In Bangkok, Need To Go To Immigration, Easy Way? If Poss Minimize Taxi

[sidjameson]

I think I need to go to JJ BTS right, then take a taxi. But is there a van I can take? I heard there is one.

Or simple bus instructions are ok too

[purushanti]

There are vans, if you are satisfied with their safety record

[vtjforyou]

Usually they kill people only on highway ? No ?

[sidjameson]

1. where does the van leave from?
   

[edwardandtubs]

More to the point, where does it drop you off?

[bangkoksimon]

It's a difficult place to get to if you don't take a taxi as it's a long way off the main road, it's only around 250 baht by taxi from the centre of town, takes 20-30 mins in aircon comfort, go another way and you may save a 100+ baht after bts then bus then motorbike taxi but it will take forever in the heat

[Lakegeneve]

There are numerous options

1) There are a number of ways to get there. Since you mentioned the BTS, you can catch mini vans from Mo Chit station (you'll see them at the bottom of the stairs) to Rangsit and you get off at where Chaeng Wattana road overpasses Vihavadi - Rangsit rd. (of course you can do the same with one of numerous buses to Rangsit as the van waits to fill before departing). Then you just walk to the intersection where the rail line passes and take a taxi a few mins. You could avoid the taxi but really not worth the hassle to take a bus. (Most likely in the morning there are now vans direct from Mo Chit BTS for govt workers to the Government Center for workers but I am not sure).

2) If you really want a scenic and cheap ride, you can take a ferry in the morning from Saphan Taksin pier all the way to Pakret pier which takes an 1.10hr (schedule below). Hardly any non thais have done this trip.

You can then take any mini van from Pakret (don't worry the road is one way at Pakret so you can't go wrong) heading along Chaeng Wattana rd to the Govt Complex (stops opposite the main road entrance). There is then a shuttle bus at the main road entrance to the main building where Immigration is located.

Both of these are cheap but time consuming. I haven't done either but I know they work (I take another van option from my area) The BTS/ van/ taxi option will be quicker and cheap if that is your priority.

The ST (N1) to Pakret (N33) schedule is basically as follows;

N1 to N33:

6:15 - 8am, 7 services (every 15-20 mins),

3:30pm to 6:05pm, 8 services (every 20 mins)

N33 to N1:

6 - 8:15am, 10 services (every 15 mins)

3:30 - 5:30 , 5 services (every 30 mins)

[w11guy]

Taxi is only 100 baht from Mo Chit. It's the quickest and easiest option.

[beano2274]

Bus 52 or 51 from Mochit to outside Immigration, then shuttle bus

[gkinbkk]

I couldn't imagine doing it any other way than taxi or car......

[dddave]

I take the BTS to Mo Chit, exit on the park side and wait at the bottom of the stairs. You will see vans stopping and picking up passengers.

When a van stops, just ask the driver "Tor Mor Chang Wattana?" Not grammatically correct but it will get the job done. "Tor Mor" is the govt, center. When one indicates "yes", hop in and you will be dropped next to the shuttle bus. About B20.

Going back, take the shuttle back and then cross the footbridge spanning the roadway. There is a bus stop at the base of the stairs where vans also stop. Some are marked "BTS", some not. Again, just ask "BTS mai?"

[sidjameson]

1. Many thanks for all replies. I will take BTS then van I think.
   But that scenic route doesnt sound half bad.
   
2. Thanks for the Thai, very useful.
   

[w11guy]

I take the BTS to Mo Chit, exit on the park side and wait at the bottom of the stairs. You will see vans stopping and picking up passengers.

When a van stops, just ask the driver "Tor Mor Chang Wattana?" Not grammatically correct but it will get the job done. "Tor Mor" is the govt, center. When one indicates "yes", hop in and you will be dropped next to the shuttle bus. About B20.

Going back, take the shuttle back and then cross the footbridge spanning the roadway. There is a bus stop at the base of the stairs where vans also stop. Some are marked "BTS", some not. Again, just ask "BTS mai?"

I always ask for Soon Ratchagan, which I was told meant government complex. Has worked every time. What's the difference between soon ratchagan and tor mor?

UPDATE: Just asked gf and she said tor mor was immigration not government office. Many taxi drivers don't know where immigration is but the know where the government complex is.

Edited July 6, 2012 by w11guy

[tools4fools]

At the van stop at BTS there is usually a dispatcher, stopping vans and putting pax on.

Just as for 'pak kred' which is the final stop for the vans mentioned above.

Tell driver 'Chaeng Wattana soi 7 (djet), that's the soi where you head down to the end to immigration, either walking 1(1000m to main entrance, then head to the far side of the massive building) or by moto taxi.

Taxi is indeed 100 baht from Mo Chit BTS.

From pak kred you can take van to BTS, bus 356 (grey color, no AC, goes to Rangsit later no) and likely bus 52 (haven't checked it out myself yet but supposedly runs pak kred-laksi-BTS-bang sue), all passing in front of gov complex.

[kibal]

Bus 52 or 51 from Mochit to outside Immigration, then shuttle bus

Right.

Take skytrain to last station Mo Chit. Go out I believe exit 1 or 2, go to bus stop (many other buses stop in same place, lots of people waiting). Catch bus #52, should be a white color, 8 baht or so. Tell them Chaeng Wattana Immigration, hold out your passport if they don't understand. The stop actually is right in front of CAT building.

From there someone mentioned taking the free 2 minute shuttle bus. I walk every time, but then I like walking.

[Gaccha]

It is "dto mo chaeng wattana". The taxis all know it by this name.

I have tried the boat route--three times-- and the traffic is unbelievable. It is quicker and much cheaper to take the 7 baht choo choo train to Laksi and then take a taxi.

[kibal]

Me again (post #15). Meant to say that the stop you get off at is at the CAT building. Took the bus several times, no need to take taxi.

[partington]

Bus is great: get off BTS at Mo Chit on the Chatuchak Park side , the greenery is very obvious. Bus stop near exit has #52 listed as one of those that stop there.

Its a flat fare of 8 baht, so you dont need to say anything, but say Changwattana Soi jet if you want to be told where to get off.

As mentioned the stop is outside the CAT building (orange signs plus picture of King). The immigration building is at the end of the first turning on the left 50m or so after you get off the bus - 10 min walk or free songthaew style shuttle bus

Takes around 35-40 min from Mo Chit, saves you 100 baht, why not?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just returned from my annual excursion to Chaeng Wattana Immigration in Bangkok for this year's triple crown: retirement extension, single-use re-entry permit and a 90-day report to boot.

Here was the bus travel detail:

Took the #52 bus from the Mochit BTS Station on the park side of the road for an 8 baht one-way fare. The bus stops beneath the BTS station between the station stairs north and south. Outbound travel time on the #52 bus was about 35 minutes. In the past, that bus has been a white colored, non-air con variety. But to my surprise, the #52 I caught was a newer yellow-color air con variety. The bus drops you off on Chaeng Wattana Road at the entrance to Soi 7 near the CAT building.

Walk into Soi 7 about 100 meters, and they have red-colored BMTA-type buses running free shuttle service that take you direct to the Immigration building, and then back to the main road when you're finished, if you choose that option. On the return trip, the stop to catch the #52 going back into town is almost directly across the other side of CW Road where there's a wooden bus shelter.

On the way home this time, however, I tried something new, waiting for the #166 bus right at the entrance doors of the Immigration Building, the same entrance facing onto the Soi 7 roadway as where the free red shuttle buses let passengers off. The same as the last time I was there, a red-colored #166 came by after a few minutes but was empty and the driver waived off me and another passenger. So apparently there's something else going on with those red colored #166 buses there.

But a few minutes later, another #166 came along, this one blue-colored and air con with a yellow Thai language placard sign in the window. That was the correct bus, and I confirmed with the ticket lady that this #166 did indeed take the expressway from CW back to Victory Monument. 18 baht fare, and about a 35 minute ride back to Victory Monument on a mostly empty bus and very little traffic on the expressway. The Victory Monument stop for the #166 bus is coming from Ratchawithi Road and then immediately after turning left into the Victory Monument circle.

Going back from CW to Victory Monument on the 166 seems pretty easy. But it's a bit more complicated on the outbound trip.

That's because, apparently, there are two flavors of the 166 when it leaves Victory Monument...one that swings by and apparently terminates at the Government Complex on Chaeng Wattana, and a different 166 that heads straight for Muang Thon Thani. The placards on the bus, written in Thai of course, distinguish between the two.

Here's what the yellow placard for the Government Complex to Victory Monument bus looks like. In Thai, it's saying, "Government Complex - Victory Monument". The top line in Thai says Government Complex. The bottom line in Thai says Victory Monument.

What's going on with the red colored #166 buses that always seem to pull thru the same driveway at Immigration but never let any passengers on there, I'm not sure. But I've been passed off by them the last two times I've been at Immigration. So it seems that the blue air con #166 buses are the correct ones to look for for the expressway trip.

Now having taken both the #52 and the #166 on different trips back from CW, they both arrived back to their return destinations in about the same 35 minute time... the #52 going to Mochit BTS via the roadways and the #166 going to Victory Monument BTS in good part by expressway. Though those return times were late morning.... not rush hour times.

Once the #166 got off the expressway, I believe on Rama VI a fair distance from Victory Monument, the surface street traffic heading toward Victory Monument was pretty bad even at late morning, and worse as the bus headed down Ratchathewi into the VM circle.

As for the route of the #166 bus, it actually breaks into two different directions and services at the northern end of the route, one going to the Government Complex and the other to MTT. So if anyone's planning to take the #166 outbound from Victory Monument, the important thing is to get one that's headed for the Government Complex, and not the other flavor of the bus that heads off to MTT.

Here's a link to a BMTA map, unfortunately in Thai, that I believe shows the routing, with the blue route line going to the Government Complex, and the red route line going to MTT....

http://www.bmta.co.t...load/img049.pdf

Since the blue route line #166 appears to terminate at the Government Complex, for someone catching the bus there, at least you don't have to worry about which direction that bus is headed since, at that point, it'll only be headed back into the center of town to Victory Monument.

Here's a shorthand guide to BMTA bus placard signs that another member posted elsewhere:

Quote

a yellow notice with red or black writing means it's going to go on an expressway,

a red notice with white writing means it either started from or is going to (or both) somewhere other than what you'd expect, but will use the route that the number suggest for a large part of the journey,

a white notice with red writing means it'll not go the whole distance by a long way.

A blue notice with white writing usually means that the bus will do as expected.

If you notice from the photo I posted above, the #166 bus from the Government Complex to Victory Monument via expressway does indeed have a yellow placard sign with black writing indicating its route terminus points.

Edited August 23, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[razorramone]

Whoever said it costs 250 baht in a taxi was being taken for a ride. I've been there several times, from jj market its 100-120 baht.

One thing to watch for, some taxis will try to drop you at the building near the main road. This is NOT the building you want. Ask them to keep going and take the first left, because the actually "B" building you want is another 1km away.

[TheSpade]

I went this morning around 11:45am. Took BTS to Mo Chit then found a taxi parked outside.

Got there in 15 minutes flat. Driver took a route I wasn't familiar with. Total cost 91B.

Friendly driver as well and no hassle about putting on the meter.

On the way back picked one up outside the building. No drama or refusing to put the meter on again.

120B back to Mo Chit. This guy went a different way from the driver going out there.

Also a friendly driver.

All in all very EASY so if you REALLY want easy (and not cheap) OP then Skytrain to Mochit then taxi from there.

My timing was the worst part. Arrived just after they'd gone on lunch. Couldn't get out of bed in the morning.

Edited August 27, 2013 by TheSpade