Cheapest Way From Suvarnabhumi

[Khun Bob]

Been through the pasy 4 months of posts and this issue doesnt seem to have been explicitly raised.

from Don Muang it was possible to get downtoen on the train for 5 baht.

I'm sure when I saw plans of Suvarnabhumi that there is a train line near by.

From reading other posts there are a number of air con buses going to main places in bkk for a max charge of 35 baht.

I'm interested in Pratunaam, Victory, Monument and Pongpetch (near laksi, tanon pratchacheun, bang khen, Durakit Pundit University)

So far no one has mentioned train servives from Suvarnabhumi ! I though this would let me get to Hua Lam Pong and from there I can get to bankg khen. ALternatively, the 551 will go to victory monument, and from there I know what to do. This is a bit of a long way around, but may be one of the best ?

I've seen that air con buses go to bang kapi and i know from there, i can get the 545 to pong petch. Any other bus combination are very welcome !

Where would I catch the 551 or any of the other aircon buses at Suvarnabhumi ?

Look forward to hear from you...

[lomatopo]

This map shows the bus routes. The 551 bus is the best for you. It is the route highlighted in brown on the map. From the main passenger terminal building you would proceed down to level 1, exit the building and look for a shuttle bus going to the "Transportation Centre". There are shuttle buses that are express, going straight to the Transportation Centre, and others that make several stops within the airport complex. At the Transportation Centre look for the 551 bus docked in one of the bays. You can pay the attendent 35 baht on the bus. It might now say "Siam Paragon" rather than "Victory Monument" as I believe this route now goes onwards after VM. I've taken the 551 bus to Suvarnabhumi several times, but never back to Bangkok. I've taken the 552 bus form Suvarnabhumi to On Nut.

[cdnvic]

Walk

[Khun Bob]

Thanks for the reply and good map lomotopo

From the map, seems that the light purple route may also be a possibility as this goes along the route to don muang, but I'm not sure if it is on the expressway ? If not then I could get off near Tanon Ngam Wong Wan and then get another bus or, with loads of luggage a taxi for the remainder of the route. I'm not sure what this bus number is or it is called but I'm guessthing this is a service between the 2 airports.

Also the pink line 554, goes along to Chaeng Wattana (I think) near laksi - also here, if I can get off can then get a taxi to where i need to be.

Do you know if I can get off these 2 services ?

Also, I remember there being a railway line near Suvarnabhumi ? Is this not so ? Or if there is how do you get there from the airport ?

Thanks

[macan]

There is a train station at Latkrabang in the middle of the university campus which is practically on the end of the Soowanapoom runway. The timetable for trains is here http://www.railway.co.th/English/Time_HTML.asp, there's about 12 per day, journey time is about an hour.

There may be a local bus or songthaew from there now; a friend of mine suggested taking a motorbike taxi from the station to Huatra-ke market and then a minibus from there to the airport.

[Khun Bob]

Looking at the map Lomotopo gave a link to

http://bidding.airportthai.co.th/airportne...humi_front.html

, it seems that the railway station is not that far from the transportation crentre - or where the brown, pink and lilac air con bus lines go into Suvarnabhumi. If this is so i'm surprised there is no service directly between the airport and the railway station. Maybe the taxis and buses, dont want this after Don Muang where you could easily walk to the railway station, taking business away from them...

Costwise on the train it is 13baht to chachoengsao junction, so may be a bit less, maybe 10 baht, from Latkrabang to Hua Lam Pong. But how much will it cost to get from the airport to the train station ? Would like to know as an alternative. Now the ease of the air con bus seems worth it, especially if I could get off the bus running between the 2 airports at ngam wong wan...

Edited March 29, 2007 by Khun Bob

[Khun Bob]

Just checked out the SRT website and lo and behold a timetable for suvarnibhumi :

http://www.railway.co.th/timetable/suvarnabhumi.pdf

Give instructions in english - says at huatakhe station get an aircon bus to the airport - 5kms and 15 baht - I need to read the thai now as is the case with SRT timetables, some bits are changed in english from the thai and extra services are shown on the thai timetables...

[chang35baht]

I`m sorry, but is this a journey that you will be doing everyday or is it a journey that you want to make because you`ve just came back to this beautiful country?

The reason I`m asking is because why don`t you just ask for the quickest route from the airport to your destination and be back where you want to be as soon as possible rather than this long winded longest way for a short cut, 10- 15 baht, bus here, train there or taxi here stuff. Especially as you indicated in one of your earlier posts that you may be carrying lots of luggage.

Live a little, go on, get a taxi. Treat yourself. You`ll feel a lot better for the experience.

If you`re making this journey everyday then just ignore my question and I absolve myself of any blame for any future posts be they in agreement/disagreement with the point I am trying to put over

Is there a point? I dunno. Maybe it`s just me

C35b.

Edited March 30, 2007 by chang35baht

[Bredbury Blue]

farlang khee nok...who said that?

[Khun Bob]

I've got time on my hands and have in the past had untypical experiences by taking the path farangs typically dont take - and I like to know the cheapest way of doing things - I'm scottish not by birth but by ideology !

I`m sorry, but is this a journey that you will be doing everyday or is it a journey that you want to make because you`ve just came back to this beautiful country?

The reason I`m asking is because why don`t you just ask for the quickest route from the airport to your destination and be back where you want to be as soon as possible rather than this long winded longest way for a short cut, 10- 15 baht, bus here, train there or taxi here stuff. Especially as you indicated in one of your earlier posts that you may be carrying lots of luggage.

Live a little, go on, get a taxi. Treat yourself. You`ll feel a lot better for the experience.

If you`re making this journey everyday then just ignore my question and I absolve myself of any blame for any future posts be they in agreement/disagreement with the point I am trying to put over

Is there a point? I dunno. Maybe it`s just me

C35b.

[Khun Bob]

The word is khii nio ! and <deleted> u like to spend money go ahead and do that ! I like seeing foregners pay more than they have to and hear what the Thais have to say ! Some of the best entertainment I have come across...

Need I say that if you have somethng of value to say - go ahead - I'm not sure what the stats are but for every poster there is something like 30 readers here...

farlang khee nok...who said that?

Edited March 31, 2007 by Khun Bob

[Bredbury Blue]

The word is khii nio ! and <deleted> u like to spend money go ahead and do that ! I like seeing foregners pay more than they have to and hear what the Thais have to say ! Some of the best entertainment I have come across...

Need I say that if you have somethng of value to say - go ahead - I'm not sure what the stats are but for every poster there is something like 30 readers here...

farlang khee nok...who said that?

Thing you'll find that farlang khee nok and khii nio are same same with the former being a degree worse (for farlang's of course). And be sure to let us know the cheapest way (and how long it takes) in to town...we can let the Thai's in on it too then!

[issanpaul]

Been through the pasy 4 months of posts and this issue doesnt seem to have been explicitly raised.

from Don Muang it was possible to get downtoen on the train for 5 baht.

I'm sure when I saw plans of Suvarnabhumi that there is a train line near by.

From reading other posts there are a number of air con buses going to main places in bkk for a max charge of 35 baht.

I'm interested in Pratunaam, Victory, Monument and Pongpetch (near laksi, tanon pratchacheun, bang khen, Durakit Pundit University)

So far no one has mentioned train servives from Suvarnabhumi ! I though this would let me get to Hua Lam Pong and from there I can get to bankg khen. ALternatively, the 551 will go to victory monument, and from there I know what to do. This is a bit of a long way around, but may be one of the best ?

I've seen that air con buses go to bang kapi and i know from there, i can get the 545 to pong petch. Any other bus combination are very welcome !

Where would I catch the 551 or any of the other aircon buses at Suvarnabhumi ?

Look forward to hear from you...

[issanpaul]

Been through the pasy 4 months of posts and this issue doesnt seem to have been explicitly raised.

from Don Muang it was possible to get downtoen on the train for 5 baht.

I'm sure when I saw plans of Suvarnabhumi that there is a train line near by.

From reading other posts there are a number of air con buses going to main places in bkk for a max charge of 35 baht.

I'm interested in Pratunaam, Victory, Monument and Pongpetch (near laksi, tanon pratchacheun, bang khen, Durakit Pundit University)

So far no one has mentioned train servives from Suvarnabhumi ! I though this would let me get to Hua Lam Pong and from there I can get to bankg khen. ALternatively, the 551 will go to victory monument, and from there I know what to do. This is a bit of a long way around, but may be one of the best ?

I've seen that air con buses go to bang kapi and i know from there, i can get the 545 to pong petch. Any other bus combination are very welcome !

Where would I catch the 551 or any of the other aircon buses at Suvarnabhumi ?

Look forward to hear from you...

while i appreciate many people may have a budget while travelling,for f***s sake just get a taxi and stop asking about 5 bhat bus or 35 bhat fares to downtown,surely if you can pay the airfare from thistleland you can afford a taxi to downtown bangers?

[Khun Bob]

quality posts as always...

Still I love to see foreigners spending it up in thailand - when they get ripped off I smile more than the Thais !

[Hawkup2000]

My guess that the cheapest and easiest way for you is to take bus 551 to Victory.

I really dont understand all remarks about Khun Bob being thight fisted. We all spend money here. We just just have diffrent opinions WHERE to spend our cash. For me, I always fly to here in economy rather than first class. Then I have more money to spend on other things here. Does that make me cheap?

[Khun Bob]

Anyone else used the train to get from/to Suvarnabhumi ? Be interested to know your experience...

As we seem to have covered the buses now... Unless you can get onto a highway and get a 7baht bus into central bkk ? Because is, that sukhumvit road just north of Suvarnabhumi ? If not what is the main road just north of Suvarnabhumi ?

[ballbreaker]

My guess that the cheapest and easiest way for you is to take bus 551 to Victory.

I really dont understand all remarks about Khun Bob being thight fisted. We all spend money here. We just just have diffrent opinions WHERE to spend our cash. For me, I always fly to here in economy rather than first class. Then I have more money to spend on other things here. Does that make me cheap?

Big difference in saving a couple thousand USD vs 10 USD. Yes he is cheap. Khun Bob says he enjoys the adventure from these trips so would it not make sense for him to blaze the trail, instead of asking for help, so he can further enhance his adventure.

[Bredbury Blue]

quality posts as always...

Still I love to see foreigners spending it up in thailand - when they get ripped off I smile more than the Thais !

Why do I get the impression you don't live here Khun Bob? I was talking to my wife (Thai) about this and asked what would Thai's do to get in to town from the airport - and i pointed out that i didn't mean rich farlang's like me who like pissing money away (apparently) - her answer was (1) get a taxi or (2) get the airport bus!

[Bredbury Blue]

Anyone else used the train to get from/to Suvarnabhumi ? Be interested to know your experience...

As we seem to have covered the buses now... Unless you can get onto a highway and get a 7baht bus into central bkk ? Because is, that sukhumvit road just north of Suvarnabhumi ? If not what is the main road just north of Suvarnabhumi ?

In a spirit of being helpful to you, the road north you refer to is probably the Bangkok-Chonburi highway and the road south is the Bangna-Trat highway (which does have a frontage road so you can stop a bus). You might like to try getting to Bangna-Trat highway, then baht bus to Onnut train station then skytain in. Unless i'm mistaken though, i don't belive i've seen any of the City buses going in to the airport so your problem lies with getting out of the airport the short distance (10km) to one of those 2 roads and then getting a baht bus or train in.

[Bredbury Blue]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=114425

45 baht - sorted!

[colino]

Victory monument mini bus 45 baht done and dusted or at the airport free bus to terminal then take your pick

[billp]

OK, I tried out the route to Hua Takhe one day just for the heck of it. I'm a self-admitted public transportation freak.

The fare from Hualamphong is the princely sum of 7 Baht. The train was old and clanky, but it left and arrived bang on time. There were no other farang. It made a number of stops; some of them weren't even any kind of station, but just stops where people clambered over the tracks and onto the train. One thing to note is that there was a stop at Phaya Thai (near the BTS station) and at Asoke near the Petchburi MRT station. It takes about an hour in total and that's unaffected by traffic tie-ups.

When we arrived at Hua Takhe there was a great big sign (in English) pointing to a bus stop, but no bus came after about an hour in the hot sun. We asked the food vendor ladies and they weren't sure when a bus might come, so we broke down and got a cab to the airport. Cost: 60 baht, 10 minutes. Later I went to the Airport Bus Terminal and asked how often the bus (#517) runs to Hua Takhe and they said "Every 2 hours." There was no sign of any SRT shuttle bus. It would have made a lot of sense if they had a bus meeting the train every hour, but I guess there wasn't enough interest. So, in most circumstances you'd have to take a taxi. Still, 67 baht is cheap and you don't have to worry about traffic jams.

Personally I think it's a shame the SRT doesn't upgrade this track and run a more frequent express train stopping only at Phaya Thai and Asoke, tying in with a shuttle service - and publicizing its existence. It would be a great way to get to and from the airport until the Airport Link is finally finished, whenever that might be.

I compiled a schedule with just those 3 stops.

FROM HUALAMPHONG TO HUA TAKHE

4:15 CMT 379 (Stops only in Makasan) Arr. Takhe 5:10 (Mon-Fri Only)

5:55 ORD 275 (Phaya Thai 6:09, Asoke 6:25) Arr. Takhe 7:07

6:55 ORD 283 (7:07, 7:21) Arr. 8:13 (Mon-Fri Only)

6:55 ORD 285 (7:07, 7:21 Arr. 8:13 (Sat Sun Only)

8:00 ORD 281 (8:10, 8:17) Arr. 8:45

10:10 CMT 367 (10:19, 10:27) Arr. 10:56

11:05 MIX 497 (No stop at Phaya Thai, Asoke 11:53) Arr. 12:34

12:10 EXP DRC 389 (12:19, 12:31) Arr. 13:02

13:05 ORD 279 (13:12, 13:19) Arr. 13:47

15:25 ORD 277 (15:49, 15:47) Arr. 16:17

16:35 EXP DRC 391 (16:45, 16:57) Arr. 17:28

17:00 CMT 383 (17:11, 17:20) Arr. 17:56 (Mon-Fri Only)

17: 40 CMT 371 (17:56, 18:09) Arr. 18:51

18:25 CMT 381 (18:34, 18:42) Arr. 19:12 (Sundays & Public Holidays only)

18:25 CMT 385 (18:34, 18:42) Arr. 19:12

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

LEAVING HUA TAKHE - ARRIVING HUA LAMPHONG

[about 40 minutes to Asoke (Petchburi MRT) and 50 minutes to Phaya Thai (BTS)]

06:00 - 07:10 (Mon-Fri Only)

06:25 - 07:45 (Mon-Fri Only)

06:59 - 08:15

07:34 - 08:35

08:05 - 09:20 (Mon-Fri Only)

08:32 - 09:45 (No stop at Phaya Thai)

09:40 - 10:45

11:06 - 12:05

13:14 - 14:10

14:34 - 15:25

17:10 - 18:25 (Sat Sun Only)

18:54 - 19:55

19:58 - 20:55 (Only before public holidays)

20:37 - 21:30

Edited April 10, 2007 by billp

[Khun Bob]

Good piece of research billp - I'm sure alot of people will benefit from your contribution because as far as i am aware no body has posted the info you have provided or similar in the same detail on TV ! Thanks and well done !

I like travelling on Thai public transport - esp the trains - and as you say they are not affected by the jams... And I guess that going by bus or taxi from Hua Takhe is not really affected by jams either ! I take it you just went by the meter ? We now have a price for this way too.

If you had waited for the bus from Hua Takhe to the Airport do you know how much it would have been ? Were there any Thais on the train making there way to the airport ? If so, did you see how they got from the train station to the airport ?

[mikethevigoman]

Walk

No your not ! ,.( sorry that is ) . jeez is this guy for real, even the thais get a taxi

[mikethevigoman]

Walk

Hitch hike ?

[mikethevigoman]

quality posts as always...

Still I love to see foreigners spending it up in thailand - when they get ripped off I smile more than the Thais !

Riped off ? 200 baht to town , i dont think so

[billp]

Khun Bob

If you had waited for the bus from Hua Takhe to the Airport do you know how much it would have been ?

15 baht, I think.

Were there any Thais on the train making there way to the airport ? If so, did you see how they got from the train station to the airport ?

Some people got into a taxi when we arrived, but I have no idea if they were headed for the airport. A young Korean student waited with us for the bus. He obviously had also heard about the nonexistent SRT shuttle bus. We ended up taking him with us in the taxi.

If you should try out this route, my advice is not to wait for the bus. If one comes within a few minutes, OK. But if you see a taxi, take it.

I take it you just went by the meter ?

You bet. I don't "do" flat rates in Bangkok. I think the meter was something like 52 baht.

[asanee]

Oh, my dear, and now its songkran, and I've been away for some 3 weeks, unable to post here.

NOT a big [problem at all!

Do forget thet train, endless waits, endless delays, and the grand total to bang Khen will come to the same as DIRECT bus.

I know billp from other postings (mainly on LP/thorntree, where he praised that hotel in faraway BangPhlee to death, which is 'said to be close to new airport, but just 4 kms shorter away as the khaoSarn lodgings are...).

What BOTH bills/bobs overllooked are the BMTA viutybuses, posted also on this thread nyumeour times,. the ONLY thing you neededm to do was ask at the infodesk at the transport centre at Suv poom. Becse MOST airportworkers still live in/around Don Muang area, there are in factt he BEST routes to there:

554. via Motorway, then coming down at KM 8 along te road, coming along, passing the Central bang Khen, the roundabout (former), then going to laksi (NOERTHbound with a large detour as no left-turns allowed, then along Vip-dee rangsit road, along old Don Muang, toward rangsit/future. Every 10/15 mins, all 24 hrs and 365 days. Cost like ANY airport bus 35 baht flat. (NOTE; Other trips quite possible and charged at normal distance scale). all buses are the new orange Euro-II type, aircom. NO worries about lugage, as 99% of pax are WORkers without luggage, and the bus usually goes when the seats are moreorless taken, hardly ever standees.

the 555 is even quicker: MOTORway, alo9ng RamIX, coming down at DinDaeng, then along old Expressway north, via Central Lard Prao/north end of Chatuchakl park (PTT office), then just like 29/510 all along CVip+_Rangsit main road till old D Muang-Rangsit, es 554. same freq/same pricing.

NO need at all to go via Vict. Mon. MUCH quicker as train.

PS; there USED to be a special shuttle nr 517 Airport busstation to HuaTakHe station, but thiswas ABOLISHED as there was zero=zil demand for it for some 6 months. It seems NORMAL bus 151, which serves that long road along Lard Krabang, now also diverts, about ev hour only, into the airport bus station, but this is unconfirmed (I am not in BKK, of course, dont like songkran.

anmd once again: I would hope that contributors to thaivisa would refrain them from ''khee niao'' etc remerklas or telling ayone that buses are overcrowded/prone to death and that any whitey must use the taximeter. ABut I also refrain from people who tell that those alawys delayed, 60 years ago hard wooden seat trains are always best: take the best choice for your position, plaese.

[billp]

PS; there USED to be a special shuttle nr 517 Airport busstation to HuaTakHe station, but thiswas ABOLISHED as there was zero=zil demand for it for some 6 months.

asanee/bmta this is NOT TRUE. I saw that bus, number 517 at the airport bus terminal on Feb. 26, the day I tried out the route to Hua Takhe. But like I said it only runs every 2 hours.

And I still think the Sananwan Palace is a great place to stay near the airport. It took a scant 20 minutes to get there in mid-afternoon traffic. The guest house is beautiful! Cheap, clean, friendly and has a pool. And Bangphli is a really interesting place to visit.

Sananwan website. And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

.

.

Edited April 17, 2007 by billp