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BKK airport link - anyone tried this?

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  • #31
    Originally posted by Gunnar Smithsen View Post
    C'mon Kyo it's not "that" far to walk from Chit Lom to Hyatt, although I guess if you've got a fair amount of luggage it would be a little cumbersome
    Take the silom line and get off at Rajmadri
    .
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    This is a computer generated message, no signature required....

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    • #32
      So, the Airport Line finally becomes useful:

      THAI Provides Additional Check-In Services at Airport Rail Link, Makkasan Station to Help Passenger's Travel

      Thai Airways International provides additional check-in counters at the Airport Rail Link, Makkasan Station to facilitate passengers traveling to Suvarnabhumi Airport during flooding situation.

      Mr. Danuj Bunnag, THAI's Managing Director, Ground Services Business Unit said, Passengers may find it difficult to travel to Suvarnabhumi Airport due to floods in some areas of Bangkok. To help facilitate THAI's passengers traveling on both domestic and international routes, THAI set up additional check-in counters at the Airport Rail Link, Makkasan Station.

      THAI's passenger traveling to Suvarnabhumi Airport by Airport Rail Link may check-in their luggage and personal belongings at THAI's check-in counters, located on 3rd floor, Airport Rail Link, Makkasan Station, starting today from 07.00 hrs. until 21.00 hrs everyday. The Airport Rail Link check-in service is open for all THAI's flights departing Suvarnabhumi Airport between 10.00 -01.20 hrs. Passengers must check-in by themselves 3 hours prior to flight departure and receive their boarding pass and luggage tags. This is with the exception of passengers traveling to the USA, on the route Bangkok - Los Angeles, who must check-in at Suvarnabhumi Airport only.

      THAI still operates normal flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Passengers may call THAI Contact Center for flight information and reservations at 02-356-1111 (24 hours) or visit www.thaiairways.com

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      • #33
        Originally posted by Lobster View Post
        Unless you are really on a tight budget I do not see the point in getting the airport train. I did from the airport to Sukhumvit road in 30 minutes tonight by Taxi and I would rather pay more for a door to door service than have to lug my luggage around the BTS
        Use it 3 times. No trouble to / from Skuhumvit area (with change to BTS line) in 45 mins even at peak hours.
        Only complain is BTS station. You really have to carry you bag up and down. Not good if you do not travel light.

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        • #34
          Originally posted by cscs1956 View Post
          Use it 3 times. No trouble to / from Skuhumvit area (with change to BTS line) in 45 mins even at peak hours.
          Only complain is BTS station. You really have to carry you bag up and down. Not good if you do not travel light.
          The Makassan terminal seems quite allien to the taxi driver. I have been using that city check in twice. Both time I have hard time to direct the taxi driver. Both occasion I have asked the hotel staff to tell the taxi driver where I want to go.

          Not sure if they really do not know or they just purposely act blur as they are not happy.

          If you have big/heavy luggage don't bother. Today I just took a taxi ride from Le Meridien in Surawong the meter is about 250. Plus the tollway 70... I gave the taxi driver 350. save the hassle. it is not like HKG or KUL
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          • #35
            I actually used this thing for the first time earlier this month, having been told by AOT that they didn't have any cars available (yes, that's any cars...) for at least half an hour I decided to give it a go.

            It was 'fun' to travel a different way into the city but it reinforced my previously held belief that it is more trouble than it's worth if you are carrying any luggage at all. The trip from Suvarnabhmi to Phaya Thai is painless enough, even though the train was packed by the end of the journey, but going up and down the BTS with luggage, where you encounter numerous sets of stairs you have to drag stuff up (what have the Thais got against escalators on public transport stops ?) lets it down. I was staying at the Hyatt so only a few stops on the Sukhumvit Line but by the time I got the the lobby it would definitely have been quicker by car. The SGS would have been even more in favour of road transport.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by MAN Flyer View Post
              ...having been told by AOT that they didn't have any cars available (yes, that's any cars...) for at least half an hour...
              I would have thought you'd have a VIP Card from them by now...
              HUGE AL

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              • #37
                Originally posted by MAN Flyer View Post
                I was staying at the Hyatt so only a few stops on the Sukhumvit Line but by the time I got the the lobby it would definitely have been quicker by car. The SGS would have been even more in favour of road transport.
                Sorry to hear you had to schlep it on the ARL public transport system in favour of taking a taxi.

                Pansy



                Taking the Sukhumvit line Skytrain is a poor choice (sorry, but it is..) for those staying at the Hyatt as it's right smack in between Chit Lom and Siam (i.e. either direction, a fair walk, even from Chit Lom especially with luggage). Were I forced to, I'd have taken the express train to Makkasan, and then hop into a cab going under Rama IX OR stopped at Rachathewi then hop into a cab along Rachaprarop via the Eastin/illegal U-Turn, then turn left to pop out near Central Chit Lom. It's easy enough after that to the Hyatt. The latter being the more direct/preferred route.

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by Kyo View Post
                  Taking the Sukhumvit line Skytrain is a poor choice (sorry, but it is..) for those staying at the Hyatt as it's right smack in between Chit Lom and Siam
                  If you think the Hyatt is the same distance from Chit Lom and Siam BTS then it would appear all those cheap taxi rides are turning your brain to mush.

                  You may not be aware of this but there is an elevated walkway all the way from Chit Lom to the Hyatt, which goes straight into the Erawan Boutique Mall at the Hyatt where the Erawan Tea Rooms are, a la Asok BTS to SGS style..

                  Were I forced to, I'd have taken the express train to Makkasan,
                  Makkasan ?!. I know of nobody who would recommend using the White Elephant that is Makkasan Terminal. Not only is there a distinct lack of taxis a lot of the time but getting off there completely defeats the object of using the train, which is to avoid the traffic. The bad part of the traffic from BKK is not the first bit, ie the freeway, but the last/inner city bit. Using Makkasan just avoids the freeway - the easy bit!. You still then have to fight your way through the inner Bangkok traffic. I believe they are currently constructing a better way of transferring between Makkasan and Petchaburi Metro station which is a few hundred yards away and should have been done from the start. But as we know, TiT.

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by Kyo View Post
                    Sorry to hear you had to schlep it on the ARL public transport system in favour of taking a taxi.

                    Pansy



                    Taking the Sukhumvit line Skytrain is a poor choice (sorry, but it is..) for those staying at the Hyatt as it's right smack in between Chit Lom and Siam (i.e. either direction, a fair walk, even from Chit Lom especially with luggage). Were I forced to, I'd have taken the express train to Makkasan, and then hop into a cab going under Rama IX OR stopped at Rachathewi then hop into a cab along Rachaprarop via the Eastin/illegal U-Turn, then turn left to pop out near Central Chit Lom. It's easy enough after that to the Hyatt. The latter being the more direct/preferred route.
                    Is not so bad actually. I do it all the time - 10 min walk at most.
                    If you do the Makkasan/Taxi way, you must well talk a taxi directly from airport (not those AOT one). You will find the price you pay is not much different.

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                    • #40
                      Originally posted by MAN Flyer View Post
                      If you think the Hyatt is the same distance from Chit Lom and Siam BTS then it would appear all those cheap taxi rides are turning your brain to mush.
                      I never said it was the same distance. Chit Lom is nearer, but there's still a walk to be had. Especially by the time you manoeuvre with luggage through the Erawan Mall to the front desk...

                      You may not be aware of this but there is an elevated walkway all the way from Chit Lom to the Hyatt, which goes straight into the Erawan Boutique Mall at the Hyatt where the Erawan Tea Rooms are, a la Asok BTS to SGS style..
                      Of course I'm aware, in fact I was just showing it off to zander two weekends ago...

                      Makkasan ?!. I know of nobody who would recommend using the White Elephant that is Makkasan Terminal. Not only is there a distinct lack of taxis a lot of the time but getting off there completely defeats the object of using the train, which is to avoid the traffic.
                      This, I agree with - having said that, on the three occasions I've been forced (once was just to give it a try), I've been lucky enough to get someone being dropped off once whereupon I took over their taxi at the main entrance, and twice more there have been taxis that do come eventually.

                      The bad part of the traffic from BKK is not the first bit, ie the freeway, but the last/inner city bit. Using Makkasan just avoids the freeway - the easy bit!
                      Many thanks for your oversimplification and generalisation of traffic conditions at all times, and on all days in BKK. It's incorrect, of course, to assume this all the time and I can also point out numerous instances (the most likely being a Friday or Saturday evening, and especially on Sunday evenings after a long weekend/public holiday when everyone returns back to the city) where the jam stretches from the airport into town. The astute among us will instead look out over how bad the traffic is upon approach into Suvarnabhumi. A long line of red dots means it's smarter to take the train into town (whether it's your Phaya Thai slow train or the Makkasan express). I've been overwhelmingly lucky to sit on the side of the aircraft that turns to show Rama IX. The even more advanced approach calls for the downloading of an app for the iPhone called 'BKKWatch' which enables traffic camera-viewing BKK-wide from the screen of your phone. And yes, I direct the taxi drivers accordingly if I have to based on the info from the traffic cameras. Oftentimes, I don't need to.
                      You still then have to fight your way through the inner Bangkok traffic. I believe they are currently constructing a better way of transferring between Makkasan and Petchaburi Metro station which is a few hundred yards away and should have been done from the start. But as we know, TiT.
                      Once again, this is a generalisation. Inner Bangkok traffic is predictable to just about nobody, however in-the-know taxi drivers / locals do know how to use the back roads and side-alleys to get to where they need to be (relatively) fast. Even in a taxi, even with luggage.

                      I refer you to my very specific example of the route I'd take from Makkasan (this exits in a one-way direction specifically along the Ratchadaphisek for a short 200-300 meters): "Were I forced to, I'd have taken the express train to Makkasan, and then hop into a cab going under Rama IX" (you emerge on what is normally a very free-flowing section under the Rama IX expressway overhead - an area I'm intimately familiar with since it pops out right close to my in-laws, next to Rachathewi station).

                      I still prefer the 20 minute Express train because I don't prefer lugging my luggage down stairs (something you rightly pointed out about Thais against escalators - again, correct in this specific case) after a 45 minute slow train ride down to Rachathewi/Rachaprarop intersection - a major intersection). Furthermore, even if I did stop at Rachathewi I'd still have to "hop into a cab along Rachaprarop via the Eastin (again, free-flowing compared to Rachaprasong)/do the illegal U-Turn, then turn left to pop out near Central Chit Lom."

                      I'd bet good money that I'd get to the Hyatt before you and your Phaya Thai/Sukhumvit line shenanigans from a standing start at BKK airport. I'd also do it with a good 10-15 minutes faster.

                      (I'd also do it with 800 baht more in my pocket compared to your AOT limo... but I'd be rubbing salt into a wound here...)

                      But for the sake of harmony, let's agree to disagree.

                      I believe they are currently constructing a better way of transferring between Makkasan and Petchaburi Metro station which is a few hundred yards away and should have been done from the start. But as we know, TiT.
                      This is good to know, but like most things, I don't hold out much hope for completion anytime soon. I like to be surprised, however.

                      cscs1956: Thanks, but please refer to my comments above. I know this area like the back of my hand...

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                      • #41
                        Actually from Chit Lom to Hyatt, it may be shorter distance compare to the point where you start to walk from departure hall to train station? Different may be one without the aircond!

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                        • #42
                          I give up...

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                          • #43
                            i thought the express line goes to Phaya Thai now
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                            • #44
                              Thanks for the update. Do they still stop at Makkasan too? Last I bothered to ask, someone did say it would start soon - but that was awhile ago..

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                              • #45
                                Originally posted by Kyo View Post
                                Thanks for the update. Do they still stop at Makkasan too? Last I bothered to ask, someone did say it would start soon - but that was awhile ago..
                                yes it stops at makkasan then on to phaya thai
                                My SQ and flying Videos: Youtube My Travel Blog: AussieFlyer.net

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