The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, which is commonly known as the BMTA, is the agency that is in charge of the transit buses in the city. It operates in what is known as the Greater Bangkok Area, which includes the city of Bangkok and a few suburbs. This agency is the largest of its kind in Thailand and there are a number of buses and vans that operate under this service.
The services of the BMTA reach across the city of Bangkok, covering the entire metropolitan area. In addition to this, there are many services that cater to outlying provinces as well. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority runs services to the Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom and the Samut Prakan provinces, which lie just outside the city.
Since the reach of the BMTA is so vast, it is capable of catering to a large number of people. On an average day, over 3 million people travel using the BMTA service, with both foreigners and locals preferring this mode of transport. The tickets for the buses can be purchased directly from the conductor who is present on all buses.
On a normal day, the buses and vans operate from 5 am to 11 pm. The rest of the day is serviced by special night-owl service, which operates for 24 hours. There are over 3500 buses in the BMTA fleet, approximately half of them being air conditioned.
In addition to the MTA, getting around Bangkok is relatively cheap and easy for foreigners, particularly with the world famous and quite distinctive Tuk Tuks, which are in effect rickshaw style forms of transport. You can literally hail down a tuk tuk just about anywhere in Bangkok and this means a cheap form of transport and ideal for short trips across the city. For going across large distances within Bangkok, the MTA can though be a better option.
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