Discover Thailand by rail

Posted by admin on March 16th, 2008 filed in Day trips

Probably we Westerners appreciate the rail service a lot more than most of the Thais do. The locals in Thailand consider travelling by train prehistoric. Well, I have to admit it, some of the operating trains in Thailand actually are!

Should you have plans travelling across the “land of smiles”, it is truly a must to at least once, experiencing the adventure of choo-chooing along the Thai railway. You could for example take the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the northern part of the country. Compared with the VIP overnight bus, the train needs much more time to complete the voyage. However, the train offers you a journey without having to suffer from below-zero air-conditioning and the annoying blaring sound of awfully bad B-movies.

On the contrary! The time spend in the train might be really fun as the coach is equipped with a groovy restaurant while you also have the option meeting friendly locals, play a game of cards with fellow travellers or just chill-out and have a nice ice-cold Thai beer.

Isn’t it cool! Not awakening in the early morning to the view of a bumpy highway while passing by one petrol station after the other but you’ll be appreciating a spectacular sunrise from the Thai countryside’s heart. If the northern part of the country isn’t exactly your cup of tea, take a trip to Isaan (Thailand’s north eastern rural region), which undoubtedly offers one of Thailand’s finest journeys by rail: Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima) to Ubol Ratchathani.

Inside the overnight train

OK, the train does follow its way at extremely slow speeds but breaking up the voyage by spending some time in the chilling provincial towns of Si Sa Ket, Buri Ram and Surin will enrich your travel experience! It is an awesome trip, on which you may enjoy the booming company of kind locals, who will usually invite you to join a mouth-watering on-the-spot picnic of sticky rice, somtam (papaya salad) and kai yang (grilled chicken) You might even learn some Isaan or Khmer words.

If after reading this you might have become enthusiastic, the longest available Bangkok to Penang (Malaysia) International Express route offers a 21-hour lasting voyage to remember!

Railway coaches in Thailand offer three different classes. The non air-conditioned third-class is only facilitated with seats. The second-class offers sleeper and seat options with both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned versions. The overnight trains’ coaches are equipped with air-conditioned sleeper versions. Bangkok train timetable

The majority of the trains operate from the main Hualamphong Railway Station in Bangkok. Services to Kanchanaburi depart from Thon Buri railway station, which is located across the River Chao Phraya. State Railway of Thailand