The Skytrain, an Underground, 12 Meters above the streets

Thanks to my friends of BTS! They send me the official BTS animated banner!

After several years of building, Bangkok has now in 2000 it’s own mass transport-System: the Skytrain BTS (Bangkok Mass transit System)!

12 meters “above Bangkok”, the Skytrain really runs from Station to station. Example: if you go to the weekend market (Chattuchak-Market) by Taxi, starting at Siam-Center, you almost need about 50 min. If you go there with the Skytrain, you only need about 10 min.

There are 2 big lines: the Sukhumvit-line and the Silom-Line.

Here is the Skytrain-Map:

( Thanks to Yoko and Niki from  www.Groovymap.com )
COPYRIGHT 2001 GROOVY MAP CO LTD

Important Stations:

Costs: between 10 and 40 Baht!

You have to get a ticket, before you use the train. I prefer the “Stored Value” Tickets: this are tickets, which are “chargeable”. You could charge them with 100 to 300 Baht and every time you use the card, your costs will be subtracted.

One bad thing is, that the Silom-Line ends at the National-Stadium (in near of the MBK). It is planed to build the line up to Chinatown, but ….. at which year???

I use the Skytrain normally at daytime, because of it’s real high speed. At nighttime, when the traffic goes down, I use the Taxi, because if you use the Skytrain, you have to pay for each person. If you use the Taxi with some friends, the Taxi could be cheaper.

At moment the Skytrain is not “overused”: you almost get a place to sit down!

I am a fan of the Skytrain, but I hate the steps. If you want to go to the Station in 12 meter high, you normally have to use about 88 steps! Sounds not too bad, but if you have to go them 10 times a day, you will also hate them!

One thing was fascinating: as I used the Skytrain for the first time, it had been almost activated since 2 months. But no Graffiti, everything was clean and looked absolutely new. Ok, 2 months are no long time, but you also know, that 2 months are long enough for the most Graffiti-Kids! Now 14 Months are gone: no Graffiti could be found! Thanks a lot!

One main thing: don’t pass the yellow line at the bottom of the station, until the train stops!!! The Securities are watching this point and they don’t like jokes!

There is one trip, I like very much: go to Saphan-Taksin (one of the end stations) and walk to the river Menam (about 50 meter!). Then you will beat one of the Express-Boat-Stations! From this point to the end station of the Express-Boat, you have to pay 20 Baht for an one-hour-trip (10 Baht to the end station, 10 Baht back)!!! You could watch the people along the Menam; you could leave at a station far away from the tourist-center and walk along; and so on, and so on. Believe me: it is a nice trip!

If you have some free time at evening, you also could try the following trip: go with the Skytrain to the Station called “Ekkamai” and then walk about 200 meters back. There you will find the Major-Cineplex Cinema-Center. The Cinema is very good and modern (the most films are in English with Thai under titles), but there is an other thing, which I prefer: the big Bowling-Club at the 4. Floor of the Cinema! A real big Bowling-Center with a cheap and nice Restaurant, where you could watch everything. The Thais like this place, so it is very crowdie, starting from 6pm.