Parking At Phaya Thai Airport Link

[rixalex]

As per title. Cheers.

[beano2274]

No there isn't.

Mochit has a car park open until 2am, or on the other side of the tracks at Bangsue Train station, you can walk over the bridge and into MRT.

[rixalex]

No there isn't.

Mochit has a car park open until 2am, or on the other side of the tracks at Bangsue Train station, you can walk over the bridge and into MRT.

Thanks for the info but not sure how relevant it is for my purposes. I'm picking up an airport arrival with baggage who is using the airport link to Phaya Thai. It's therefore at Phaya Thai that i was hoping to park. When i used the link myself, i seem to recall an area that looked like waste ground come parking at the bottom of the stairs as you come down from railside.

[beano2274]

Not sure about that, why not pick your friend up at the Airport, a lot easier for them.

[whybother]

Not sure about that, why not pick your friend up at the Airport, a lot easier for them.

It's not really that hard to get on a train at the airport and off it at Phaya Thai.

It also saves the OP an hour drive out to the airport.

[rixalex]

Not sure about that, why not pick your friend up at the Airport, a lot easier for them.

LOL. Yeah but a lot less easy for me! I've used the rail link a few times now and think it's a great service and you'd be a fool not to take advantage of it, especially as it's only 15 baht.

[beano2274]

Yes but the question is where will be OP park, as I am sure that around there is not a parking area for the Airport Link, maybe in the Shopping centre just down from Victory would be good, or meet his friend at Phaya Thai and both travel to Mochit to where the car could be parked.

[rixalex]

Yes but the question is where will be OP park, as I am sure that around there is not a parking area for the Airport Link, maybe in the Shopping centre just down from Victory would be good, or meet his friend at Phaya Thai and both travel to Mochit to where the car could be parked.

If there really is no parking, i'll probably wing it and just park up street-side with hazards on and hope my mate is on time. Don't fancy getting involved with all the rush hour chaos up on the skytrain with 30kg of luggage. Thanks for the idea anyway.

[whybother]

Not sure about that, why not pick your friend up at the Airport, a lot easier for them.

LOL. Yeah but a lot less easy for me! I've used the rail link a few times now and think it's a great service and you'd be a fool not to take advantage of it, especially as it's only 15 baht.

btw ... the full trip on the City Line is now 45 baht. (as of 4 Jan). Express to Makkasan is 150 baht.

[rixalex]

Not sure about that, why not pick your friend up at the Airport, a lot easier for them.

LOL. Yeah but a lot less easy for me! I've used the rail link a few times now and think it's a great service and you'd be a fool not to take advantage of it, especially as it's only 15 baht.

btw ... the full trip on the City Line is now 45 baht. (as of 4 Jan). Express to Makkasan is 150 baht.

Thanks for the info mate. Still makes it bargain and the only way to travel, if you are coming into town. Quicker, safer, and cheaper than anything else.

[trogers]

Not sure about that, why not pick your friend up at the Airport, a lot easier for them.

It's not really that hard to get on a train at the airport and off it at Phaya Thai.

It also saves the OP an hour drive out to the airport.

Will save the OP more time and money by asking his visitor to take a taxi...

[Deke]

Why not meet him at Makkasan which is set up for that?

[powderpuff]

Thanks for the info mate. Still makes it bargain and the only way to travel, if you are coming into town. Quicker, safer, and cheaper than anything else.

Yes if you like shlepping your bags up & down flights of stairs & lots & lots of walking with said bags in Bangkok heat it's purrrrrrfect.

Be sure to tell us how this disaster unfolds.

The answer to your question is "Surely you jest."

[jfchandler]

As stated above, if you're really set on driving and parking, meeting your arrival at the Makkasan Station would probably be much easier...

The arrival still could take either the City or the Express line into town, and Makkasan is just a couple of stops short of Phayathai... But the parking availability there has got to be much better.

And yes, the prices have gone up, substantially, for both the City and Express lines, now that the introductory fare promotion ended at the end of the calendar year.

LOL. Yeah but a lot less easy for me! I've used the rail link a few times now and think it's a great service and you'd be a fool not to take advantage of it, especially as it's only 15 baht.

Edited January 30, 2011 by jfchandler

[whybother]

Thanks for the info mate. Still makes it bargain and the only way to travel, if you are coming into town. Quicker, safer, and cheaper than anything else.

Yes if you like shlepping your bags up & down flights of stairs & lots & lots of walking with said bags in Bangkok heat it's purrrrrrfect.

Be sure to tell us how this disaster unfolds.

The answer to your question is "Surely you jest."

Lots of walking? Up and down flights of stairs?

He would probably have to walk about 100 metres (about the same as from the gate to the taxi at the airport) and walk down 2 flights of stairs.

[rixalex]

Thanks for the info mate. Still makes it bargain and the only way to travel, if you are coming into town. Quicker, safer, and cheaper than anything else.

Yes if you like shlepping your bags up & down flights of stairs & lots & lots of walking with said bags in Bangkok heat it's purrrrrrfect.

Be sure to tell us how this disaster unfolds.

The answer to your question is "Surely you jest."

If you take a taxi from the airport you have to go down one flight with your bags anyway. Taking the rail, just means going down one extra flight. Of course if you are picked up by a friend who has parked in the airport car park, you have a much longer walk.

As far as when you reach Phaya Thai is concerned, yes it is very remiss that no escalator or lift was thought to be fitted, but the hardship of going down a couple of flights is that you are now slap bang in the centre of town, for a fraction of the price it otherwise would have cost, you have saved quite possibly an hour, if not more, and you have traveled in safety, unlike the white knuckle ride the taxi boys offer.

Anyway, this thread wasn't meant to be a pros and cons discussion. If you don't like the airport link, don't use it. Simple.

Re the suggestions about picking up my friend from Makkasan, yes that is a good idea and one that had crossed my mind, but the problem was i'm not confident about how to get there. The other problem is that my friend will now be in the air so it's too late to change arrangements.

Thanks anyway for all the posts.

[rixalex]

For anyone who might be interested, i did manage to get parking. Right next to the station, the bit of wasteland that i mentioned, is indeed being used as parking for a restaurant / bar, but they are happy for anyone to park there, if you pay 60 baht.

Actually i did notice that the airport link station does have parking signs up, directing you where to drive, but there are no-entry signs up, so i don't know if it has yet to be completed in construction, or whether it is restricted entry.

Oh and one more thing i noticed was that there is in fact a lift from platform to the street level. When i used the link a month or two back it was out of order, but it wasn't the other night. With that working, all this talk about having to drag your bags for miles really is nonsense.

[kyb789]

Thanks for the info mate. Still makes it bargain and the only way to travel, if you are coming into town. Quicker, safer, and cheaper than anything else.

If money is not an issue, pay the 230B meter + 50B airport tax and take the taxi. I've watched all those people standing around waiting for trains. I grabbed a taxi and got into town, door-to-door, faster than all of them. After a long flight, it wasn't worth the wait in my opinion.

[rixalex]

Thanks for the info mate. Still makes it bargain and the only way to travel, if you are coming into town. Quicker, safer, and cheaper than anything else.

If money is not an issue, pay the 230B meter + 50B airport tax and take the taxi. I've watched all those people standing around waiting for trains. I grabbed a taxi and got into town, door-to-door, faster than all of them. After a long flight, it wasn't worth the wait in my opinion.

In my experience, every time i've taken a train, i've gone to the platform, got straight on the train, and in minutes it is leaving. Perhaps i've been lucky. In times before of taking a taxi, i have had to stand in a queue for ten, fifteen, twenty minutes. Perhaps i've been unlucky.

Either way, i find the train is safe. One doesn't have the worry of having the taxi driver from hell driving like a bat. Plus, taking the train you know it is always going to take 25 - 30 minutes. Taking a taxi, dependant on traffic, it might take 30 minutes or on the other hand, get involved in rush hour, or should there be a road accident up ahead, it might take an hour and a half or more.

Anyway, you pays your money, you takes your choice.

[sabaijai]

Depending on where you're going, taxi is usually faster than the Air Link. I've done the latter four times now and when I count up waiting for the train and making a transfer to BTS, taxi beat it every time. That assumes that your destination in the city is near a tollway. Otherwise the duration of the journey is probably about the same.