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I was telling you last night about the first railway in Thailand that was built in 1893 and ran from Paknam Market to Bangkok. I was saying that what a shame it was that it had been pulled up. Even though we are not far from Bangkok I don't often go there because of the bad traffic. The nearest sky train station is 30-45 minutes away by car. I often wished that they had brought it nearer to us so that it could have been much easier for us to travel into Bangkok. For several years now there have been empty promises of extensions to first Samrong and then all the way to Samut Prakan. Now it would seem that there is a higher chance of this moving forward within the next 6 years.
According to a recent seminar, there will be two extensions south on the sky train line from On Nut. The second extension will start at the giant three headed elephant at the Erawan Museum and pass by the city hall in Samut Prakan and end up at the entrance to Wat Askoram. In the map I drew above, my house is right between E18 and E19. It will probably be a ten minute walk to the station at City Hall. From there it should be less than an hour into central Bangkok. This will change things greatly for people living in Samut Prakan.
I for one would visit Bangkok a lot more. Especially as they are planning on extending the sky train in other directions too. It will also make it easier for people living in Samut Prakan to commute to jobs in the city and then come back in the evening. In return, Bangkokians and tourists will find it quicker and simpler to come and visit our province. It will open so many opportunities for the future. Of course, it will also greatly increase the price of land. Everything around here will become much more expensive over the coming years.
This would be a good time to start buying property in Samut Prakan. Especially if you can buy some land near one of the planned sky train stations. Of course, you would have to hope that they won't move any of the stations! At present, there are no decent hotels in Paknam. I reckon this will change over the coming years. It has always been my dream to start a guesthouse here. I know there aren't too many tourist attractions in Samut Prakan, but I have many ideas of creating points of interest. For example cookery classes, language courses and river tours. You never know, if I am the first, I could be the person responsible for creating the Paknam version of Khao San Road!
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