Chao Phraya Piers Which One to Get Off At

Bangkok's river boats are easy to ride and awkward to plan, because every sign, map and guide uses pier names and almost none of them says which name you want. This page is the pier index: the operator's landing stages in order from Sathorn north to Nonthaburi and on to Pak Kret, the flag line that calls at each, what is on the bank beside it, what the ride costs and roughly when the first and last boats run.

If you are standing at Sathorn with a bag and one question, the short answer is: Wat Pho is Tha Tien (N8), the Grand Palace is Tha Chang (N9), Chinatown is Ratchawong (N5), Khao San is Phra Arthit (N13), and the BTS interchange is Sathorn itself. Everything below is checked against the operator's own route map, timetable and fare notice on 12 November 2026.

The route sign at Phra Arthit (N13), the pier for Khao San Road. The list below follows the operator's route map as read on 12 November 2026, not the photograph.

The short answer: which pier for which place

Eleven destinations answer most of the questions readers ask, and they are all on the same south-to-north run. Fares in the last column are one way from Sathorn; the flat fares are explained under what it costs.

Two things surprise readers looking at that table. First, Tha Chang - the Grand Palace pier - is not on the Red line, so the 33 THB air-conditioned boat will not drop you there. Second, the Orange flag is the cheap everyday line that reaches the old city and its fare is flat: 19 THB whichever of those piers you get off at.

The piers in order, Sathorn to Nonthaburi

The operator draws 35 landing stages on its route map: 30 numbered piers, two star piers, two S-numbered piers and Central Pier. The list below follows the map from Sathorn outwards, in the order you would pass them. Line assignments are read from the route map the operator publishes on its boat-service page, marked Updated on 5 May 2025 and read on 12 November 2026. The map draws the four flag lines as five vertical stripes - Red, Green-Yellow, Yellow midday, Yellow morning and evening, Orange - because the Yellow line is drawn twice. A stop is marked by a pill printed on top of the stripe, and a pier taking two lines or more carries a pill on every stripe it serves, sometimes one long pill across them all. Where two stripes are close enough to be mistaken for each other, the pill decides. The pale stripe beside the green one is the Yellow midday boat, not Green-Yellow.

Sathorn to Tha Chang: the old city stretch

This is the busiest section and the one almost every visitor uses. Most of the piers here serve the old city, and Central Pier is where the BTS meets the river.

Prannok to Phra Pinklao: the Thonburi bank

All three piers on this stretch are on the Thonburi bank, including Siriraj Hospital opposite the old city.

Phra Arthit to Thewet: Khao San and Dusit

Phra Arthit is the pier behind Khao San Road and the usual choice for the Banglamphu guesthouse district. One stop further on, Thewet serves the Dusit side of the old city.

Krung Thon Bridge to Bang Po: the northern city run

Past Thewet the boats leave the tourist core and the piers become commuter stops, with Bang Po (N22) interchanging with the MRT. Two piers here are asterisked on the route map and carry a status you need to read before you plan around them - they are explained under the table, as is the third asterisked pier below Sathorn.

The asterisked piers. The May-2025 route map draws R.I.D. (N19), Kiew Kai Ka (N20) and Wat Sawettachat (S1, south of Sathorn) as grey boxes marked closed for renovation. The timetable the operator has published for 9 November 2026 onwards carries a footnote saying the Orange and Yellow midday boats call at those piers during peak windows only, between 06:00 and 08:15 and between 14:40 and 18:05. The newer document is the one that speaks about service, so treat them as peak-window stops - and note that the older map still marks them closed, which is why you should check before you travel to one.

Wat Soi Thong to Nonthaburi

The last stretch inside the city, where the commuter lines run on out towards Nonthaburi and the piers thin out.

Above Nonthaburi to Pak Kret

Beyond Nonthaburi only the Green-Yellow line continues, and it is the only service that carries on past the northern interchange all the way to Pak Kret, where the line ends.

Below Sathorn: Wat Sawettachat and Wat Rajsingkorn

Two landing stages sit downstream of Central Pier. If you are heading for the southern terminus rather than into the city, this is where that ride starts.

Which line stops where

Four flag lines share the river, plus the separate hop-on hop-off tourist boat. The operator's route map draws the four as four coloured columns, and its fare block prices each of them by flag colour. The fare, the days it runs and where it stops all differ, which is why the same pier can cost you 19 THB on one boat and 33 THB on the next.

The air-conditioning is on the Red line, not the Orange one. Almost every guide written before this season describes the Orange boat as the air-conditioned service, and it is not. The Orange flag is not air-conditioned: the air-conditioned catamarans are the ones marketed as RIVA Express and flown with the red flag. If you want the cool boat you want the Red, and you pay 33 THB for it.

The Red line does not serve Tha Chang. That matters, because Tha Chang is the Grand Palace pier and the 33 THB boat runs past it. If you want the Grand Palace, take the Orange (19 THB) or the Yellow (24 THB) from Sathorn. The red boat does call at Chinatown (N5) and Rajinee (N7), so it is a fast way into that end of the old city - just not to the palace.

Two piers are interchanges in the practical sense. Sathorn (Central Pier) is where all four lines call and where the BTS meets the water, and Nonthaburi (Pibul 3) is the northern interchange where all four lines meet again. The map also marks the MRT at Rajinee (N7) and Bang Po (N22).

What it costs

All fares on this page are in Thai baht (THB), one way, and were read from the operator's own fare notice on 12 November 2026. Three of the four express lines charge a flat fare - the same money whichever pier you get off at - and only the Green-Yellow is priced by section.

The fare went up on 5 October 2026, and that is why old guides are wrong. The Orange line was 16 THB when this fare cycle began on 23 May 2025, rose to 18 THB, and has been 19 THB since 5 October 2026. That October step added 1 THB to every boat type, not just the Orange - so a guide still quoting 16 THB for the Orange is two fare steps behind, one quoting 18 THB is one step behind, and anything lower predates the May 2025 fare.

The Blue Flag is a different company and its pass is not a river pass. The hop-on hop-off boat - the one with the blue flag - is Chao Phraya Tourist Boat, not Chao Phraya Express Boat, and the 150 THB all-day river pass is sold by that company for that boat. It does not cover the orange, yellow, green-yellow or red commuter boats, and a commuter ticket does not get you onto it. It calls at eleven piers: Sathorn, ICONSIAM, Ratchawongse, Pakklong Taladd (Yodpiman), Wat Arun, Tha Tien, Tha Chang, Tha Maharaj, Prannok and Phra Arthit, with the route extended to Asiatique in the evening.

The Wat Arun crossing is separate again. Wat Arun sits on the west bank opposite Tha Tien, and you reach it on a cross-river ferry from Tha Tien pier for about 5 THB - the fare is paid at the pier and is run under city oversight rather than by the express boat company, which is why no one publishes a fixed tariff for it. It is a short crossing, not a river cruise. We do not print timetables for cross-river ferries here, because we have only been able to source the fare for this one crossing and no hours at all.

When the boats run

The operator publishes terminal departure times, not per-pier times - so no page, including this one, can tell you the minute a boat reaches N8. What follows is the first and last boat in each direction for each line, and how often they run, taken from the operator's timetable headed From 9 November 2026 onwards, published on 5 November 2026 and read on 12 November 2026.

Read the day column before the clock: on a Saturday the Orange, Yellow flag, Green-Yellow and Red boats do not run at all, and the answer to "when is the next boat" is the Yellow midday service, which runs every 30 minutes all day, or the Blue Flag tourist boat. The Red line's missing evening return is the other trap - the air-conditioned boat gets you into the city in the morning and does not take you home, so plan the return on the Yellow flag (17:15 to 19:05 from Sathorn) or the Green-Yellow (16:00 to 17:45 from Sathorn).

Practical notes

• Tickets are sold on the boat, not at a gate, on the commuter lines.
• Sathorn is the pier for the BTS (Saphan Taksin, S6) and it is also Central Pier - three names, one pier. If a guide says "Central Pier", this is it.
• Rajinee (N7) and Bang Po (N22) are the MRT piers. Rajinee puts you at the old city end of the run; Bang Po is far north on the commuter run.
• Oriental Pier (N1) is out of service for renovation. The operator's service page lists it as closed, so do not plan a stop there.
• Three piers are peak-window stops - R.I.D. (N19), Kiew Kai Ka (N20) and Wat Sawettachat (S1) - and the May-2025 map still marks them closed. Do not build a day around one.
• Check the operator's own page before you travel. Fares and timetables change without announcement: chaophrayaexpressboat.com, telephone 02-449-3000.
• For where the piers actually sit on the water, the river map shows the course; for how to reach the river from your hotel in the first place, see how to get to the river.

Questions the pier list answers

Do I need to buy a ticket in advance?

No. On the commuter lines you buy the ticket on board, so there is nothing to arrange in advance. The one exception is the Blue Flag tourist boat, whose 150 THB all-day pass is sold as a product by that company.

Is the 150 THB day pass good on the commuter boats?

No. The pass belongs to Chao Phraya Tourist Boat and covers its hop-on hop-off boat only. The orange, yellow, green-yellow and red commuter boats are Chao Phraya Express Boat, a different company with a different pier set and its own per-ride fares, from 19 THB.

Do the boats run at weekends?

Only part of the fleet. The Yellow midday service and the Blue Flag tourist boat run daily; the Orange, the Yellow flag line, the Green-Yellow and the Red are Monday to Friday only. On a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday the workable options are the Yellow midday boat (every 30 minutes) and the Blue Flag.

Can I take the air-conditioned boat back to Nonthaburi in the evening?

No. The Red (RIVA Express) timetable shows morning departures from Nonthaburi into the city and no return service from Sathorn. For the evening run north, use the Yellow flag (17:15 to 19:05 from Sathorn) or the Green-Yellow (16:00 to 17:45 from Sathorn).

Sources and checked date. Pier list, pier numbers and line assignments: the operator's route map "map cpx line 2025.png" on its boat-service page, marked Updated on 5 May 2025, read 12 November 2026. First and last boats: the operator's timetable "CPX_Boat_Schedule", headed From 9 November 2026 onwards and published on 5 November 2026, read 12 November 2026. Fares: the operator's fare notice on the same page, read 11 and again 12 November 2026. Blue Flag piers, day pass and hours: the tourist boat operator's own homepage and route map, read 12 November 2026. Cross-river ferry fare: three independent secondary reads, recorded 11 November 2026. Everything on this page was last checked on 12 November 2026. For the boats themselves - long-tail charters, the express lines in detail and the temple piers - see the express boat page, the long-tail boat guide and the temples guide.