A Grand Day Out

When you talk to people about the historic Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok, most will raise an eyebrow, smile knowingly and say how wonderful it all once was. They refer of course to when Bangkok Station was the main rail terminal for the city more than 100 years before the modern Krung Thep Aphiwat Station was opened. Progress has come at a price to those who miss the old fashioned grandeur, but all is not lost. In fact there is a new chapter in the history of Bangkok and its railways, and it’s a rather good one.

There is only one problem. You need to get out of bed early on a weekend morning to see it. Arrive after 9am and you will find a peaceful ghost station with a few local trains and some well preserved locomotives from old Siam. But turn your watch back to six or seven am and things are rather different. An unusual mix of trains with all sorts of different carriages line the platforms. These are the ‘excursion trains’, surrounded by hundreds of Bangkokians preparing for a grand day out on the rails.
Thailand has pulled a rabbit out of the hat and created something truly great. Rail tourism for all. Trains to the beach for the day or the weekend, trains to well known tourist destinations, steam train trips, gourmet trips. Something for everyone, and at a range of budgets.

It’s only a 10 minute ride in a cab from my hotel in Bang Rak, and as I pull up outside I can sense the collective excitement of other passengers doing the same thing. I don’t spot any buckets or spades, but Hua Lamphong is now a kind of a ‘bucket & spade’ railway station. The long distance express trains may no longer be here, but there is still a feel of adventure about the place. The departures board now has some unusual train numbers and in the soft light of after dawn passengers check their tickets and find the right train.

Friday is a public holiday in Thailand. It’s Father’s Day, and the birthday of the old king, famous for his love of the railway. To mark the occasion a steam train will take us to Chachoengsao for the day. Up front are two steam locomotives and a group of happy staff from the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). After a parade and much ringing of bells, the loco blows its whistle, a cloud of smoke envelopes the platform and we are off. People are lined along the track for several miles, and much waving is the order of the day.

The only problem with being a passenger on a steam train is that you can’t see the spectacle for yourself. The sight of vintage locos pulling the train is hidden from you, reserved just for the onlookers to admire. But onboard there is quiet satisfaction in knowing that you are being hauled by something special. It takes half an hour just to navigate the stops and crossing points in the city and our speed is slow, but that doesn’t matter. You can smile and wave out of an open window imagining you are an extra in The Railway Children or a Harry Potter film. On the line next to us a diesel locomotive escorts us, pulling a water bowser to resupply our boiler along the way.
Chachoengsao isn’t the most charismatic place in Thailand, but there is pretty river, a decent market and some good coffee shops to spend a few hours in before the return journey. After a long day out, the train arrives back in the early evening. Close to Hua Lamphong is Chinatown, perfect for a couple of cold beers and something interesting to eat to round off the day’s adventure.

Saturday is an even earlier start, and one of two excursion trains to Pa Sal Josalid dam, known as ‘the floating train’ owing to the appearance of it sailing along with seasonally high water levels either side of a long causeway. I’m on the cheaper of the two at 620 baht (£15) for a full day’s itinerary. This one is made up of all sorts of different carriages, and I’m in a ‘red’ one towards the middle of the train. This is Thai rail jargon for an ex Japanese second class sleeper coach, which makes for a comfortable daytime experience with semi private booths for every four passengers. The three hour journey to the dam fly by, and before long we stop in the middle of the reservoir at an ungainly angle to take photographs of our strange predicament on a camber. For me it’s a struggle to jump down onto the concrete from the height of the carriage. That’s probably why the train is equipped with lifebelts – better to be safe than sorry..

I get to enjoy some sightseeing and a good lunch with my rail family friends Philip, Richard and Kawao before it’s time to get back aboard.

I would commend these trains to you, and also some of the other options, like the more luxurious Royal Blossom train which includes sumptuous on board catering on its day trips. You can book them all in the normal way from the SRT website, but they tend to sell out as soon as they go on sale.

It would be great if dates were published a long way in advance, but sadly the SRT isn’t doing this to promote international rail tourism (yet). These trips are aimed mostly at Bankokians. But credit where credit is due, they provide a great excuse to use Hua Lamphong, to escape the steaming hot city, and to drive tourist dollars to places that need more visitors.

If you need more information on the routes, dates and prices I recommend you follow Richard Barrow’s Thai Train Guide

Many thanks to Philip S, Kawao & Richard Barrow with photographic assistance on this blog.