Trip report (July 2023)

[Keithambrose]

It's a shame it doesn't work on the BTS, but I keep my Rabbit card topped up!

[Ryanqqq]

On 9/11/2023 at 6:50 PM, a-447 said:

They are slowly introducing this method of payment in Japan, too.

It would really be helpful as at least in Tokyo, they’ve suspended selling the stored value cards due to supply chain issue on electronic chips. These IC is extremely convenient for the metro and for purchases.

[fedssocr]

At this point I believe you are only able to use contactless credit cards in Tokyo on some subway lines. So it's not universal yet. Glad I kept my Pasmo card

[joizy]

On 9/3/2023 at 11:03 AM, vinapu said:

Second option I prefer is to take ARL (airport train  all the way to Phaya Thai,  and then change into BTS ( overhead rail) to Siam ( just 2 stops )  and then change again ON THE SAME PLATFORM to Sala Daeng station (another two stops ) . Advantage  - you can admire view and get/ refresh grasp of the area, got rate on money exachnge counters at Phaya Thai station, disadvantage - 2 changes instead of one. Difference in travel time and price miniscule , if any.
 

I'm getting ready to go back to Bangkok in January, after several years away. I've always taken a taxi to from the airport - even back when there were no meter taxis and the whole thing was super annoying. And there was no expressway, so it took forever. (Yeah, I'm that old.)

I'm wondering if it still makes sense to take a taxi. Personally, if it's not a whole lot more in price, and it means I get to just sit and enjoy the ride, wouldn't a taxi be better? Or is there some reason why I should avoid taxis?

[PeterRS]

I agree with @vinapu that the train is extremely convenient, provided your hotel is not far from one of the Skytrain stations. It's fast (about 26 minutes), cheap (45 baht) and the only other negative I can think of is that at peak times you might have to wait for one or two trains to fill before you can board, but they do depart every 10-15 minutes. Against that, if you have a suitcase and a carry-on, the station changes and having to get a taxi from the Skytrain to the hotel can be bothersome.

Taxis are well organised now. You go down to the taxi level and join a queue. Once you reach the head of the queue there are 3 or 4 ticket dispensers. Each ticket has a station number and taxi number. You walk over to that station for your taxi. Fares have recently gone up and I'm not sure what the cost is likely to be, the more so as I do not know the location of your hotel. With the airport surcharge, I expect not much more than 400 baht. Others can advise. But if you want a taxi early in the morning with rush hour in full swing (basically 7:00 am to 9:30 am), the expressway into town will be completely jammed with traffic. The air conditioning will be nice, but your crawl into town can take a good hour or more - and all the time the meter is creeping upwards.

[scott456]

The taxi drivers in Bangkok were all crazy drivers.  One time my taxi was speeding on the freeway in a heavy rain to the airport, almost lose control.  I thought I was going to die.  I will probably hire a hotel limo next time.  I don't want to loose my life in Thailand in such a tragic way.  

[Londoner]

2 hours ago, joizy said:

 

I'm wondering if it still makes sense to take a taxi. Personally, if it's not a whole lot more in price, and it means I get to just sit and enjoy the ride, wouldn't a taxi be better? Or is there some reason why I should avoid taxis?

No reason in my experience.....which consists of about seventy-five trips between 1997 and this year. Only once did a driver try to suggest that 800 bht for a trip to Surawong was appropriate and he was quickly and cheerfully disabused.

A year or so back,  there were long queues for taxis  at BKK-most unwelcome after a long flight. But my last four trips have been fine in this respect.

I pay 500 bht plus express-way charges and a 100bht tip. The thought of dragging my luggage to the train or bus (and then another journey if by train) appals me.  And that's not just due to age. .

[vinapu]

nothing wrong with taxis, I just personally prefer train, not only because is cheaper and in Bangkok traffic not necessarily slower but also because I get grasp of being in Thailand right away. Luggage is no problem as I travel usually with just carry-on but I agree with heavy luggage taxi is better option with all those walks and stairs at connections at Makkasan or Phaya Thai. Between midnight and 6 am train is not running.

Tolls are 70 baht if I recall correctly and going FROM the airport there's 50 baht surcharge.

Last few trips I discovered charms of taking taxi from / to Pattaya. Much more expensive than bus but halves travel time between two. On 2-3 weeks trip every hour counts.

[joizy]

On 9/22/2023 at 11:19 PM, Londoner said:

 

A year or so back,  there were long queues for taxis  at BKK-most unwelcome after a long flight. But my last four trips have been fine in this respect.

 .

Years ago, when I was going to BKK regularly, I used to go up to arrivals and catch a taxi that was dropping someone off. They seemed to be cheaper, but it was a while ago, and now I don't remember why I was doing that 🤔

[fedssocr]

I agree with the caveats listed above re: location of your destination and amount of baggage.

But I also typically book a car service. Yes it costs more. But you are in a very comfortable vehicle even when traffic is heavy. After a long flight it's nice to just relax and not have to worry about anything. And it's door to door service. I've been using SP Limousine for years so they give me a small repeat customer discount.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, joizy said:

 I used to go up to arrivals and catch a taxi that was dropping someone off. They seemed to be cheaper, but it was a while ago, and now I don't remember why I was doing that 🤔

to avoid line ups and 50 baht airport surcharge. People are still doing that, taxi I arrived at swampy in Jun was taken right away by lady waiting at the curb, I did not even need to close door behind me.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, fedssocr said:

 After a long flight it's nice to just relax and not have to worry about anything.

impossible, I always worry from moment  I step out of plane  what should be my first bar to visit 

[joizy]

3 hours ago, vinapu said:

to avoid line ups and 50 baht airport surcharge. People are still doing that, taxi I arrived at swampy in Jun was taken right away by lady waiting at the curb, I did not even need to close door behind me.

I might do that. I always felt like I had some secret insider knowledge. I also never had to negotiate fares with the drivers at arrivals, but maybe it's because of the surcharge.

[DenverDude]

7 hours ago, joizy said:

Years ago, when I was going to BKK regularly, I used to go up to arrivals and catch a taxi that was dropping someone off.

Is it true you have to jump over a railing or go wrong way through a turnstile or something to get to that drop off area?  I thought I read that somewhere, maybe on Trip Advisor..

[Shonen]

Last year I took the train from airport to the bts. I lugged my heavy bag down a stairs and hurt my back. It wasn’t worth it. Plus instead of using the bts, I got in a taxi.

How dumb of me. But this year my bag will be lighter as I left most of my clothes in my condo in Pattaya.

So maybe I’ll do the same dumb thing again.

It was interesting staying at Tarntawan hotel, as it was almost twenty years since I stayed there. Seeing all the massage shops. I enjoyed Super A bar.

[Boy69]

 Very strange but the idea of dragging a suitcase in a train and BTS after 11 hours flight isn't appealing to me...

[omega]

6 minutes ago, Boy69 said:

 Very strange but the idea of dragging a suitcase in a train and BTS after 11 hours flight isn't appealing to me...

I agree.

If you've just got a small bag, sure it makes sense.

But if you've got a big heavy suitcase, It's worth that ~400-500 baht to arrive at the door.

[PeterRS]

3 hours ago, DenverDude said:

Is it true you have to jump over a railing or go wrong way through a turnstile or something to get to that drop off area?  I thought I read that somewhere, maybe on Trip Advisor..

Not true - unless it's happened in the last couple of months. You can go up in the people movers, escalators or the lifts.  Years ago, I always used to go to departures up to get a taxi which had just dropped off passsengers. The only problems now are that there are airport cops trying to stop this (not effective in my experience) and the taxi will not be registered for airport returns. At the official taxi stands you get the printed notice with the taxi number and other details. This may (but only my guess) lead to a problem if for any reason you wish to complain about the taxi you get from upstairs.

[spoon]

3 hours ago, Shonen said:

I lugged my heavy bag down a stairs and hurt my back. It wasn’t worth it.

When i have heavy luggage with me and im taking the train, i always use the lift/elevator or escalator. Always watch for the signs though as the location might be hidden

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, Boy69 said:

 Very strange but the idea of dragging a suitcase in a train and BTS after 11 hours flight isn't appealing to me...

3 hours ago, omega said:

I agree.

If you've just got a small bag, sure it makes sense.

But if you've got a big heavy suitcase, It's worth that ~400-500 baht to arrive at the door.

you guys are such weaklings ! And I wonder what so heavy you guys are carrying  going to , after all tropical country ?

On serious note , to  some people spending 400 instead of 73 may make sense , to others watching  their baht more closely it's quite a difference. There's no right or wrong in the train vs taxi issue. It's just good to know there are options. 

[vinapu]

25 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

Not true - unless it's happened in the last couple of months.

it did not , no railings or anything, just normal curb.

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

it did not , no railings or anything, just normal curb.

Apologies to @DenverDude. There are of course two roads next to each other at the arrivals area and taxis have to be in the one further from the entrances. There are indeed barriers there and one way revolving entrances. But not all are in operation and so it is easy just to wak through these.

[DenverDude]

So what do you guys do if the taxi driver refuses to use the meter?  Last time I was there the driver started to go without turning the meter on.  I reminded him, and he turned it on, but I sensed he wasn't happy.  Shortly after (I think we were still in that area where you get the taxis, or at least hadn't gone far) he started pleading with me to NOT use the meter.  I finally gave in and said ok, but am sure I probably paid more than if the meter had been used. It was the middle of the night and I just wanted to get to my hotel.  What should I do next time if this happens?

[PeterRS]

I would insist he stop, show him the taxi ticket receipt and point to the compaints number. Before he can leave that official taxi area, he has to pass through a barrier and give his entrance ticket (remember this includes his taxi number and driver's name) to the guy who mans it. If he has not turned on the meter in the short time it takes to turn on the meter, I'd also shout to that guy and point to the meter. Also you should note that taxi rates have quite recently risen and so the drivers are already making more for airport runs.

SInce BKK opened, I have arrived back in BKK probably more than 100 times. Twice I have been in a taxi with a doctored meter. In those cases I pointed very obviously to the meter and said loudly "meter broken". Even though the drivers might not have understood English, they got the message.  I then took photos with my phone of the meter, the driver's permit by the windscreen, the taxi number on the back left door and the driver himself. One then turned off the meter and said in English "pay usual amount, OK?". The other waived the fare altogether. I suspect he was afraid I'd register a complaint which could cause him problems! But my solutions are less easy if the taxi is hired unofficially from the arrivals area.

[Boy69]

8 hours ago, DenverDude said:

So what do you guys do if the taxi driver refuses to use the meter?  Last time I was there the driver started to go without turning the meter on.  I reminded him, and he turned it on, but I sensed he wasn't happy.  Shortly after (I think we were still in that area where you get the taxis, or at least hadn't gone far) he started pleading with me to NOT use theq meter.  I finally gave in and said ok, but am sure I probably paid more than if the meter had been used. It was the middle of the night and I just wanted to get to my hotel.  What should I do next time if this happens?

I suggest before entering to the taxi to make it clear with the driver to use the Metter, Anyway  even with a Metter on  if the driver wants to cheat you he'll do it,I remember one time driving to my hotel in silom suddenly the driver took the wrong turn I told him it's the wrong way but he ignored that caused a delay of almost twenty minutes and extra 200 Bht to the normal fare to Silom.