The moment you land at Suvarnabhumi International Airport a bit on the outskirts of Bangkok, you realise how seriously the country takes tourism. The sheer size of the airport and the efficiency with which it operates is phenomenal.
Once out of Gate 2B, we were greeted by our driver who proceeded to fetch the taxi we had booked from the parking. You already get a glimpse of the colourful taxis all over. Not to mention the beautiful Buses which are colourfully painted! Our ride arrived and to our surprise it was a Toyota Van. Our luggage was put in the boot and we entered the 8-10 seater and kicked our shoes off and sprawled out.
The van hit the 1st Stage Expressway and after flying on the elevated road for a while, I leaned over to notice we were travelling at over 120 kmph. Looking out it didn’t seem so. Anyway a elevated view of the city and breezing through various toll plaza’s we took a turn off at RAMA VI to arrive at our Hotel, The Grand Tower Inn.
Once at the reception, the first thing to do was grab another City map to compliment the one we picked up at the Airport. This one was more details and once settled in, we hit the streets and walked all the way to SIAM Centre. It’s really the best way to get to feel a new city.
Anyway thereafter on the way back we decided to use the super duper BTS Skytrain. I have to admit that the MRTS system is just too good. We got to our destination in minutes and had to pay 25 Baht each for the trip. The BTS became our staple mode of transportation to the Shopping district. Apart from the BTS and the Taxis we also used the all famous Tuk-Tuk. But here’s how it works, the BTS has fixed fares in denominations of 15-40 Baht depending on distance, the Meter Taxis have a starting fare of 35 Baht and then they keep going up per kilometer, but the Tuk-Tuk is something you have to go by sheer gut and negotiation skills. We never tried the Motorcycle taxis as the day we wanted actually get one, we could sight even one and walked back to the hotel.
A special mention of the taxi we hired for a day to get to Safari World and then to go sight seeing to Wat Po and the Grand Palace. His name was Mr. Den. Like all taxis he had his name plate in front and we confirmed that his name was in fact Mr. Den, in case we had any doubts.
Once out of Gate 2B, we were greeted by our driver who proceeded to fetch the taxi we had booked from the parking. You already get a glimpse of the colourful taxis all over. Not to mention the beautiful Buses which are colourfully painted! Our ride arrived and to our surprise it was a Toyota Van. Our luggage was put in the boot and we entered the 8-10 seater and kicked our shoes off and sprawled out.
The van hit the 1st Stage Expressway and after flying on the elevated road for a while, I leaned over to notice we were travelling at over 120 kmph. Looking out it didn’t seem so. Anyway a elevated view of the city and breezing through various toll plaza’s we took a turn off at RAMA VI to arrive at our Hotel, The Grand Tower Inn.
Once at the reception, the first thing to do was grab another City map to compliment the one we picked up at the Airport. This one was more details and once settled in, we hit the streets and walked all the way to SIAM Centre. It’s really the best way to get to feel a new city.
Anyway thereafter on the way back we decided to use the super duper BTS Skytrain. I have to admit that the MRTS system is just too good. We got to our destination in minutes and had to pay 25 Baht each for the trip. The BTS became our staple mode of transportation to the Shopping district. Apart from the BTS and the Taxis we also used the all famous Tuk-Tuk. But here’s how it works, the BTS has fixed fares in denominations of 15-40 Baht depending on distance, the Meter Taxis have a starting fare of 35 Baht and then they keep going up per kilometer, but the Tuk-Tuk is something you have to go by sheer gut and negotiation skills. We never tried the Motorcycle taxis as the day we wanted actually get one, we could sight even one and walked back to the hotel.
A special mention of the taxi we hired for a day to get to Safari World and then to go sight seeing to Wat Po and the Grand Palace. His name was Mr. Den. Like all taxis he had his name plate in front and we confirmed that his name was in fact Mr. Den, in case we had any doubts.
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