What's the point of taking BTS?

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I don't hang around "downtown" much (wherever DT is in Bangkok), but I noticed that BTS has gotten a lot worse lately.

 

I live outside the BTS line (until it gets expanded), so I take the bus a lot and I am used to it. 

 

So, here is a typical scenario for me.

 

Get up those BTS stairs in scorching heat.

 

Wait 10 minutes to get a ticket.

 

If I'm unlucky get stopped by "security" to check bag.

 

take 5 minutes to figure <deleted> I'm going because it looks like they changed the tickets and made stations graphics really tiny on ticket monitors. The MAP in the back of the ticket is literally unreadable now.

 

Wait for the train, but often I can't get on the first train because of the crowds, so I have to wait for the next one. Last night, for example I managed to get on the 4th train.

 

Disembark, walk like an invalid because of the crowds then go down stairs.

 

OR

 

I could just wait for the bus and if I'm going a short distance will arrive sooner that the skytrain.

 

 

 

 

[Greyhat]

Is the BTS less convenient than taking the bus? Take the bus. Surely you've seen the traffic and determined that not everyone is in the same situation.

[HampiK]

I see it a lot different than you. With a bus you always have to consider traffic jam.

With Skytrain I can almost calculate the minutes I will arrive at the location. Average 2 minutes per Station. About the crowed yes this is worse than a few years ago, but if you can avoid the rush hours then it is still OK (not good). And can't compare on time with a bus, taxi or anything other. Especially when you want go or pass Sukhumvit, Sathorn or Silom area.

[Crossy]

Nobody is forcing you to use the BTS, use the MRT if it goes nearer your destination.

 

Ticket map, yup unreadable, station maps and the ones on the machines very readable (and should be in Chinese soon too).

 

Don't like to queue? Get a Rabbit card with stored value, lasts 2 years without use until it expires, if you're that infrequent a user, stop moaning.

 

Yes, as many members know, I work for "a major mass transit provider with a three letter acronym" (BEM, SRT, BTS you guess) ????. I won't defend poor service but all systems do provide a decent service at a price which the number of passengers suggests is about right.

 

My (and other's) biggest moan, that we still don't have a "go anywhere" ticket, BKK has much to learn fron Singapore (and London and Hong Kong and ...).

 

 

[ignis]

For me no point taking the BTS at all + full fare same with a bus..   MRT Purple Line and Metro, 1/2 price for the old, staff help me to the lift, always get offered a seat in if full.   eg: my normal trips Bang Yai to Si Lom total cost 35 baht, takes 1 hour 20 mins each way. 

 

Edit.  All stations have a lift + moving stairs

Edited December 27, 2018 by ignis

[luk AJ]

BTS is for sure the best way to get around in Bangkok. However, lately they changed the signs at the stations indicating the next stop not the end station as previously. For me this is confusing.


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[geisha]

luck AJ , i m sorry, i didn’t understand your post. Can you explain as I’m going to be using the BTS a lot next week.

[HampiK]

1 minute ago, geisha said:

luck AJ , i m sorry, i didn’t understand your post. Can you explain as I’m going to be using the BTS a lot next week.

Before they were writing the end point of the BTS line on the stage. For example "Mo Chit" direction. But now I saw on the sign, that they write the next stop. 

I am not sure if the end Station is still written or not, as I not look this signs anymore. But if not, It would be more complicated for People who not often use the skytrain. Because before when you were going to Siam from "Sathorn" or "Silom" you have to know "National Stadium" as end Station. Now it seems at "Sathorn" they write to "Chong Nonsi" and at the station Silom they will write "Rachadamri"... 

[Nyezhov]

I love the BTS and never have any problems with it. They make announcements, next station, Bong Waah, Bong Waah

Edited December 27, 2018 by Nyezhov

[theguyfromanotherforum]

47 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

 

Yes, as many members know, I work for "a major mass transit provider with a three letter acronym" (BEM, SRT, BTS you guess) ????. I won't defend poor service but all systems do provide a decent service at a price which the number of passengers suggests is about right.

 

 

 

 

 

My wife also works for a mass transit provider and has been working for them for the past 10 years. Her job is practically guaranteed until the rest of her working life. It starts with S and ends with S. You take a wild gueSS ????

 

And she absolutely refuses to use btS. Every time she rolls her eyes and says "hiiSooo"

 

Who says Thais don't know SarcaSm?

Edited December 27, 2018 by theguyfromanotherforum

[kkerry]

BTS has been getting a bit crowded of late so one two less users can only help, so thanks guy ????

 

Edited December 27, 2018 by kkerry

[Ks45672]

19 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

My wife also works for a mass transit provider and has been working for them for the past 10 years. Her job is practically guaranteed until the rest of her working life. It starts with S and ends with S. You take a wild gueSS ????

 

And she absolutely refuses to use btS. Every time she rolls her eyes and says "hiiSooo"

 

Who says Thais don't know SarcaSm?

Go back to Toronto 

[rodknock]

there is no rush hour, the BTS is packed any time of the day or night. take the last train and it is standing room only.

it will get worse as they expand the system and do not add cars.

at on-nut in the morning they block off the escalator(it is running with no issues)so you are forced to use the stairs. on-nut in the am is a total <deleted> joke!!!! you can end up waiting 5-6 trains till you get squished(sardine style) in to a car.

they are going to have to add another car to help relieve congestion soon, and do not cry about the cost as they keep having larger profits!!!!

when are they going to add the elevators that were supposed to be added years ago BY LAW(same old dog and pony show). how about the safety gates? what makes one station more apt to have a suicide or accident as opposed to another one.

[White Christmas13]

8 minutes ago, Ks45672 said:

Go back to Toronto 

No, to the other forum 

[Nyezhov]

8 minutes ago, rodknock said:

there is no rush hour, the BTS is packed any time of the day or night. take the last train and it is standing room only.

it will get worse as they expand the system and do not add cars.

at on-nut in the morning they block off the escalator(it is running with no issues)so you are forced to use the stairs. on-nut in the am is a total <deleted> joke!!!! you can end up waiting 5-6 trains till you get squished(sardine style) in to a car.

they are going to have to add another car to help relieve congestion soon, and do not cry about the cost as they keep having larger profits!!!!

when are they going to add the elevators that were supposed to be added years ago BY LAW(same old dog and pony show). how about the safety gates? what makes one station more apt to have a suicide or accident as opposed to another one.

Hyperbole. At night and off peak depending on where you go, the trains can be empty.. I have never waited for more than one train, even at the most crowded stations at rush hour (which I ma smart enough to avoid)

[edwardandtubs]

3 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Hyperbole. At night and off peak depending on where you go, the trains can be empty.. I have never waited for more than one train, even at the most crowded stations at rush hour (which I ma smart enough to avoid)

 

It's a greedy, profit-driven company that wants the trains at full capacity at all times of day. That's why the trains only run once every 7 minutes in the middle of the day and are almost always packed. 

[Nyezhov]

6 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

 

It's a greedy, profit-driven company that wants the trains at full capacity at all times of day. That's why the trains only run once every 7 minutes in the middle of the day and are almost always packed. 

Something wrong with profit?

 

Where is the BTS "packed" at 2:45 pm on a Wednesday? Siam?

 

7 minutes apart? Is that bad?

[brewsterbudgen]

What's the point of the BTS? Duh. It's how I get to work every day. I can't imagine commuting in Bangkok without it.

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[kannot]

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

Nobody is forcing you to use the BTS, use the MRT if it goes nearer your destination.

 

Ticket map, yup unreadable, station maps and the ones on the machines very readable (and should be in Chinese soon too).

 

Don't like to queue? Get a Rabbit card with stored value, lasts 2 years without use until it expires, if you're that infrequent a user, stop moaning.

 

Yes, as many members know, I work for "a major mass transit provider with a three letter acronym" (BEM, SRT, BTS you guess) ????. I won't defend poor service but all systems do provide a decent service at a price which the number of passengers suggests is about right.

 

My (and other's) biggest moan, that we still don't have a "go anywhere" ticket, BKK has much to learn fron Singapore (and London and Hong Kong and ...).

 

 

My  biggest is why the hell dont they buy  more  rolling  stock and get another 2  carriages  added, they took  years to go from 3 to 4 , now they nee d 6,  guess theyll arrive in 5  years or so when theyll need 8 and then the platforms  wont be  long enough

[direction BANGKOK]

Most interesting part of any "why use bts" (if that notion even exists) is why is a taxi the same price with two or three people, and the bts your cost would double/triple. 

 

I suppose I know why but bts is out when going in groups. I find taxis much more convenient, cheaper or the same price (with two or more), clean when you grab a new looking one, and contray to popular belief, by the time you have gotten from your origin to the bts, walked up the bts stairs, got your ticket, waited for a train, got off, walked down the stairs, then getting to your destination from there... it is not faster than taxis. Of course there are exceptions but often it is not faster in my opinion. 

Edited December 27, 2018 by direction BANGKOK

[tutsiwarrior]

 

there is a common misperception that a modern, newly opened train service is always preferable to the old bus service...many ears ago I commuted from the SF East Bay to the Lake Merced area of SF and used the BART trains when they first opened which were expensive, crowded and unpleasant...so I went back to using the old AC Transit buses...across the bay to the East Bay Terminal (spectacular SF skyline view westbound on the Bay bridge which always reminded me of The Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz) then get on a street car across town to my destination...didn't take much longer than the trains and a very pleasant journey and was relaxed when I stepped off the car at my stop...what the OP describes sounds like a similar scenario...

 

sitting in the back of the street car/bus sipping a tall bud in a paper bag admiring the urban scenery and the bay on the return journey was always a nice conclusion to the day...

 

sounds like a time very long ago in a place very far away...which it was...

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

The BTS is brilliant.... it’s an excellent plan B when traffic is gridlocked and my target destination is on the route...

 

Otherwise, I hardly use it, too crowded at peak times and I usually need a taxi or bike from home to the BTS & from the BTS to my destination.

 

I works brilliantly for some, just not myself until the right time & right destination.

 

Additional carriages would be a sensible improvement. 

 

 

[usacb500biker]

Skytrain  add a few more CARS...

[smutcakes]

Its a great system which i use multiple times a day across the busiest times and line going to and from work and around the city. I rarely if ever have to wait for a 2nd train. I am a grown up with common sense so make decisions like going 20 minutes earlier or later if i suspect its going to be rammed, like its raining on a Monday morning. Not complicated just common sense possessed by most adults, aside from a few on this forum.

 

The people who claim to be waiting for 3-4 trains etc are straight up lying, unless there has been a mechanical or an 'incident' on the track.

 

Its a MASS transit system in a huge mega city, its going to be busy, i presume these people whinging also complain about Tokyo, London etc etc

 

Anyway the OP is trolling anyway, and is obviously a desperately sad and lonely individual, i can see why tbh.

[fruitman]

Have you seen the hundreds of birds living in the beams of the stations? They make a lot of noise, shit everywhere and when they have birdflue the stations have to be closed....they even shit on the road underneath it and there are loads and loads of them.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

23 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

Its a great system which i use multiple times a day across the busiest times and line going to and from work and around the city. I rarely if ever have to wait for a 2nd train. I am a grown up with common sense so make decisions like going 20 minutes earlier or later if i suspect its going to be rammed, like its raining on a Monday morning. Not complicated just common sense possessed by most adults, aside from a few on this forum.

 

The people who claim to be waiting for 3-4 trains etc are straight up lying, unless there has been a mechanical or an 'incident' on the track.

 

Its a MASS transit system in a huge mega city, its going to be busy, i presume these people whinging also complain about Tokyo, London etc etc

 

Anyway the OP is trolling anyway, and is obviously a desperately sad and lonely individual, i can see why tbh.

 

I am a sad and lonely individual because I dare to notice that BTS is overcrowded and that I waited for 4 trains to get in?

 

How can I make it up to you and your precious BTS?

 

just wow

[LomSak27]

13 hours ago, rodknock said:

there is no rush hour, the BTS is packed any time of the day or night. take the last train and it is standing room only.

I always take BTS and yes, buses on occasion. I avoid taxis altogether. I was in Bangkok three times in the last 7 months, took BTS repeatedly on these trips. Was it packed, on occasion yes,  and also some non packed. Its been like that for years so I don't see what the issue is.

 

I like the convenience of taking an A1 bus from Don Mueang to Moh Chit, then BTS into town to my hotel. I take it around town, I also take it to to Phya Thai station and catch the Airport Rail link to the swamp.

I have no clue what the OP's problem is with BTS. However if you are from Canada, (and there is nothing wrong with that), you are either from British Colombia or the rest. What the rest is ... who really knows ... Saskatoba ?  There are likely deep seated congenital problems there that we don't know or understand.

[smutcakes]

28 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

I am a sad and lonely individual because I dare to notice that BTS is overcrowded and that I waited for 4 trains to get in?

 

How can I make it up to you and your precious BTS?

 

just wow

No you are sad and lonely sitting alone wondering how you can get people to ngage with you trollimg on an internet forum.

 

I think your post history and tails of pathetic woe tell your story for you

[theguyfromanotherforum]

36 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

No you are sad and lonely sitting alone wondering how you can get people to ngage with you trollimg on an internet forum.

 

I think your post history and tails of pathetic woe tell your story for you

 

It's funny how I get posting holidays for a lot less. 

 

So, now I just have to be polite, I guess ????

 

[mercman24]

and the next MOANER will be arriving soon lol