Experience life like the locals! (Train travel in Thailand.) (State Railway of Thailand)

Member Name: Holidaying

Product:	State Railway of Thailand
Date:	22/12/08 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comofortable, clean trains with good food available.

Disadvantages: Long delays, toilets to be avoided if possible.

Having recently holidayed in Thailand I thought that I would write about the railway system there, as I was browsing the Travel sections looking for inspiration.

I made a few jounryes in Thailand on the trains, feeling that they are generally safer than buses, because of the terrible way that people drive there!

Most of my trips originated in Bangkok's Hualamphong train station (easily reached by taxi or tuk tuk, but mostly cheaply reached by MRT, ie the Underground!), a station with severl platforms, plenty of places to buy food and drinks, and, most importantly, helpful English-speaking staff!

Disappointingly, every train journey I made in Thailand was late leaving, accrued other delays, and was also, therefore, late arriving. The delays were in the region of one to three hours if I remember rightly.

There are different classes of train travel in Thaialnd, rangind from two types of sleeper, through to second and third calss. On some journeys you do not get a choice, and though you may be happy sleeping upright in a chair to make the trip cheap, the train you're on might only have sleeper 'seats', in whcih case you have to pay more for a bed. I travelled in both sleeper classes and in third class, and I have to say that they were all more than satisfactory- the trains were clean, the seats and beds comfortable, and the windows open!

On overnight journeys, it is possible to order food on the train. In fact, I felt almost obliged to (although you are not). The food is cheap, at about three or four pounds per meal, and it arrives hot and fresh. I had a Thai dish the two times that I ordered food, called Pad Thai, and it was tasty and filling.

The staff on the trains were polite, and made sure that I knew where to get off, but beyond that I rarely saw them and had no cause to seek their help.

The only other thing that I would mention are the toilets. They are usually squat toilets, and they are not usually clean. The floor tends to be wet.

Overall, train travel in Thailand is an experience!

Summary: Recommended for the experience value!