This weekend was an exciting for Bangkok, because the new Subway finally opened. After seeing the stations almost every day for a year, I was finally able to go down and ride a train.

I wanted to go look at TV’s on Sunday, so I took the Skytrain to the Asok station, then went down into the Sukhumvit subway station, which is right there. The place was crowded with excited Thai families, taking advantage of the special low price of 10 baht (25 cents) to ride as far as you want. The lines were long, and the trains were packed, but I rode all the way to the end, popped out to see where I was, then back to the Pahanyothin station to go look at TV’s at Central Ladprao.

The stations are deep, two or three stories underground. And, unlike the cramped Skytrain platform, they are massive. They are also glisteningly clean, empty, and peaceful. I imagine this will change once the company with the exclusive contract to provide advertising, which, by total coincidence, just happens to be owned by the Prime Minister’s son, fills the stations with speakers and monitors.

The platforms are like the Singapore Metro, with glass doors blocking off the tunnel. The trains are the same as the models used on the Skytrain. But for some strange reason, there are hardly any rails on the ceiling to hang onto, making it difficult to keep your balance on the packed trains. They also have an automated station announcement, complete with a “mind the gap” warming, like the London Underground. This is better than the Skytrain, where the driver announces each station in an inaudible voice.

The trains seem fast and loud, but I think this is an illusion created by the enclosed space. They can’t be that fast, because it takes a long time to get from station to station. And since it’s underground, once the novelty wears off in about 30 seconds, it is a very long, boring ride.

Overall, the new Subway does its job very well. Unfortunately, it has one fatal flaw: it doesn’t actually go anywhere. I’m not sure what they were thinking when they designed the route. The terminal station at Bang Sue is in the middle of nowhere, except for a little train station that nobody uses. Then it actually runs parallel to the Skytrain route for two stops. The Pahayothin station is slightly useful, as it takes you beyond the infinitely complex lad Prao intersection, getting you closer to the Central Lad Prao and Tesco/Lotus Malls. I would have used this station to ride all the way to Silom if it were running when I lived in my first apartment.

The other terminal station is the Hue Lampong railway station. I’m sure I’ll take a train trip in the future, so now I can get all the way to the train using public transportation. But on normal days I would never go here.

For me, the only useful station is the confusingly named Pra Ram 9 (known in English everywhere else as Rama 9). This is were my bank is. In Thailand, where nothing involving money is easy, if you have to go to a bank, to cash a check, for instance, you have to go to your original branch. My original branch is in the Fortune Town mall (Foe-toon-taa if you want the taxi driver to understand you), a 50 baht motorcycle ride up Asoke.

The other good thing about this stop is the IT Mall there. Not only is it convenient, unlike the 15 minute walk Pantip Plaza requires from the Skytrain, it is actually a good mall. The Police have killed Pantip with their constant crackdowns, and now only the dodgy “dirty movie” guys remain. But IT Mall has store after store with pirated software proudly on display. And not a “dirty movie” guy in sight. I’ll be back.

Strangely, the Prime Minister wants the government to buy the Skytrain and Subway. This flies in the face of his privatize-or-else policy, where he sells state enterprises even when nobody thinks it’s a good idea, just so he can make a quick baht on the stock market. Perhaps after nationalizing these systems, he will sell them to the company owned by his son. Just by coincidence, of course.