Do you have to climb a lot of stairs to use the Skytrain in Bangkok? I'm taking my 88 year old mother there and don't know if she could do all that climbing, if there is any.

The Skytrain is elevated and originally had lots of stairs. However, escalators were installed at each station shortly after the first year of operation.

Was in bangkok in late April- not all of the stations have escalators and those that do sometimes are working in the opposite direction. Plan on climbing some stairs. At 88 you should be more concerned about the heat.
I would suggest you get the services of Ratt- a driver that we used on our trip and she has been used by several people on this forum. She charges $5.25 per hour and she was a godsend for us. She will take you where ever you want to go,stay with you, she can get you some discounts, knows the city and where to go- has cold bottled water for you- knows where to get jewelry etc.
You don't want your mother getting worn out from a lot of walking or climbing!
We are in our 50's and when we went out on our own we were worn out from the walking and the heat. When we were with Ratt- we were able to last a lot longer!

How does one contact Ratt? Do we need to "book" her ahead of time or can we contact her when we arrive if we decide we want a driver?

There will be 6 of us. Does Ratt have her own car? If so, is it big enough for the 6 of us? How do we get ahold of her?

if you really want too use the BTS use the elivators!. most have them and especially the once in tourist oriented stops... if you can, use the BTS or you and rat will be stuck in trafic for half your trip...

Here is Ratt's e-mail:
vimonrat kantapiyo [[email protected]]

Tell her Bill Toliver sent you. Yes you should book ahead of time as much as possible and then as you get closer to your trip you can tweak your plans. You will NOT get stuck in traffic- Ratt knows how to get around the bottlenecks- we were never stuck in traffic for more than 5 minutes.
We used Ratt for about 4 hours per day mostly in the mornings. We would get up early and have breakfast then Ratt would pick us up at our hotel. We would spend about 4 hours driving to various sights. She drops you off at the sight and then parks her car. She had a cooler in her car and will give you ice cold bottled water when you get back in the car. We also used her to take us to the night market. Although not a professional guide she knows a lot about the sights and it was informative to have her along to explain things.
She drives a toyota corolla. You may want to contact her about her being able to handle a larger group- 5-6 people- she may have access to a van.
She can take you to chinatown for gold buys, she knows where to go to get the designer fakes and she can get you a discount at the government store for crafts and souviners- you should go to this place because they have really nice
things- although no bargaining there- there are shops below at whbich you can bargain.
Trust me on this one- get Ratt and you will enjoy your trip all the more. We paid her each day- I tipped her some but that is up to you and I don't think its expected.

Thank you. I have contacted Ratt to see if she can accomodate all of us.

I just wanted to say that my husband, son and I used Rat a few months ago and adored her. She is very good at what she does. We will use her services again next time we are in Bangkok.
You can also tell her Myszka and David from Tokyo recommended her highly. (we were thinking of buying property in Bangkok and she took my husband to many places that were for sale)