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Getting from Khao San Road to the Don Mueang Airport (DMK)

  • TheNewGuy8

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    Hi all,

    I have a flight from Bangkok to Phuket tomorrow and it leaves from the old airport (DMK).

    How do I get there from Khao San Road? Is there any public option? If not how much would a tuk tuk or taxi cost me?

    Thanks all

    #1 Posted: 12/11/2010 - 17:31


  • MADMAC

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    Forget a Tuk tik Way too far for that mode of transportation. A metered taxi will cost about 150.

    #2 Posted: 12/11/2010 - 17:43

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  • TheNewGuy8

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    Thanks Madmac. That's what my hotel ended up telling me, but when I asked on the street they said 400 - now I know to always say METERED in Bangkok :) good thing i checked beforehand.

    Is there anything I need to do to make sure they don't yank me around by driving out of the way to up the meter?

    #3 Posted: 12/11/2010 - 22:25

  • sayadian

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    Pick up the taxi from Ratchadamnoem Avenue, that's the big road parallel to KS.Stay away from the KS touts.
    The vast majority of taxi drivers in Bangkok are honest and will not rip you off.
    Another option would be take a taxi to Hualamphong railway station (50baht) then hop on any ordinary train going north.DM got its own railway station and its a short walk across to the airport.

    #4 Posted: 12/11/2010 - 22:43

  • MADMAC

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    Which brings us to the next point - get away from Khao San road. It's become one big rip off.

    #5 Posted: 12/11/2010 - 23:43

  • sayadian

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    and a dangerous place for those without savvy or drink a lot.
    Funnily enough a lot of wealthy Thai kids go there now for a night out..I suppose it's a bit like visiting the zoo

    #6 Posted: 13/11/2010 - 01:38

  • MADMAC

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    Indeed - that's funny. I have to admit I find the backpacker crowd somewhat humorous to observe. It's almost as though they feel a social compulsion to conform to non-conformity. They all wear sandals or flip flops. I've yet to see an exception. They love funky hair styles. They all dress badly - usually poor imitations of Thai farmer wearing fishermans pants and funky shirts or wearing fashion challenged shorts with shirts that don't match. Zero sense of GQ. And they usually hang out with people who dress in a similar manner. Smoking is still in vogue with this crowd, or seems to be. I never see them with "local" women. If a man is in the company of a woman, it's almost always another anglo woman (although I did meet a couple of French backpackers and the guy was white and the woman black - both French though). I've never heard them talking about sports or any other "bourgeouis" topics. And when I drive by them on my chopper, I get dirty looks, like riding a chopper is a bad thing. Cracks me up.

    #7 Posted: 13/11/2010 - 12:38

  • TheNewGuy8

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    Just an update:

    i went to the metered taxi stand at the end of ko san and while the day before the woman in that booth had told me it would be about 150 baht, the new woman said (when a few taxi drivers came over) 400 baht. I needed to get to the airport at this point and i assumed they were lying so i went a street away, found a taxi and said Meter and the airport. He said it would be around 300 baht and id need to pay 50 baht additional in 'airport fee'. I looked at all the things posted in the cab that mentioned additional fees for highway tolls and whatnot and said I would pay what was on the meter and listed in the cab but nothing else and there was nothing about an airport fee at don mueng (there was a note saying if i got a cab AT an airport into the city and i got it through the airport taxi stand there was an additional 50 baht fee).

    Well sure enough when we got to the airport the toll was something like 181 baht. I paid that and a samll tip and left.

    I'm in Khao Lak now and after not even 2 months out here in SE asia I feel like if one more person yells at me for their store or stall or tuk tuk or flyer im going to crack.

    I'm not sure they realize how insanely rude that is for a westerner - or maybe just Americans? Is that not considered crazy rude in Europe? Im not judging - if thats the culture here great, more power to them. In America I can't think of a single time I've EVER been yelled at on the street to have my attention grabbed. Maybe in Time Square in NYC but other than that never.

    But I'm finding it personally quite fatiguing.

    #8 Posted: 14/11/2010 - 22:11

  • MADMAC

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    "I'm in Khao Lak now and after not even 2 months out here in SE asia I feel like if one more person yells at me for their store or stall or tuk tuk or flyer im going to crack."

    I play with it. I have learned to have fun with the hawkers and touts.

    If I get accosted by a taylor, then it's "Look at me. Do I look like the kind of guy who wears suits to you?"
    If I get accosted by some guy trying to take me to a massage place "Buddy, I don't like women, I'm into animals."

    And so on and so forth. Make a game of it and it becomes amusing.

    #9 Posted: 14/11/2010 - 22:40

  • sayadian

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    Just shake your head and say 'mae ow' it means you don't want whatever it is and by saying it in Thai they will assume you know Thailand and all the scams and leave you alone.
    If you think Thailand is bad, are you going to vietnam? They use superglue on you there so you can't shake them off.

    #10 Posted: 14/11/2010 - 22:53

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  • sayadian

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    P.S.
    Does it bother you that they yell. 'you!,you! at you?
    That is,unfortunately, because Thai has a polite form of the pronoun 'you' i.e.'coon' and they are just translating directly not realising that it sounds really rude in English whereas if I call some one by saying 'coon, coon' it is considered polite because there are a number of words for 'you' in Thai and 'coon' is probably the most polite one to use to a stranger.

    #11 Posted: 14/11/2010 - 23:00

  • MADMAC

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    Sayadian
    You made me laugh man. I think a better transliteration of the would be Khun. Coon is what some white Americans called blacks, and it wasn't a polite phrase.

    "You, you" - hear it all the time in Bangkok. Doesn't bother me though.

    The only time I got annoyed was with the guy trying to get me to go see the "go go boy" show. He just wouldn't take no for an answer.

    #12 Posted: 14/11/2010 - 23:24

  • sayadian

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    Well, Mac it just seems an easier transliteration that anyone can pronounce,sure it's got that meaning too.
    OMG I've just thought if you ARE a black American and a Thai speaks to you like that it in Thai could be an interesting confrontation.
    Ah the pitfalls of language and transliteration.Now that would be an interesting subject.

    I hear that Demi Moore and her husband have started up a NGO in Cambodia to help girls forced into prostitution called 'Joy in Cambodia.'
    Be my guest look up what JOY means in Khmer.

    #13 Posted: 15/11/2010 - 04:23

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