Originally Posted by
transpac
had I only had a carry-on I might have been tempted to try the train.
To get to Silom you'd have to take SARL from the airport to Phaya Thai, then the Skytrain (Sukhumvit Line in-bound towards Bearing/Samrong) to Siam, then change to another Skytrain line (Silom Line outbound towards Bang Wa). I guess Surasak is the closest BTS station to the Holiday Inn/Silom, so you've still got a pretty long schlep (close to 1 Km) on uneven footpaths.
While there are escalators (up mostly, stairs down), and elevators (newer, hard to locate sometimes), you'll be doing some heavy lifting. Add to that very crowded trains, and queuing for change and tickets (2x) and generally navigating, a taxi might be the better option (260 on the meter, 50 surcharge, ~100 tolls, so ~ 400 all in)?
Ouch! Ive trained it in many a country and it wasnt nearly as bad, from what you posted BKK would be a royal pita, I just enjoy public transport when ever its doable especially when its very expensive to go by cab