BKK Update
 

We blast off for BKK in 15 days. Has there been any change in the Taskin skytrain situation?

>>>We blast off for BKK in 15 days. Has there been any change in the Taskin skytrain situation?<<<


Greetings Bill; when my latest Bangkok business trip concluded last Thursday, the Saphan Thaksin was indeed operational. (And for what it's worth, another sweet ride back home to Singapore via SQ975 J.)

Have fun in the City of Angels. Will you be staying at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit? Would appreciate a review, as I haven't stayed at that property for work for quite sometime. (Back in the day when I would do the 'Bangkok bounce' between the WGS and the Sheraton Grande in order to facilitate the maintenance of platinum status with Starwood.) These days it's the BKK Four Seasons for meetings and as of last Thursday check-out, she's as fine as ever.

Another update is that most unique Chon Thai restaurant at The Siam riverside resort. As of late last week, the property was still operating a river shuttle to/from the aforementioned Saphan Thaksin. A rather special setting for dining; I (we) love experiencing new Bangkok locales for lodging/dining. Will be returning next month.

Warm wishes to you and all from another lovely Singapore morning,

macintosh (robert)


... Singapore Airlines, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

Yes we are staying at the Westin Sukhumvit. We will be using SPG points and cash. We were thinking about staying at the ROS but decided that the Westin offered a better connection to the skytrain and subway and is next door to Terminal 21. Also at the time we made our reservation it appeared that the Taskin station was going to shut down making staying at the ROS more problematic.

Hopefully the powers-that-be have been re-thinking the decision to close the Thaksin station! I can't imagine the river hotels being happy with that line of thinking. It would mean a big loss of business, I would think. The Thaksin station is so handy, with river shuttles back and forth from pier to hotel(s).

Will, absolutely no change. It was, I think, a bluff. Part of the continuing legal battle between the Democrats who control the Bangkok administration and Peua Thai who control the central government. PT was trying to make the city look bad by making them close the station, so the governor announced "OK, if the transport ministry orders us to close it, we'll do it." Thus throwing it back in the central government's lap. Well played.

I don't think it's been mentioned here, but this same tussle has resulted in you having to pay separately to take the Skytrain beyond On-nut on the Sukhumvit line.

did not know about on-nut , thanks for the update.

bill, see you at the penn on 11/4

Huh? Does that mean you get off and On Nut and re-check your BTS ticket? How are they managing that add-on price??

Nope, it was all in order when I was ther 3.5 weeks ago.

Carol, you get off at your destination, and pay 10 - 15 Baht to get out of the station. Madness.

Ugh... (thanks, Michael BKK)... hey, will I run into you at Terminal 21 again? I'll be back middle of next week!

Another thought... how does this On Nut charge deal with the "by the ride" tourist ticket, vs the baht ticket that reduces by the cost of each trip?

When did this happen Michael, sounds crazy, I didn't have to do this when I was in BKK last month!

Hi Carol- Will u be in Bkk the last week of November? Anyone else be there?

Hi mango... nope. Not until Dec 18. I'm always in Europe for 2-3 weeks last week of November, early December.

I'll have to check into this again. The last I heard was from someone who was out that way a few weeks ago and it was still going on. I don't know if the new Rabbit cards can be used to pay for the extra fees.

This all stems from the fact that the city built the extension, rather than the BTS, and apparently something about the contract between the city and BTS to operate the trains wasn't kosher, so the politicians decided to screw commuters just so they could get back at each other.

Ahhh Michael the may make sense, I had bought a rabbit card... Not sure why, that's what the girl sold me....

Went out to Udom Suk today just to check this and here's the deal: If you buy a single-trip ticket or a stored value card (Rabbit card) then it's all taken care of. However, if you have a multi-trip ticket you will probably have to pay 15 Baht to get out of the station.

Carol, I'm around the Asoke intersection at least four days a week, but I rarely drop in to T21 much any more. Just not much there appeals to me.

Haha... Michael, it's the ice cream that appeals to me!!! I go to Swensons and Haagen Dazs. That's about it for Terminal 21. The little boutiques are cute but I really don't buy much there.

McBeanie was asking me about Japanese restaurants there (T21). Any reviews or suggestions for her? I don't tend to seek out Japanese food.

Thanks for the information on the extra charge at On Nut. I will have a 20-ride or 30-ride card, or similar, so should be OK. I usually ride the BTS the length of both routes at least once every other trip or so. It's been a while... April?... since I've done that so if time allows, I'll do the full ride. There are stops I like to explore that are further from the city center area. It's interesting to find 'local' area shops.

I figured it was the ice cream. If I want something to eat in that area, my first choice is almost always Pala Pizza under the BTS station.

The Japanese places at T21 - and there are a lot of them - are mostly the usual suspects, Fuji, Ootoya, Yoshinoya, etc. There are one or two new faces, but nothing too interesting. Frankly, if you want something new, I think Ekkamai Gateway has more new-to-Bangkok Japanese restaurants.