In order to give it a really good test I would be attempting to use the service after nearly 24 hours travel and while carrying a large wheeled suitcase, a medium sized suit carrier (with shoulder strap) and a wheeled “cabin size” bag.
I did manage to get to my hotel - but my advice to anyone who is rather weary after a long haul flight and is also carrying a substantial amount of baggage is take a taxi.
For anyone still interested carry on reading below.
Most importantly, the real nitty gritty (for the uninitiated, the cost):
- 1. Express airport link = 150 THB
2. Taxi (meter) to Sukhumvit Soi 20 = 69 THB
Some of the problems I encountered were:
1. At Swampy:
- • There were signs for the rail service, but were not prominent to my weary eyes.
• There is no apparent information on how to use the service.
• Baggage carts cannot be taken down to the train platform or on to the train – you have to manhandle your baggage for the last couple of hundred yards or so.
• Looking for a ticket desk to get and pay for your ticket is a fruitless task – you pay at Makkasan, ultimately I only got this information by asking a security person (who like the vast majority of Thai that I encounter was really helpful), the information may have been there somewhere but I didn’t see it.
- • No baggage carts when getting off the train so you have to manhandle your baggage all through the terminal (I didn’t see any baggage carts anywhere).
• Needed to use two separate elevators to get from the train level to the ticket desk.
• It was poorly signed for finding the ticket desk – it wasn’t just me being dumb, a German couple that I spoke to were also struggling to find where to pay and the way out.
• Having paid, it was then poorly signed for finding the way out - the station is a bit like a huge empty mausoleum, from what I could see there is nothing inside the place, no shops, no restaurants and no bars.
• The German couple and I followed a sign indicating Exit, Taxis and Buses, it took us into the right hand side of a large hall where there were no further signs that made any sense.
• I wandered around this large hall looking for some sign of where to go but could not find any – fortunately a taxi driver outside saw that I looked like a possible passenger and came inside to see if I wanted a taxi, if he hadn’t I might still have been wandering around.
Some good points:
- • The ride was very smooth
• The trip was quick, although I didn’t time the trip it was certainly less than 20 minutes but I can’t confirm that it was the 15 minutes that is advertised (however the difference is not worth arguing about).
• The taxi driver went straight on to the meter and the metered fare from Makkasan to my hotel was 69 THB.
Some further info, a Thai press release on “Check-In Service at Bangkok City Air Terminal, Makkasan”.
