Sawadee Krup, Bangkok!
24 July 2011. We will take off to Bangkok for our inaugural visit to the land of the white elephant. Our FD3572 flight will only depart at 10.45am from LCCT, but we are already there at the airport as early as eight. It is Sunday, throngs of people would be leaving or entering the airport so we thought it is better to be early to avoid the traffic.
Waiting for our AirAsia FD3572 flight to Bangkok at Gate T10.
One and half hours later, 35,000 ft above the sea. We are almost there. Pray for our safe landing.
Our breakfast of the day, nasi lemak. This is the last portion of the in-flight meal that I manage to grab, a typical of being in very early or very late flight. I should remind myself to pre-book my meal before boarding. Miss the lasagna though.. sigh *__*
Flying above Bangkok.
The plane make a sharp turn towards Suvarnabumi airport, bypassing the squares of green.
A glimpse of Bangkok from the above.
Suvarnabumi at last! TOA is 1145hr local time, an hour late from Kuala Lumpur.
From the landing bay, we transit to the main arrival gate by the airport shuttle (which is quite a resemblance of our own RapidKL).
Sawadee Krup, Bangkok! Or should we say “Sawadee Krup Krungthep Mahanakorn Boworn Rattanakosin Mahintharayuttha Mahadilokpop Noparatratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniveymahasathan Amornpiman Avatransathit Sakkathattiay-avisnukarmprasit” which means ” Greetings to Great city of angels; the repository of divine gems; the great land unconquerable; the grand and prominent realm; the royal and delightful capital full of nine noble gems; the highest royal dwelling and grand palace; the divine shelter and living place of reincarnated spirits”? That is Bangkok’s other name, the longest in the world as recognized by the Guinesss Book of Records. To say it in one breath could be fun :)
We gag over the spartan interior of the airport complex. Definitely huge and complicated.
Huge enough to accomodate all those incoming airliners.
Pass immigration, we head to the arrival hall, looking for any signage towards the CityLink train station.
There are a few options to get to the city from the airport – by buses, taxis and train. We opt for the fastest, easiest and cheapest – the train. The airport train interconnects with BTS Skytrain (Bangkok Transit System) and MRT (Mass Rapid Transport), and since our pre-book hostel is nearby one, thus it will make a straightforward journey.
We purchase the City Line ticket from the machine for BHT45 one way to Makassan Station. That is equivalent to roughly RM4.50. Another link to the city is via the Express Line, which make less stops and cost higher (about BHT150) and runs every 30 minutes.
In the train towards the city.
We exit at Makassan Station and walk towards the Petchaburi Station for the MRT. You could either stops at Makassan or Phaya Thai Station which is the end of the line and interconnects with BTS.
Walking to the nearby Petchaburi MRT to our hostel in Rama IV Road.
From Petchaburi, we take train to Sam Yan station and walk a bit towards Silom. We will be staying at Take-a-nap, a boutique hostel in Rama IV Road. We opt for this one as it sits in between walking distance to both BTS (Silom) and MRT (Sam Yan). Moreover it also serves halal breakfast; and being a shoestring traveller in a country that halal food is hard to find, that is indeed very good enough.
Our room for BHT800 per night. Nothing much, but yet simple, nice and cozy.
>> Next: Chatuchak Market and MBK Mall.
