Driving in Bangkok: rules, expressway tolls and parking

Licence and the main rules

• Traffic keeps to the left.
• Holders of a licence from an ASEAN country drive on their national licence without an International Driving Permit. If your licence was issued elsewhere, check which documents you need before you travel.
• Speed limits: 80 km/h in built-up areas including Bangkok, 90 km/h outside them, 120 km/h on Motorways 7 and 9, 110 km/h on expressways and 100 km/h on elevated sections.
• Drivers under 20 and those with a provisional licence have a 20 mg/dl alcohol limit; for everyone else the safe rule is simply not to drink and drive.

Take extra care over Songkran: during the "seven dangerous days" of 10–16 April 2026 there were 1,242 crashes and 242 deaths across the country, and speeding was the main cause.

Expressways and motorways

The city expressways (Chaloem Maha Nakhon, Si Rat and others) take cash or an Easy Pass tag; M-PASS is accepted too. A short trip across Bangkok usually costs 50–100 THB for a car. Motorway 7 to Pattaya passes Suvarnabhumi, and for a car the toll from Lat Krabang to Pattaya is 105 THB, or about 105–130 THB for the whole trip from Bangkok.

Motorway 9, the outer ring, uses M-Flow: there are no barriers, a camera reads the number plate and the toll must be paid within two days, after which it doubles and then attracts a fine. Ask at the handover whether the car has a tag and how tolls are settled.

Parking

Mall car parks are the simplest option. As of January 2025: CentralWorld, 2 hours free, then 20 THB an hour and 50 THB an hour after 6 hours; ICONSIAM, 2 hours free, 30 THB for the third hour and 60 THB an hour after 7 hours; Terminal 21 Asok, 3 hours free, then 20 THB an hour up to the sixth hour and 50 THB after that; Central Bangna, 6 hours free; Esplanade Ratchada, PARA Pinklao and Central Festival Eastville, free.

Bangkok's low emission zone applies only to vehicles with six or more wheels on high-pollution days, so it does not affect cars, and the congestion charge discussed in 2024 has not been introduced.

Fuel

On 24 September 2026 Bangchak retail prices in Bangkok were 39.94 THB a litre for Gasohol 95, 34.94 THB for E20 and 41.44 THB for B7 diesel.