From Don Mueang to Phaya Thai by Train (Reader Submission)
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We left Khon Kaen today at 12:45 pm. We are my wife and I and her 15 year old niece. My wife and I each had a small 7kg suitcase and a large 15kg suitcase. My wife's cousin brought a backpack weighing a few kilos. We flew to Bangkok Don Mueang with Thai Lion Air. We arrived there around 13:45 PM.
Today we took the train there for the first time. It is a short walk (about 5 to 10 minutes) from the arrivals hall to the train station. Always covered and lifts available to ascend or descend. The first train was from Don Mueang along the Dark Red Line to Bang Sue. Price per person 33 THB. On the platform you have a beautiful view of the airport. You can see the planes landing and taking off. Good to fill the waiting time - I think about 10 to 15 minutes. The train ride went very smoothly. Very few people on the train of typical Japanese make. You sit on benches with your back to the window.
In Bang Sue we transferred to the Blue Line metro. It was always a struggle to find the elevators. Especially on the way to the Blue Line, but a friendly lady from security guided us. The ride from Bang Sue to Chatuchak Park – with 1 intermediate station – cost 19 THB per person. I should immediately note that there is also a station on the Dark Red Line called Chatuchak. So Chatuchak (Dark Red Line) and Chatuchak Park (Blue Line) are two completely different stations!
At Chatuchak Park station you have to pay attention to the exits. There are 2 exits that connect to the BTS station Mo Chit. You can see that on a plan on the wall. However, there are no elevators available there. If you really want to use the elevators, you should not take these exits, but the others that end at the entrance to the park, i.e. on the street. There you can take the elevator from the Mo Chit BTS station a little further on.
In Mo Chit we took the BTS Skytrain to Phaya Thai, where our hotel is located. That ride cost 40 THB per person. It was about 15:45 PM when we arrived at Phaya Thai.
Unfortunately, when leaving the platform in Phaya Thai, we took the wrong elevator, so we ended up at the corridor to the station of the Airport Link train, while our hotel is just on the other side of the station. Fortunately, there is an elevator to the street level. It is that elevator that you also have to take if you want to go to the train ticket office floor.
Conclusion: the journey is - depending on the number of people - much cheaper than by taxi: we paid 33 + 19 + 40 = 92 THB per person, but it took us almost 2 hours. This is mainly due to the distances when transferring and the waiting times.
I think we will take the taxi when we fly back to Khon Kaen via Don Mueang.
Submitted by Daniel M.
And to think that - even without a transfer, this route can be done, probably even in less total travel time, with the regular city bus line 29//59 or AC510 - if you find such an old red nonAC beast, then it is still only 8 bt.
But you can also still take the ac shuttle bus (25 Bth) at the airport to Mo Chit and that bus will drop you off at the escalator to the BTS station. There we always take the sky train directly to Sukumvith.
Travel time: approximately 45 minutes.
Don't know when you last made this trip, but last week I spent almost 2 hours on the bus ride to Mo Chit. Traffic seems to have doubled after the lockdown.