The Bangkok Metro may be raising MRT subway fares next year. In July, 2012 to be precise. The increase the Bangkok Metro is looking for hasn’t been mentioned but will likely be a few baht per trip. However they do still have to get approval for it, so don’t go saving your baht just yet.
Current MRT subway fares start at 15 baht and go up to 41 baht per trip. Not cheap for most Thais, but cheaper than similar subway lines in Europe and about the same as much of the rest of south east Asia.
Personally, I don’t use the MRT that much. MRT train stations aren’t currently that convenient for me for the places I go, as the BTS skytrain has much better locations of stations when I’m heading downtown.
Add onto that the air conditioning on Bangkok’s MRT trains which, if there’s more than 10 people in the carriage, seems to be set on “par boil”. the advert TVs never work and, except for rush hour, you have to wait too long between trains.
While it’s nice to have the MRT for those few spots it conveniently gets you too, overall I’m a bigger fan of the BTS sky train.
You’re not stuck underground, so you can actually see something interesting on the BTS when you’re traveling and, oh yes, fares on the BTS for many of the stops I use are cheaper than for the MRT.
Update. January, 2013— Since I first wrote this almost 2 years ago, circumstances have now changed for Bangkok’s MRT underground system. It’s now usually cheaper to use the underground than the skytrain for many stations and they’ve added more trains so it’s more convenient to use it as well.
That’s why in the last two years, I’ve found myself using the MRT underground more than the BTS skytrain.