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Monorail service recently arrived in Bangkok as an antidote to heavy traffic congestion problems. The monorail covers the downtown and larger urban area including many shopping malls and restaurants. The monorail costs more than the bus but can be much faster, especially during rush hour.

Monorail tickets are purchased only through a ticket machine. The machines require exact change in coins, no bills, and only 5 and 10 baht coins are accepted. Because of the strict change requirements for the machines, the stations also have counters that exchange bills for the proper coins. Lines at these counters can be quite long at rush hour.

The total cost of the ride depends upon the destination, and each destination is given a number on the ticket machine. Use the number to figure out how much a ticket to that destination will cost. After purchasing a ticket, one heads toward the turnstyles leading into the main platform area. To go through the turnstyle, insert the ticket into the machine, go through the turnstyle and then retrieve the ticket on the other side.

It is extremely important to remember to pick up the ticket after going through the turnstyle and to hold on to the ticket throughout the trip. Passengers will need to reinsert the ticket into the exit turnstyles in order to leave the station. Anyone who loses a ticket will have to buy another in order to exit. Also, if someone accidently gets off at the wrong destination and puts the ticket into the exit turnstyles, the turnstyle will refuse to open and an alarm will sound. If someone gets off early, it will be necessary to buy another ticket to get to the original destination.