Over the past several years, there have emerged minivans like those pictured above. Some routes duplicate the BMTA bus routes more or less, whereas others serve people commuting to and from communities outside Bangkok which are not served by the BMTA buses. Some take the expressway.

These minivans are faster because they fill up quickly and stop picking up passengers when they are full. There are 3 or 4 rows of seats in the back (usually 4), each carrying 3 people, plus two more can fit in the front seat. If you have long legs, then you may fit only in the front. It's a little bit tight but worth it. Some of these buses simply wait until they fill up before their leave their origin. Others will fill up partially, and after a measured amount of time waiting (they operate in teams of vans) they will depart and then try to pick up riders from the next few stops or all along the way. When full, they zip on. But if someone gets off, then they start hunting for another rider.

During rush hour, you usually need to get on at the origin of a van. During non-rush hour, you can often wave one down, and it may be half empty.

The only way to know where they're going is usually by reading their big sign on the dashboard (which they reverse when they turn around) or else the writing on the side of the van. It's almost always in Thai only, no English. Some operators call out their destination over a loudspeaker at the point of origin. (In my opinion, if you live or work in the same place regularly, then you should be able to read those words in Thai.)

The fare varies, typically between 20 and 30 baht. Payment is sometimes the opposite of the big city buses -- you pay the van driver when you exit, usually. Some expressway van cars (like near our office) fill up at the origin and do not take on passengers along the way, so it has become a convention for the people in the back row of seats to put their money together, then hand it to someone in a seat in the next row, and on to the front, i.e., the passengers pass their money around on an honor system, and it eventually makes its way to the driver.

Our office is located near a minibus origin/destination center, Muang Thong Thani. The minibus gets on the expressway near our office and gets off at the Victory Monument expressway exit, then parks there by the entrance ramp for passengers going in the other direction. Since Victory Monument also has a skytrain station, as well as being Bangkok's main bus hub, it makes it quick and easy for our employees to go between home and office by cheap public transport, quickly. Likewise, it's preferable to driving and finding a parking space. Even though our office is located by the expressway, it still costs money in expressway tolls, petrol and parking. Better to take the expressway van car to the skytrain station.

(These minivans are supposed to be registered with the BMTA, and those with yellow plates generally are. However, more than half of the minivans are operated "privately". In mid-2000, there was the first hiccup in service as authorities started cracking down on private minivans who did not pay their concession fee, and then there was a strike as the private minivans complained about alleged bribes and protection payments they had to make. There had been several warnings. It inconvenienced commuters for a day and hit the press, and from what I can tell was resolved fairly quietly behind the scenes in the usual Thai compromising way.)

News as of October 2004:

In the Thailand Guru section on public transportation, it has been pointed out to me, correctly, that the website was in error when it reported that the expressway crosses the skytrain at only one point, Victory Monument. Obviously, it also crosses where Sukhumvit becomes Phloenchit. This is relevant for people who prefer to live in the suburbs and take public transport in the form of minivans down the expressway to a skytrain station.

Victory Monument is a bus and minivan hub -- clearly the biggest in Bangkok -- and numerous buses and minivans get on/off the expressway right there at the huge double-ringed roundabout designed for bus transfers. As the skytrain also stops at Victory Monument, it has become an even more prominent public transport hub. That's the only skytrain-expressway link previously covered by the Thailand Guru.

At the Sukhumvit-Phloenchit skytrain intersection with the expressway, there is no such capability, nor could there ever be, as the area is fully developed with no space for it.

Nonetheless, I went there to see if any buses or minivans got on/off the expressway at Sukhumvit. Precious few did. The main service is a set of minivans parked at the CalTex petrol station beside the Phloenchit skytrain station. These go to (1) The Mall Ngam Wong Wan, (2) Muang Thong Thani (www.MTTBKK.com), and (3) Sai Mai. They end early, some destinations before 7pm.

In contrast, Victory Monument has countless cycling minivans to zip you down the expressway to many destinations, and some destinations like Pakkred / Muang Thong Thani continue until after 1am. I've caught them after 3am on weekends, and never needed to take a taxi from Victory Monument to Pakkred / Muang Thong Thani. That's one reason I work and live out there, but not the only reason! :) www.MTTBKK.com