swampy taxi

Post by **mr lonely** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:11 pm

Came through swampypoo airport yesterday. Not a taxi tout in sight. Arrivals exit point deserted except for those waiting for specific customers.
No hassles anywhere, maybe theyve got their act together for a while
A refreshing change.

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:24 am

Thanks for that update. It's good to hear that hopefully things are improving, if only for the sake of first time or few and far between visitors, who don't have a clue what to do on arrival.
To be honest the taxi touts just always seemed to be around at Don Muang and you got used to it, and sussed out where to go to get a kosher cab. Which there was pretty obvious.
At Swampy it wasn't so apparent first time. Maybe not well signed - or maybe just the strangeness of the place.
I just hope though that the rail link is open soon, which for me would be the obvious choice as I always head straight into Bangkok. Any news on that?

Post by **PeteC** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:35 am

The train seems on schedule Mags for a December 5 start. Test runs underway. It's going to be maintained and operated by a German company, at least for the first few years until the Thais are trained up. Pete

Post by **Nereus** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:43 am

prcscct wrote:The train seems on schedule Mags for a December 5 start. Test runs underway. It's going to be maintained and operated by a German company, at least for the first few years until the Thais are trained up. Pete

555--555

http://bangkokairporttrain.com/

Post by **mr lonely** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:30 am

I look forward to it opening but note that the proposed fare is 150 bht.
Given that a meter taxi Victory to Swampy is around 210 plus tolls, its ok if you only have small luggage or there is only one person.
Otherwise it may be cheaper for taxi and less hassle climbing up and down the skytrain steps !

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:23 am

It's good to hear the rail link could be open soon but yes, 150 baht maybe a bit steep. Depends where you want to be in Bangkok I guess, and it will be a different pricing scale to the main BST as separately run.
I like the 'years of training' concept for drivers though. That must be new!

Post by **Georgy Porgy** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:25 am

But the taxis and touts will just move to Makkhasan, at the end of the Airport line. Traffic will be absolutely horrendous there, especially following heavy periods of landings.