Saturday, December 30, 2023
A daytime train ride to Bangkok

In a recent blog post, I walked east of the old Chiang Mai city out to the Chiang Mai Railway Station. That gave me the idea of making a daytime train ride to Bangkok again to really see the country. When flying, not much is seen.

I traveled by train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on my second yoga-focused trip to Thailand in 2013. The train is not fast like those I have ridden in France and Spain – the 755 kilometer (470 mile) trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the fastest, express train takes about 10-1/2 hours (and is often late). Fast or not, that trip left a lasting impression. I recall that after leaving the outskirts of Bangkok, for hour after hour, as far as I could see from both sides of the train were rice fields and occasionally other farm crops. Then, after the approximate halfway point at Phitsanulok, a couple hours through a very dense jungle, coming right up to the train, almost like going through a tunnel. Then more rice fields and finally the outskirts of Lamphun and then Chiang Mai.

The Adventure Decision

Not having either yoga or strength training on Saturday, in a bit of a last-minute “why not go for it” decision, I booked a seat on the daytime train leaving Chiang Mai at 8:50 AM arriving at Don Mueang Airport on the outskirts of Bangkok at 6:40 PM. I also booked the last flight of the day on Thai AirAsia from Don Mueang to Chiang Mai leaving Don Mueang at 9:15 PM and arriving in Chiang Mai at 10:30 PM. Don Mueang is Bangkok’s older airport, having been replaced with the newer Suvarnabhumi Airport in September 2006. Since then, Don Mueang has been completely remodeled, upgraded, and is now used primarily for cargo and domestic flights. And, as I recall, there was always a train station adjacent to the airport. The train station and the walkway from the train station to the airport have also been upgraded. In my situation, if the train is more than 2 hours late, I’ll have to find a place to stay near the airport, change my flight to the next morning, and fly back to Chiang Mai in the morning. This will be an adventure.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

I’m hoping that this adventure does not become a series of challenges as took place in the 1987 John Candy/Steve Martin film “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles.” If all goes well, I will be on all three on the same day. First I need a train ticket. I used “The Man in Seat 61” or Seat61.com again, just as I did 11 years ago when I took the train to Chiang Mai from Bangkok. This is a very good site for planning train travel in Europe and Asia. From Seat 61, to buy tickets for the State Railway of Thailand, you are directed to 12Go.asia. It was not difficult to actually buy the ticket, it was 553 Baht for the ticket and a total of 90 Baht in service charges, for a grand total of 643 Baht (about $20). Then the process is that they send a confirmation and you must get an actual paper ticket to have on the train. In Chiang Mai, there are two locations to get the actual ticket: 1) the baggage area of the Chiang Mai Railway Station for 150 Baht, or 2) the Bossotel Hotel for 70 Baht. I opted for the Bossotel Hotel because it was right across from the railway station, and it is more likely that they speak English. I went there and told the lady at the front desk what I wanted. She asked to see my confirmation which I showed her. She told me that what I had was the actual ticket and that if I forwarded it to her, she would print it for me. I forwarded it to the Bossotel’s e-mail, and she printed it and handed it to me, refusing to accept any money. So I have a train ticket for train 8, car 2/1 seat 41.

Booking a flight from Don Mueang to Chiang Mai was easy. I often use Expedia.Com, and was able to book a seat on the last Don Mueang-to-Chiang Mai flight of the day leaving at 9:15 PM. The cost was more than the train, about $70.

Riding the Train

When I took the train 11 years ago, there were a total of 3 people (including me) in the train car. I was told by several Thai people that the train I was taking just before New Year’s Day would be crowded if not completely full. They were right – the train was full. When I got to the platform, we were all directed to get on board, and I could not wander down the platform to photograph the train. So I got on board and found my seat (I can follow directions). These coach cars are divided into two sections each with 42 seats. I was in car 2, section 1, “2/1” on my ticket. My seat was on the aisle. The man in the window seat next to me spoke almost no English. And, the window was a bit dirty on the outside. The equipment on this train is old, probably 35 years or more, pretty clean inside, but definitely worn and showing its age. With several high-speed rail projects underway in Thailand, this northern line (Bangkok to Chiang Mai) will be replaced in five years, so the equipment in use now is probably going to be in use for five more years at least (five years if the northern line high-speed project is completed on time). Currently, the fastest Bangkok to Chiang Mai train (the train I’m on) operates up to 120 kilometers per hour (about 74 mph). The high-speed replacement will operate up to 300 kilometers per hour (185 miles per hour).

Moving Down the Line

We left Chiang Mai exactly on time. And as I said, the train was 100% full. So there would be little opportunity to photograph what I saw out the window. Some of the windows looked very clean, but I was not going to rudely lean over two people to try to get a photograph. Also, the train was moving very fast, so it would be a challenge to get a good photograph out the window.

For the first part of the trip, we were going through mostly farmland. Then came the town of Lamphun (population ~20,000), the capital of Lamphun Province (Thailand has 77 provinces). Leaving Lamphun, it was back into farmland. A couple of hours later, the train was in a fairly dense jungle with the vegetation coming very close to the tracks, almost, as I have said, like going through a tunnel of jungle or a very narrow jungle valley.

The man next to me got off at a station before Phitsanulok, about halfway into the trip. For a couple of hours, I was able to move over and try to get a few shots out the window. What I saw was vast, expansive rice fields on both sides of the train, just like 11 years ago. Quite an impressive sight.

Occasionally we passed a village, and sometimes I saw a Buddhist temple. It all went by so quickly, that I only got one shot of a temple, a little blurry, as I had to react quickly.

Then more and more rice fields and other crops, mostly rice fields.

We were moving along quite fast. When we left Phitsanulok almost exactly on time, I was encouraged that I might really make the train-plane connection.

At a stop before Lopburi, another man took the vacated seat. He also spoke little English and was a bit more friendly than the first man. He told me he was getting off at Don Mueang, and that I would probably make my scheduled flight. He said the walkway from the train station to the actual airport was well-signed and did not require going down to street level.

I did see quite a bit of construction at the stations we passed since Phitsanulok. It appears that the construction of the first part of the high-speed northern line, from Bangkok to Phitsanulok, is underway. What I saw mostly was the higher platforms used for high-speed trains were under construction at many stations.

By Lopburi, the train was almost 30 minutes behind schedule, leaving at 6:00 PM instead of 5:30 PM. As we progressed, that 30 minutes grew to 45 minutes at Ayutthaya, and we arrived at Don Mueang about 55 minutes late at 7:35 PM. I still have plenty of time to make my flight.

Arrival at Don Mueang

The walk over to Don Mueang Airport was well-signed and an easy walk, about 300 or so meters. Having only a backpack with a few items in case I had to stay overnight, I used the self-check-in at the Thai AirAsia counters and was at the gate area 30 minutes before boarding Thai AirAsia flight 3429 to Chiang Mai. I had been assigned seat 31C. Odd, interesting, or fortuitous, 31C is the same seat I had on my Korean Air flights from Los Angeles to Incheon and Incheon to Bangkok. I also have reserved 31C on Korean Air from Chiang Mai to Incheon and Incheon to Los Angeles.

The Thai AirAsia flight was also 100% full and on this Airbus A320-200, 31C is the aisle seat in the very last row. Not my favorite location, but I’m on the plane for only 70 minutes. We took off and landed on time. Even though the de-boarding was slow, I was back at The 3-Sis by 11:00 PM, 15-1/2 hours after I left.

An interesting day. Would I do it again Probably not. The landscape was much the same as what I had remembered from 11 years ago, and it was a long day sitting and sitting and sitting in semi-forced solitude. I’m not unhappy that I took the trip – it was an adventure and a break from the normal days in Chiang Mai.

For another adventure outside Chiang Mai, Lamphun might be a good place to spend a day checking out some historic temples and the old city wall (Lamphun was also once a walled city, even though it does not have the prefix “Chiang” in its name). Lamphun is only about 35 kilometers from Chiang Mai. For part of history Lamphun instead of Chiang Mai was the capital of Lanna, the kingdom that was what is now northern Thailand and Laos before being merged with Siam in the late 1800s to become what is now Thailand.

Next: New Year’s Day Celebrations