On October 25, the long-rumored “minibus relocation of the Victory Monument to the three major stations” finally became a reality. From this day on, the Victory Monument will no longer have tourist minibuses stopping here to receive passengers.
As independent tourists, how will this change affect us?
Some travelers began to delve into Bangkok’s ground systems. Many travel experts recommend using public transportation, which is actually an excellent suggestion from an environmental or economic point of view. But the problem is that the learning cost and time cost are too high, and unexpected problems often appear in the end, which ruins the elegance of the trip. We will provide a complete and up-to-date driving guide in Bangkok.
According to the announcement given by BMTA, thousands of tourist minibuses at the Victory Monument will be allocated to the three major bus stations in the southeast, north, and south according to their destinations. In a brief summary, the distribution plan is: to the east of Bangkok, move to the east station Ekkamai to the south and west of Bangkok, move to the south station South Pinklao to the north and northeast of Bangkok, move to the north station Mochit 2.
The picture below shows the bus stop of the Victory Monument, which is divided into four areas around the monument. Among them, the blue zone and the green zone have free buses to the bus station.
In terms of passenger travel options, we talk about each station.
East Bus Station | Ekkamai
East Bus Station has always been one of the most convenient stations in Bangkok. It can be said that this move has the least impact here.
Getting to the East Bus Station is very simple, just take the BTS all the way east and get off at BTS Ekkamai and walk there. This is the most convenient way, and there is no need to pay attention to other shuttle buses and public transportation.
The currently confirmed destinations include Chonburi, Rayong, Trat and other popular tourist destinations east of Bangkok. Therefore, passengers going to Pattaya, Koh Samet, Rayong, Trat, Koh Chang and other places, it is definitely right to go to the East Bus Station to take a bus. Of course, this does not mean that the East Railway Station is the only option, but for passengers, it is the most reasonable and less worrying solution.
North Bus Station | Mochit 2 The
author once took a bus to Chiang Mai at the North Bus Station. The experience at that time was relatively bad. The North Station is still some distance away from BTS Mochit. Please give up the idea of walking there. After exiting Mochit Station, taking a taxi is the best choice.
The North Bus Station is responsible for the passenger transport tasks in the north and northeast of Bangkok, so if you go north, you can rest assured to go to the North Bus Station to take a bus. For example: Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lopburi, Khao Yai and other northeastern regions.
Currently, BMTA provides shuttle buses to and from the North Bus Station at BTS Mochit and Victory Monument, please refer to the following guidelines for details.
South Bus Station | South Pinklao
This station is located to the west of the Chao Phraya River, and it can only be reached after crossing the Rama VIII Bridge and continuing west. So in terms of location, it is more like the West Bus Station. The area where this station is located has nothing to do with passengers, so the traffic convenience is the worst among the three. But for independent travellers, it is very important.
Minibuses in the south and west directions are all assigned here. Therefore, southern mansions including Amphawa, Damnoen Saduak, Maeklong, Hua Hin, Phuket, Samui, Krabi, and Kanchanaburi must go to this station to take a bus. It is not ruled out that some minibus teams are worried about the lack of customers and find another way, but as far as the current situation is concerned, this is the case for the time being.
At present, BMTA has arranged a free shuttle bus to this station at the Victory Monument. In addition, there are direct buses at the Victory Monument and the Democracy Monument. But for most passengers, taking a taxi is almost the only option if they are on the safe side.
The following are the free shuttle bus and bus directions.
Photo and text source: Onion Guest
