Life Size Paper Board Cut out!! :)My last trip in Thailand gave me a chance to test out the new airport rail link to the city in BKK. My flight back to Singapore was late at night and I had 5 hours to wait for my tranist. So bored I am I decided to just try out this new rail link to see how fast it was.
The entrance to the station is actually at the basement level of the airport. Its actually was there for quite some time. Actually I should say its there since the airport was opened but the railway tracks were not finished yet. (Remember the coup and everything??) The delays were massive and only recently they managed to complete it.
I was a bit lost at first because the sation is actually has 2 platforms and 2 different entrances for 2 different services. One is the normal train and the other is actually an Express train.
I took the wrong turn and end up at the normal service. Which stops at every station in between the air port and Makkasan station. So blur blur I bought the ticket... 15B !!! Wa... bloody cheap!!! I thought I heard wrongly so I gave a 100B note.. the change was 75B...
So off I go and hit the platform to wait for my train...
Suvarnabhumi has very confusing signboards
The platform is actually quite short.. Definitely has less carriages then SingaporeThe train was preparing to leave when I went down the platform and the security stopped me from boarding the train. The waiting time is about 7 to 8 minutes for the next train. Its actually a bit crowded for the normal service as it stops at every stops. Total of 4 stations in between the next interchange Makkasan(for MRT) and 2 more at Phaya Tai (for BTS). So basically if you stay near Nana and MBK.. you can take this train all the way to Phaya Thai and changed to the BTS light rail.
Inside the standard normal train carriage.
Outside the window of the train... The expressway that links the airport to the city
By the 3rd Stop the train was packed like Sardines. It was about 4pm and people seems to be knocking off. Took this lady without her noticing me.. She's engrossed in her messages. By the time I reached Makkasan. Its actually over 40minutes of travelling time. Pretty slow compared to the Taxi but at this price.. no complains. And its actually quite a good way to enjoy the atmosphere of the locals on how they commute. It's a really good experience if you enjoy people watching :)
I got out of the Makkasan station as I was a bit afraid I could get delayed and I saw on the board that the express service starts from this station. I want to try the express service so naturally I got out here.
The station is very new and looks too sterile for my liking...
The roof of the station is pretty well desinged internally... Not sure how it looks on the outside though
Ticket counter for the Express train,I followed the directions and got to the ticket counter and entrance of the Express service. Its 100Baht per pax!! Hahaha.. almost 6x more than the Normal service. I paid and went into the empty platform. At first I felt a bit stupid like Kena con liao. Until the train arrives.....
Interior of the express train... kind of explain the price differenceThe train was fully carpeted and there are places for you to store your luggages. The seats were also nicer of course. REALLY very big difference so kind of justify the huge price difference. The express train departs every 15mins or so and it takes only less than 20 mins to hit Suvarnabhumi. So for those in a rush, its quite worth it.
I'm already planning that if I could actually take this express service and drop off at Makkasan then changed to a taxi.. It should be cheaper and you should be able to avoid some jams.. A metered taxi with toll normally costs aroun 200B to 350B (depending on your locations and traffic) so I guess this is actually quite a good alternative way to get into the city :)
And finally, just for the record, here's the route and the stations in this line.
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