Impressions of Krung Thep Aphiwat - Bangkok's Shiny New Station

[David297]

Now that Krung Thep Aphiwat, APW (aka Bang Sue Grand Station) has been open for a few months, what do fellow travellers think of the experience of using it?

I fainted (literally) trying to get to the city centre on MRT after arriving at APW on an overnight rain from Surat Thani.  I saw the distance involved in going to the food hall for breakfast (inconveniently tucked away in one corner of the station) and reckoned it would be about a kilometre walk from breakfast to the MRT platforms (situated away from the opposite corner of the massive railway station).  So I forgot breakfast and got straight on to MRT in the rush hour. After ten minutes of excruciating standing in the packed MRT train I fainted and was wheeled to my hotel in Sukhumvit by very helpful MRT staff (they said it happens all the time)!

So I hate the size of APW, not to mention the appearance of such a vast specimen of concrete architecture, the siting of everything in the corners and not in the centre of the station where they would be far more convenient; and the long MRT ride into the city centre.  That's my jaundiced opinion!  What do others think?

[BigHewer]

4 hours ago, David297 said:

So I hate the size of APW, not to mention the appearance of such a vast specimen of concrete architecture, the siting of everything in the corners and not in the centre of the station where they would be far more convenient; and the long MRT ride into the city centre. 

That's an excellent summary David and there is actually a lot to ponder in your last paragraph. There is no doubt in my mind what the priorities were in designing the terminal building. Size and scope (shock and awe?) more important than function. From an architectural perspective, we see that wonderfully Thai trait of excessive volume space with no concept whatsoever of circulation. The result is a building with very  inefficient human movement.

Krung Thep Aphiwat supposedly has a daily capacity of 624,000 passengers, and I don't want to be there when it hits its peak if it's already heaving at 10% of that.

Same story with the BTS. Siam BTS station is the busiest in the network, with daily ridership of 40,000 to 50,000. Packed trains, lining up, marking time with the thousands escaping from the platform in rush hour. It doesn't have to be that way. 40,000 is not a large number.

I do wonder what kind of consultation process the Ministry of Transport went through when developing their concept. I wonder how many stations worldwide they visited with a daily ridership of even 200,000 or more. My guess is zero.

 

[David297]

I thought the switch from Hua Lamphong to Krung Thep Aphiwat would have attracted more comment on here; but Hey - we tried!

On 5/15/2023 at 1:59 AM, BigHewer said:

From an architectural perspective, we see that wonderfully Thai trait of excessive volume space with no concept whatsoever of circulation. The result is a building with very  inefficient human movement.

Thanks for your insight.  I've only known Thailand for 15 months so I hadn't formed any impression of its architectural traits; but I do find this interesting.

I have seen a mish-mash of different projects on the railways, from north to south, most of them only half finished.  I do wish I could be minister of railways for a day!

[KaptainRob]

On 5/26/2023 at 11:06 PM, David297 said:

I thought the switch from Hua Lamphong to Krung Thep Aphiwat would have attracted more comment on here; but Hey - we tried!

Perhaps most readers are like me and have not attempted train travel, apart from city commuter lines.  I pondered a trip between BKK and CNX once, briefly, until I read poor reviews and now having driven through that countryside I realise the scenery is nothing special.

One would hope that Thailand may eventually extend and upgrade it's rail services to compete with coach and air travel as faster, more comfortable carriages would entice people away from the alternatives.  The new KTA was planned for such expansion though I fear it could become as redundant as the Makkasan transport hub.

[David297]

18 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

The new KTA was planned for such expansion though I fear it could become as redundant as the Makkasan transport hub.

I fear you could be right about KTA.  To my mind it is absurdly far out of the centre of BKK.

There is a standard-gauge, high speed line to Laos under construction, but not finished.  If that gets completed then there will be a competitive route to Udon Thani and beyond.

The main metre-gauge routes (southern, northern and north eastern) seem to be having their single tracks upgraded to double track so that more trains can be run (but are there modern trains on the way?).  I understand that within 5 years for example the north-eastern line to Ubon Ratchathani is intended to have more and faster trains.  I think there's also an east - west railway under construction; but there seem to be so many projects on the go at once.

For our part, my girlfriend and I like to use the sleeper trains to go north or south overnight.  They're usually comfortable, and the price is reasonable compared with a hotel - you don't get breakfast but you do get to wake up hundreds of kilometres away from where you started!