Skytrain

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The Sky train or the Bangkok Mass Transit System opened in 1999. It has been able to reduce distances within the city. Additionally, Skytrain is a boon to reach your destination without having to spend long hours in the unending traffic jams, which is a common feature of Bangkok traffic. Sky trains are air-conditioned and user-friendly.

Sky train is an elevated train that circumnavigates over most parts of the city. It stretches from Sukhumvit Soi 77 to Chatuchak Weekend Market, the nearest end station being Mo Chit Station. This route covers all the important places of Bangkok like the business areas of Silom, most parts of Sukhumvit, and Ploenchit and Phiyathai roads. Another stretch of Sky train extends from central Siam Square to the Chao Praya River converging next to Shangri-la Hotel.

Tickets for Sky train range from B10 to B40, approximately between 25 to 75 cents. You can purchase individual tickets as well as monthly or yearly tickets. Ticket counter staff is conversant with English and can prove helpful too. It is best to buy a ticket for B100. You can charge up the ticket later by adding more money to this ticket. Additionally, you can recharge such tickets and save yourself the problems of queuing up at stations or even wait for changes too.

Computerized ticketing systems help you vend tickets faster albeit you should have the correct change. A normal ticket is valid for ninety minutes only. This is sufficient time for you to travel across all the stations on the route with adequate stoppages too. If you want to leave at any station, you only have to pay the difference if any in the charges. You can come across well-marked sky train stations. All stations have a range of kiosks selling everything from cell phones to coffee.

Sky train stations are often in close proximity to important hotels like Landmark, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Grand Hyatt, JW Marriott, Amari Boulevard, The Regent, Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Le Meridien President, Shangri-la, Imperial Queens Park, Novotel Siam Square, Swissotel, Novotel Bagna, Dusit Thani, Rembrandt, Novotel Lotus, Pan Pacific, and Peninsula. You have to access the station through steps only. The elevation proves to be a major problem for physically challenged people. Nevertheless, most stations have elevators. Gather prior information about such specific sky train stations from the hotel staff.

You can travel across the perimeter of Bangkok at a very reasonable cost and in a relaxed manner too. Ordinarily the journey that would take you an hour can now be over within ten minutes. It has been able to shrink the distance between places in Bangkok. Thais often address it 'as a car with fire up in the air'.

You can reach any corner of the city with the help of Sky trains. Thais are now wondering how they could manage along without them. These trains ply from 06.00 to midnight. Overall Skytrain offer a cheap, clean, fast, and efficient means of transport all over Bangkok.