I agree with all of your observations.Gaybutton wrote: ↑Sun Aug 03, 2025 6:33 am Still talking about it. Maybe within the next century or two they may actually start building it. The proposed routes, at the end of the article, are good, but not far reaching enough. None of the routes cover some of the most congested areas such as Pattaya Tai and Pattaya Klang. None of the routes go to Jomtien. None of the routes run along Sukhumvit or have stations anywhere near "The Dark Side"
In my opinion, just as important, there ought to be established parking areas for cars coming in from Bangkok, especially on holidays, before traffic reaches the city, and monorail stops to accommodate them - with enough cars for the numbers of people and short waits for the next set of monorail cars - 5 minutes max.
But at least they're planning something. I'll believe it's really going to happen if and when they finally break ground to build it.
However, even if they build something, it doesn't necessarily mean there will be a useful service.
Look at the vast amounts of concrete poured into dual track and separate high speed rail projects.
To be fair, high speed is a work in progress, however large sections of the dual track lines are complete, but I've yet to see any material improvement in the rail service.
Rail line upgrades ought to enable train speeds consistently above 100 mph and an increased train frequency. At that point, trains could become really competitive and start taking market share from the buses.
Yet none of that has happened. They still have ancient rolling stock, modest speeds and an infrequent service.
I see a material deterioration in the service as they have moved some services from Hua Lamphong to Bang Sue.
The electric railway to DMK ought to be an improvement. It's fairly fast. However, the stations at both ends are stupidly located, so add in the walk and it's still faster to take the bus to DMK.
I do use the BKK airport rail link. But the fast express service was discontinued years ago. Stations like Makkasan are hideously oversized. What they should have is modest sized stations, located right next to skytrain and MRT stations & an interval between trains of no more than 5 minutes.
So there is plenty of scope to foul up whatever they build.
