The first row of photos was taken at the Phrom Phrong BTS Station. BTS, or SkyTrain as it is affectionately known, glides above the busy streets of Bangkok, allowing public transit users to ignore the city’s world-class traffic. 

The second row was taken at the Sukhumvit MRT (subway) station, which goes many places the BTS does not. (Including the classic century and a quarter old Hua Lamphong train station, which will be covered in a few days.)

COVID has greatly reduced the crowds, especially foreigners, but even when crowded, it’s no problem, as people are orderly and polite. When I was a New York City straphanger, as subway users were known, I felt I had developed skills that would have made me a football fullback if I were only  somewhat larger.

The existence of such wonderful public transit allowed me to explore this huge city and soak it up in ways I would never have done otherwise. 

Both the BTS and MRT are thoroughly clean in the trains and in the stations, the latter filled with stands and shops rivaling the streets or even some malls, and both systems are absolutely safe. And yes, of course  they are air conditioned. For foreign visitors, they are amazingly inexpensive. They connect with each other at several junctures, as well as with the AirLink train and all commuter trains as well. I find Bangkok’s public transit system superior to any I’ve seen elsewhere. I realize this is a matter of opinion, and that’s mine.

I am a regular user of motorcycle taxis for short runs or real hurries, but that’s a separate story. 

Surprisingly, neither the BTS nor the MRT have been prominently featured in any of my three NJA novels. Glenn often comments how nice it is to have them, and he took BTS once in Bangkok Shadows and the MRT once in Bangkok Blues. There are some detailed scenes of the Hua Lamphong train station in Bangkok Whispers and of  Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok Whispers and Bangkok Blues, but I’ve definitely shortchanged the two public transit systems I use so often and love so much. I promise to rectify this situation in the fourth NJA Novel, which is already calling out to me to be written.

All photos by Stephen Shaiken