On 5/2/2026 at 9:08 AM, ravip said:

Really ?

How did you arrive at that? Please show us some real statistics.

Thai Xenophobia - that's a dead horse. Beaten enough by some frustrated farang.

you are challenging my statement my dear fellow....so go and find the stats for yourself as it's you who is doubting. Not my problem. Solly. Bye and welcome to ma ignore list.

There was a worst case scenario on the Boston MTA when a fare increase was enacted.

Here is the story, immortalized by the Kingston Trio:

On 4/11/2026 at 10:23 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

Now, here's a novel idea. Use cash. Works instantly all the time with no added charges. It's worked for centuries in one way or another.

I like to use cash as well.

But the fact is, often electronic payment methods are cheaper and more convenient.

No sense being stubborn about it.

Yesterday I got my MRT card refunded.

Long queue.

Need passport (I asked before, but this was not mentioned).

Must sign that I receiver my money, but the slip doesn't say how much it was.

I was told, foreigners can still use MRT, must use credit card or buy a token.

We don't even need to show our passport to ride the MRT.

I showed them my Kbank Visa debit card aka Atm card, she said i can use this one, too. I didn't try.

Walking is healthier, anyway.

Why is Thailand so racist? Where I live, everybody is the same, no difference between nationalities, no matter where you come from

So, why did I get a thumbs down for posting the truth ??????

Yesterday I got my MRT card refunded.

Long queue.

Need passport (I asked before, but this was not mentioned).

Must sign that I receiver my money, but the slip doesn't say how much it was.

I was told, foreigners can still use MRT, must use credit card or buy a token.

We don't even need to show our passport to ride the MRT.

I showed them my Kbank Visa debit card aka Atm card, she said i can use this one, too. I didn't try.

Walking is healthier, anyway.

Good to have an update. I was wondering if they actually went through with it. I departed Thailand just before May 31. Just for grins, I tried my K-Bank chipped debit card and it worked on the MRT "Visa" carousels. In the past, I tried it a couple of times and it didn't work. (Never checked to see why... I just stepped aside and used my MRT Old Fart Elder card.)

Edit: To be clear, mine is a Thai based K-Bank card. I don't have a chipped card from my bank back home, so I can't speak for that capability. Sounds like I need to order a new and zoomy chipped card. But I dread changing the card data on all the accounts.

Edited June 6Jun 6 by impulse

1 hour ago, impulse said:

Good to have an update. I was wondering if they actually went through with it. I departed Thailand just before May 31. Just for grins, I tried my K-Bank chipped debit card and it worked on the MRT "Visa" carousels. In the past, I tried it a couple of times and it didn't work. (Never checked to see why... I just stepped aside and used my MRT Old Fart Elder card.)

Edit: To be clear, mine is a Thai based K-Bank card. I don't have a chipped card from my bank back home, so I can't speak for that capability. Sounds like I need to order a new and zoomy chipped card. But I dread changing the card data on all the accounts.

That's exactly the card I showed her, and she said it will work.

Sounds like a possibility if, in an emergency, I absolutely need to use MRT (I will avoid it). The risk would be limited to the balance of my Kbank account, never more than 10000 USD.

The risk using a foreign credit card is infinite.

And when things go wrong (they often do, as Thai friends told me), MRT tells the customers it must be the bank's fault. Have fun contacting a foreign bank about Bangkok MRT problems!

On 6/6/2026 at 12:25 AM, Hish said:

Yesterday I got my MRT card refunded.

Long queue.

Need passport (I asked before, but this was not mentioned).

Must sign that I receiver my money, but the slip doesn't say how much it was.

I was told, foreigners can still use MRT, must use credit card or buy a token.

We don't even need to show our passport to ride the MRT.

I showed them my Kbank Visa debit card aka Atm card, she said i can use this one, too. I didn't try.

Walking is healthier, anyway.

The long queue is kinda your own fault.

When I got my refund I went to a station that I knew was quiet and no queue at all.

If you got to a high traffic station of course you will have a long queue.

MRT seem to not care about customer service.

Gave up trying to get a refund on my MRT card as the stations at either end of my journey had long queues, and couldn't buy a token as none of the machines would accept any of the dozen banknotes I tried.

I ended up using Grab for my journey, and visiting the destination station just to try to get a refund.

Yes, I could try quieter stations than Sukhumvit or Rama 9, but then I'd have to make a special journey just to get my money back, and their token machines don't like my cash, so I'd have to walk.

Avoiding MRT from now on. The BTS covers 90% of my Bangkok travel needs, and Grab or walking can cover the 10%.

On 6/6/2026 at 1:45 AM, still kicking said:

Why is Thailand so racist? Where I live, everybody is the same, no difference between nationalities, no matter where you come from

On 6/6/2026 at 1:51 AM, still kicking said:

So, why did I get a thumbs down for posting the truth ??????

That's incorrect, hence the thumbs down

12 hours ago, cdemundo said:

The long queue is kinda your own fault.

When I got my refund I went to a station that I knew was quiet and no queue at all.

If you got to a high traffic station of course you will have a long queue.

I would also not try to get a refund during rush hour. Every station has quieter hours.

13 hours ago, Kinnock said:

MRT seem to not care about customer service.

Gave up trying to get a refund on my MRT card as the stations at either end of my journey had long queues, and couldn't buy a token as none of the machines would accept any of the dozen banknotes I tried.

I ended up using Grab for my journey, and visiting the destination station just to try to get a refund.

Yes, I could try quieter stations than Sukhumvit or Rama 9, but then I'd have to make a special journey just to get my money back, and their token machines don't like my cash, so I'd have to walk.

Avoiding MRT from now on. The BTS covers 90% of my Bangkok travel needs, and Grab or walking can cover the 10%.

Sukhumvit on the MRT and Phaya Thai on the BTS have long queues only at one end. Walk to the other set of ticket machines at the opposite end of the station - no queues: everyone just queues at the end that everyone comes in to.

This doesn't work at Asoke and Siam as both ends are equally busy. But definitely works at Sukhumvit MRT and Phaya Thai BTS.

Sukhumvit on the MRT and Phaya Thai on the BTS have long queues only at one end. Walk to the other set of ticket machines at the opposite end of the station - no queues: everyone just queues at the end that everyone comes in to.

This doesn't work at Asoke and Siam as both ends are equally busy. But definitely works at Sukhumvit MRT and Phaya Thai BTS.

It'll be interesting to see if the queues get shorter after a few weeks of the new policy, or if MRT riders without chipped Visa cards are doomed to long queues as a norm. Forever. And ever.

I agree that you can choose less busy times and stations for the one-off refund of your old MRT card. But that doesn't work well if the station you're traveling through or the time you need to travel isn't one of them.

On 6/6/2026 at 12:25 AM, Hish said:

Yesterday I got my MRT card refunded.

Long queue.

Need passport (I asked before, but this was not mentioned).

Must sign that I receiver my money, but the slip doesn't say how much it was.

I got my 3 cards refunded about 3 weeks ago at Bang Yi Khan MRT station

No passport required, no signature required and no receipt issued.

They handed over the cash and I was on my way in 5 minutes.

Now buy a disc when I travel

Edited June 8Jun 8 by ozfarang

10 hours ago, ozfarang said:

I got my 3 cards refunded about 3 weeks ago at Bang Yi Khan MRT station

No passport required, no signature required and no receipt issued.

They handed over the cash and I was on my way in 5 minutes.

Now buy a disc when I travel

Sounds good.

That was what I expected...

Now buy a disc when I travel

Are you referring to a single trip coin/disk?

Because depending on the time and station, you may have to queue up for 10 minutes (or more) to buy one. Then queue up again for the return trip. It really takes the fun out of a day when you spend more time in the queue than at your destination.

Having recently surrendered my Elder MRT card, and obtained a refund, I used my BBK credit card the other day for the first time to travel from Lak Song to Sukhumvit. 

Within seconds of tapping the card at the entrance gate my BBK mobile app notified me: “You have used X-1114 at MRT-BEM THB 0.00 17/06/26 12:53, Available Balance THB XX,XXX.XX”

Upon exiting at Sukhumvit, I tapped my card at the gate expecting to receive an almost instantaneous mobile app notification informing me of the amount that MRT were charging for my journey.  The gate opened, but no mobile app notification from BBK. In fact there was no notification during the rest of that day.

The following morning at 06:00, I received a message on my mobile from BBK stating: “You have used X-1114@MRT-BEM THB 45.00 18/06/26 03:15”

Normally when making any form of CC purchase, I get an almost instant notification via the mobile app.  In this case there was an almost 12 hour delay.  Is this normal when using a CC/Debit card with MRTs new system?

2 hours ago, 007 RED said:

Having recently surrendered my Elder MRT card, and obtained a refund, I used my BBK credit card the other day for the first time to travel from Lak Song to Sukhumvit. 

Within seconds of tapping the card at the entrance gate my BBK mobile app notified me: “You have used X-1114 at MRT-BEM THB 0.00 17/06/26 12:53, Available Balance THB XX,XXX.XX”

Upon exiting at Sukhumvit, I tapped my card at the gate expecting to receive an almost instantaneous mobile app notification informing me of the amount that MRT were charging for my journey.  The gate opened, but no mobile app notification from BBK. In fact there was no notification during the rest of that day.

The following morning at 06:00, I received a message on my mobile from BBK stating: “You have used X-1114@MRT-BEM THB 45.00 18/06/26 03:15”

Normally when making any form of CC purchase, I get an almost instant notification via the mobile app.  In this case there was an almost 12 hour delay.  Is this normal when using a CC/Debit card with MRTs new system?

Yes, it's normal. They consolidate and send at the end of the day as the plan is to cap the charge at a daily limit.

It works in a similar way in other countries too, nothing to worry about.

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Yes, it's normal. They consolidate and send at the end of the day as the plan is to cap the charge at a daily limit.

It works in a similar way in other countries too, nothing to worry about.

Maximally non-transparent

1 hour ago, Hish said:

Maximally non-transparent

You get your consolidated usage at the end of each day. Transparent and itemised.

9 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Yes, it's normal. They consolidate and send at the end of the day as the plan is to cap the charge at a daily limit.

It works in a similar way in other countries too, nothing to worry about.

5 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

You get your consolidated usage at the end of each day. Transparent and itemised.

Many thanks... This was just a single out bound trip - return by bus - so just one charge. I had a feeling that they might consolidate the days trips so as to reduce multiple charges, but glad for your confirmation.

On 3/15/2026 at 12:29 PM, JTXR said:

MRT is doing away with the old stored value cards and transitioning to VISA/Mastercard EMV cards. Thai citizens can get a new EMV card specific to the MRT system ("Mangmoom EMV"), but apparently foreigners are not eligible for now. Will we ever be?

No more discount for elders....or maybe discount for Thai elders but not farang....🙄

9 hours ago, JohnOFphon said:

No more discount for elders....or maybe discount for Thai elders but not farang....🙄

Thais can still get a discount

Foreigners, no

Is the max limit per atm card for each round trip or is it for a whole day's usage (possibly multiple trips)? I

If it is for a whole day's usage, then it raises the following questions:

Considering multiple person usage of one atm card in a single day:

1. Can one atm card be used in succession for two+ people together (couples/families) following each other in?

   I'm guessing NO, because of the complication of computing a daily maximum charge (multiple entries prior to the following multiple exits) on the one atm card. Any published info?

2. However, if a round trip is completed, an individual could pass their atm card to others to use for additional separate round trip for that day. Would the atm card then have the same (one person one atm card) unincreased max limit (even though 2+ people had used it that day)?

Edited June 26Jun 26 by OneZero

20 minutes ago, OneZero said:

Is the max limit per atm card for each round trip or is it for a whole day's usage (possibly multiple trips)? I

If it is for a whole day's usage, then it raises the following questions:

Considering multiple person usage of one atm card in a single day:

1. Can one atm card be used in succession for two+ people together (couples/families) following each other in?

   I'm guessing NO, because of the complication of computing a daily maximum charge (multiple entries prior to the following multiple exits) on the one atm card. Any published info?

2. However, if a round trip is completed, an individual could pass their atm card to others to use for additional separate round trip for that day. Would the atm card then have the same (one person one atm card) unincreased max limit (even though 2+ people had used it that day)?

1. No, per trip 1 person only.

2. The card does not know which person is using it.

On 6/6/2026 at 12:25 AM, Hish said:

I showed them my Kbank Visa debit card aka Atm card, she said i can use this one, too

I use that same card on the MRT all the time. It works fine, and great to have during busy periods. It's nice to not have to wait on any lines to buy tickets.

The same card also works on the SRT, e.g. red line to Don Mueang.