Death railway from Laem Chabang for Bangkok?

[fraj1]

Has anyone visited the Death Railway from the cruise port in Laem Chabang? I travel solo so not keen on using public transport. Any recommendations ? Can find lots of yours from central Bangkok but not Laem Chabang which seems a distance away? Thanks!

[John Bull]

Laem Chabang is about 90 minutes from Bangkok (though allow at least 2 hours to get back to Laem Chabang before your back-on-board time, because Bangkok traffic is often snarled-up).

 

There's no public transport suitable for a cruiser's timescale.

Taxis available on-spec at the port are a cartel and charge up to double what you'd pay to pre-book - so check the offerings on the interweb, check for independent reviews of them, & book before you go. You'll get a better price for booking both ways, or slightly better by booking one-way & get a Bangkok hotel to fix a return taxi for you (no need to be a resident, hotels get a commission).

Six years ago, the rate for taxis at the pier was something over 4000 baht, over the internet around 2500 baht, via a Bangkok hotel 1700 baht. All one-way. Those figures will of course be out-of-date, but the ratios will doubtless be similar.

 

If your ship overnites, consider a Bangkok hotel for the night - avoids repeating that haul from L/C & gives you a lot more time, incl an evening, in Bangkok.

 

As a singleton, ship's over-priced "Bangkok on your own" may be more economical, though that does regiment your time of travel & they all seem to offer out-and-back only on the same day.

Or join your ship's RollCall & see if you can share a pre-booked minibus ("van" in American-speak) or taxi. Cheapest transfer taxis only carry three passengers.

 

Sorry, can't help with the Death Railway, other than that it's the opposite side of Bangkok from Laem Chabang. And that may make it difficult to join a tour from Bangkok - one example that I checked quoted pick-ups from Bangkok hotels 7am to 10am.

If you've not been to Bangkok before, there's plenty to interest you in the city.

 

JB :)

Edited April 10, 2016 by John Bull

[TooManyBags]

Hi the Death Railway is about 140 km out from Bangkok little over 2 hours each way add that to a similar journey time to Bangkok and you would spend a lot of time on the road for a day trip.

John Bull raises 2 good points.

Can you overnight in Bangkok?

Does the Roll call over anything of interest?

If you want to go it alone or make up your own party you could make contact with local guides for a cost and itinerary from the port or Bangkok.

Tour with Tong is popular in Bangkok, and we have taken tours with Wandee, Wandee@wandeetours.com a few times and been completely satisfied with her professional service.

Wandee like Tong is based in Bangkok but does look after cruise guests as well.