> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://easythailandvisa.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bangkok Has Two Unconnected Subway Systems and They Hate Each Other - URL: https://easythailandvisa.com/bangkok-bts-mrt-rabbit-card/ - Published: 2026-08-31T00:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T12:25:46.000Z - Description: There is no ticket that works on everything. The card that gets you onto the skytrain will be refused by the airport train, and the fare restarts every time you change systems. - Author: Somchai Jaidee - Tags: Practicalities You tap the Rabbit card at the gate, walk ten metres, and tap it again at the next gate and it beeps and refuses you, because the two halves of that walkway are operated by two different companies with two different ticketing systems and no agreement. A man in a uniform is standing there because this happens several hundred times a day and it is his whole job. Last verified 5 September 2026. ## Three networks, not one **Bangkok's rail is operated by separate companies and there is no universal ticket.** This is the single fact that makes the system confusing and it is not going to change. **BTS Skytrain:** the Sukhumvit line and the Silom line, both elevated, plus the three-stop Gold Line down by ICONSIAM. Fares run **17 to 65 baht** depending on distance. Hours are roughly 5:15am to midnight on Sukhumvit and slightly later on Silom. **MRT:** the underground and elevated metro, with the Blue Line as the main spine, plus the Purple, Pink and Yellow lines. The Blue Line is the useful one for most visitors; the Purple Line is rarely needed. **The Airport Rail Link:** its own operator, its own machines, its own tokens, connecting [Suvarnabhumi](https://easythailandvisa.com/suvarnabhumi-airport-2026-guide/) to Phaya Thai and Makkasan. 15 to 45 baht, **45 baht to Phaya Thai**, roughly every nine to ten minutes, 5:30am to midnight. ## What the Rabbit card does and does not do **The Rabbit card costs 200 baht: 100 for the card and 100 of loaded value.** The card itself is a non-refundable issue fee. There is no deposit, you can hold up to 4,000 baht on it, and the value stays valid for two years after your last transaction, which means a card bought in year one of a [long stay](https://easythailandvisa.com/thailand-90-day-report-long-stay-immigration/) still works in year two. **It works on: BTS Sukhumvit, BTS Silom, BTS Gold, MRT Yellow and MRT Pink.** **It does not work on: the MRT Blue Line, the MRT Purple Line, or the Airport Rail Link.** That is most of what a first-time visitor needs on the Blue Line, so this is the trap. **On the Blue and Purple lines, tap a contactless Visa or Mastercard at the gate instead.** Most foreign cards work. If yours does not, there is an MRT EMV prepaid card at the station for 250 baht. **The Airport Rail Link does not take the Rabbit card.** Sources disagree about whether it takes contactless bank cards, so do not plan around that: buy an ARL token from the vending machine, which takes coins and banknotes. Carrying 100 baht in small notes solves this entirely. **A foreign visitor can register a Rabbit card with an original passport and contact details.** The number on the card is what matters if it is ever lost, so write it down. ## The transfer problem, stated honestly **When you change networks you exit through the gate and tap in again, and the fare restarts.** There is no through-fare between the BTS and the MRT. **The main interchanges are Asok and Sala Daeng,** and the BTS and MRT stations there are a short walk apart rather than connected. Allow five minutes and follow the signs, and note that on some interchanges the two stations have different names. **This is why people end up in taxis when the train would have been faster.** A single BTS-to-MRT change can cost 90 baht in fares and ten minutes in walking. A Grab across the same journey costs about the same and does not involve a station. **The exception is the Airport Rail Link, which does connect properly to both:** Phaya Thai to the BTS, and Makkasan to the MRT Blue Line at Phetchaburi. From Suvarnabhumi to central Bangkok by rail is about half an hour for 45 baht. ## Should you get the Rabbit card? **If you are in central Bangkok for more than two days, yes, and the maths is simple.** The 100 baht fee breaks even on about five journeys and then the card is cheaper in time than queueing for a ticket every time. **If you are here for one day, no.** Buy single journey tickets. They are the same fare. **Check where your hotel is before you decide anything,** and this is the real advice on this page. A hotel within walking distance of a BTS station changes your entire week, because Bangkok's traffic is so bad that a journey the train does in fifteen minutes can take forty-five in a taxi at the same hour. ## The passes **The BTS One-Day Pass is 150 baht** and covers unlimited travel on the Sukhumvit and Silom lines only. It is worth it on a day you take four or more BTS journeys, which in central Bangkok is easier to do than you would expect. **The Gold Line is a flat 15 baht** for any journey, which makes it the cheapest rail in the city and the least used by tourists. **Top-ups are available at stations and at** [**7-Eleven**](https://easythailandvisa.com/thailand-7-eleven-convenience-store/)**.** If the card runs out mid-day in a small station, the nearest 7-Eleven is usually closer than the next station's machine. The system is cheap, fast, air-conditioned and genuinely good, and the reason it feels awkward is a corporate boundary rather than a design problem. Learn which two networks you actually need, carry small notes, and ignore the rest. **More on this** - [March in Bangkok Is Not a Travel Month and the Air Quality](https://easythailandvisa.com/bangkok-air-pollution-when-not-to-come/) - [Bangkok Has a Second River and Almost Nobody Gets on It](https://easythailandvisa.com/bangkok-klongs-canal-boat-hidden-city/) - [Bangkok Has Free Things That Are Better Than the Paid Ones](https://easythailandvisa.com/bangkok-lumpini-park-and-the-free-city/) - [Bringing a Cat to Thailand Is Easy and Bringing a Dog Is a](https://easythailandvisa.com/bringing-a-pet-to-thailand-import-rules/) - [The Dentist in Thailand Is the Best Part of the Trip You](https://easythailandvisa.com/dentist-in-thailand-what-to-know-before-you-fly/)