherwise make by boat or taxi. The same line has a station called Chatuchak Park beside the weekend market, where the BTS also stops at Mo Chit.

For everything else, each of our Bangkok listings prints its own address and coordinates, and the operators’ route maps are the reliable way to match those to a station. The station-by-station lists that circulate elsewhere are not repeated here, because no official page read as of 20 September 2026 states them.

What is being built

The Purple Line’s extension from Tao Poon to Rat Burana is the one that will matter to visitors, since it runs into Thonburi. The authority’s own project page gives it as 23.6 km and 17 stations, civil works 67 per cent complete, and an expected opening of November 2030. Several published round-ups give around 17 km, 14 stations and 2027; those figures do not match the authority’s own page, and this guide follows the authority’s.

What we could not confirm

• BTS’s own fare table, its Gold Line fare and its One-Day Pass price. On 20 September 2026 its site served them in a form that would not render as text, and no figure that could not be read is printed here.
• The MRT’s fare list. The operator publishes a calculator rather than a table, so the Blue Line range above comes from a news report.
• When the 20 baht scheme stopped in practice is not confirmed. The Cabinet resolved to cancel it on 23 June 2026 (Thai PBS Verify, 29 June 2026). It was announced to run to 30 September 2026. Since no visitor qualifies either way, the practical answer is unchanged.
• The exact day the Cabinet approved the 45 baht cap. The department’s page is read by one tool as 23 June 2026 and by another as 24 June, so the month is given here and not the day.
• Whether the BTS accepts EMV bank cards. The lists read as of 20 September 2026 name six lines and do not include the Green or Gold Lines, which is not the same as a statement that they refuse them.