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.

The biggest rail problem for me are the timings of the trains from Bangkok. The rather uncomfortable diesel rail cars can make the journey about an hour quicker than this time last year, but it’s an early start or a late finish. How can you persuade tourists to leave their hotel, taxi to the station, wait for their train, get their luggage onto the train, and find a taxi at Hua Hin station when a trip by road is about half the time and there is no issue with luggage? This needs sorting out as well if the run between Bangkok and Hua Hin can become better utilised. If you are headed back to Bangkok and don’t mind an early start the overnight trains from Hat Yai can be good, but be prepared for delays.

Life in Hua Hin is slow and relaxing, and I have quickly settled into a routine of train talks, massages and sessions of ice cold beer. Heaven!

My journey to Vientiane starts at Bangkok’s now one year old Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal Station. If you haven’t tried it yet it’s like an airport terminal but without any lounges or retail therapy whatsoever. The system works though. You form an orderly queue at a zone number and about 20 minutes before departure an announcement is made and the newly installed e-gates are opened. Monks first, then everyone else, a rag tag army, behind. It’s an escalator up to the platform – or a lift if you have as much luggage as I do.

Ready to depart on platform 2 is Special Express 25, one of the modern Chinese built trains, and the good news is that I have managed to book a first class cabin all to myself using the SRT app. You can now do this 180 days prior to departure for long distance trains, although I heard a rumour that it might get shortened again. Carriage 13 (the single first class sleeper) by protocol is at the rear of the train leaving Bangkok. The departure time is after 20.00, so my guard has already made up the beds. He’s a grand wizard at this – the sheet is drum tight and creaseless.

The overnight journey up to the border at Nong Khai is effortless, and I enjoy a Penang curry served in my room from the restaurant carriage. Sleep didn’t come too easily, but that was about jet lag rather than comfort. The pads they put on the beds are excellent – far better than on an airline in business class.

Arrival the following morning is on time at 6.28 am. I know this as it gave me just 2 minutes to disembark and get out my phone & credit card ready for the opening of the LCR railway ticket release for 3 days time. This is like trying to get a ticket for Glastonbury, but for trains. With my Thai telephone number all set up on the app it took me just a minute to book and pay – and I’m rewarded with seat 1A in the business class carriage. I am now the Richard Burton of Chinese trains – his seat on Concorde if you ever heard the stories.

The snag here at Nong Khai is that I’m going to change to the train running behind me, Express 133. This one goes all the way from Bangkok to Vientiane (Khamsavath), but that’s a bit of a con, as you still have to get off to do the Thai exit border formalities, and it’s not nearly as comfy as my train. Rail wisdom says get here earlier and change. But it’s 90 minutes late despite just following the route of my on time train. No worries. I wait with the soi dogs and a scattering of backpackers until I’m invited by the security man to proceed to immigration.

Eventually we get underway. Only 5 carriages of train 133 cross the border, pulled by a spotless but old local GE locomotive. A brief ticket inspection as we cross the mighty Mekong and we pull into Khamsavath station in about 30 minutes, where visa paperwork is handed out like confetti. It’s not hugely organised, but as a Western farang I get to wait in shorter queue. All goes well until the $20 bills I present are deemed not crisp enough. I find some more, also rejected, and with one more throw of the dice find two bills that finally pass the ‘just printed’ test. From here it’s just a bumpy 30 minute tuk tuk ride into Vientiane and the civility of a nice hotel room in a charming city.

This is a straightforward trip and a great way to connect two amazing SE Asian cities. I totally recommend it. Do take train 25 to the border until train 133 is upgraded – or maybe they will extend train 25 to run all the way to Vientiane one day..

My next leg is onward to Luang Prabang on the Laos China Railway in a few days time.

There are many other reasons to visit than the steam trains of course. It’s a beautiful place and one of my favourite train journeys out of Bangkok. I nearly missed my train this time – an hour and half in a taxi with a driver who had no idea where Thonburi station was. But I made it with a few seconds to spare, bundling my big bag up into the carriage with superhuman adrenaline pumped strength.

My HQ on the banks of the Kwae Yai was the perfect peaceful location for a week of trains and relaxation. With a copy of the railway timetable and the show timetable I was able to organise my days between relaxing by a lovely pool, drinking cold beer in the mad heat of the day and even taking a few train trips.

Of course I’d been up to Nam Tok before, so this time tried a few others stops on the line.

The oldest of the Thai (ex Japanese) steam trains usually run up here for steam week, but this year they were declared unserviceable, so the slightly newer (1949-51) Pacific locos were sent up in their place. Thailand is lucky to have five working steam engines.

The evening shows are popular and they are also free. Much effort has gone into telling a story of a local Thai hero amidst the backdrop of Japanese occupation. But the acting is upstaged by the lighting and fireworks, culminating in the steam train being blown up on the bridge. You can also visit the pair of locos at the station in nearby Kanchanaburi.

Richard Barrow joined me at the weekend, and we were able to use his car to get to a few places that would have been hard by just rail. There are not many trains, so travelling on one means it’s not possible to get a photo at the scenic spots.

But all was fixed by Richard with some extensive pre trip research and Google maps. This also allowed me to reach the end of the line at Sai Yok without use of the excursion train, the only one that can travel this far – the DMU does not need to change ends like the other ‘ordinary’ and local trains.

The week flew by and I was sad to leave. It’s definitely on my list again for the next time I am in Thailand. Even without steam week it’s a wonderful place to travel by train.

I have to confess to flying down to Singapore, and after an interesting night in Chinatown I met up with my travel partner for this adventure, Richard Barrow. Richard was an indispensable part of the trip as he managed to get nearly all the tickets in advance.

In a strange feature of international relations, Singapore did not own or operate its own railway. The two stations on the island were operated by KTM, the Malaysian railway until 2011. Today the two historic stations of Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar are preserved, but no longer operational. The challenge at the start of this journey is leaving Singapore. Today there is no direct train service, you have to get a five minute shuttle train from Woodlands across the causeway to JB Town (Johor Bahru). This isn’t as easy as might be, as it is busy and gets sold out, so you have to buy tickets well in advance.

Downtown JB is a bit of a building site at the moment as a new MRT is being built in the city, and one day a line extension will run over to Singapore. Alongside the new station we found the old one and a few interesting trains on the platform.

A few cold beers, another early start and we were off. A train first to sleepy Gemas and a connection two hours later to Kuala Lumpur where we overnighted. A chance to meet local train author David Bowden here as well.

The next morning a platinum service train took us to Butterworth where we took the ferry over to Penang for a relaxing day. Georgetown is home to one of the original grand hotels, the E&O, set up by the legendary Sarkies brothers. It was declared the best hotel east of Suez in the 1920’s.

Here I met with local travel blogger Ian Pash, and we spent a fun evening visiting some local watering holes, not all paying tax on their beer..

Back at Butterworth the following day we took a local train up to the border at Pedang Besar and waited for the crossing to open. Things are slowly getting back to some normality after COVID, and it is now possible to get onto a sleeper carriage here – one that is connected onto another train at Hat Yai. The sleeper was one of the older Korean carriages, now a little past its best, but once the air con was fixed we settled down to a reasonably cozy night heading north, albeit one without any cold beer, but lots of famous local fried chicken.

After a spectacular sunrise around Hua Hin (80 minutes late here) we arrived at Bangkok’s KTW station on time the next day at just after noon. This journey will be getting several hours faster in just a couple of weeks time as the new double tracked line will open from Bangkok most of the way to Hat Yai.

The journey with stops overnight in JB, KL and Penang took four days and nights. It’s a cheap and relatively comfortable way of connecting overland between Singapore and Bangkok, as long as you are not in a hurry.

I was up early for this. I didn’t want to be late. This approach paid back massively as I arrived at Hua Lamphong at about 6.30 am and as the sun rose behind the station, I found the train on platform 5 with just a handful of equally enthusiastic rail fans. An hour later there were hundreds of people swarming all over the train and it’s twin steam locomotives up front. This pair are the Japanese post war engines, positioned front to back to haul the 16 carriages to Chachoengsao. Most were open window 3rd class fan, but there were a few carriages offering dining options. Third class was just fine for me. My carriage was just two back from the locos and their evocative sounds and smells.

I was so amazed to see how much the residents of Bangkok like their steam trains. Thousands of people waving and photographing the train as it chugged down the line at about 40 kph.

Chachoengsao turned out to be a much more interesting place than I had assumed, and after a boat trip, an tasty lunch and a few other stops we headed back to the station , just in time to witness the shunting of the locos.

Our return to Hua Lamphong was delayed by about an hour, but who cared. It was an wonderful day on the rails!

But at the other end of the excitement spectrum was my connecting train, the Khao Yai Express. Sadly it’s not a real train, but a vision of what train travel once was – or could be again – created by architect Bill Bensley for the Inter Continental resort at Khao Yai, located in a beautiful national park 3 hours away from Bangkok.

My room turned out to be a heritage rail car villa, a whole 60 foot carriage all to myself. There are several of these, all up-cycled real carriages, but now with a very different look inside. Pictures hardly do justice to the stunning interiors each with its own style. Mine was number 428, ‘Ayutthaya’.

A place like this is all about the detail, and everywhere I looked I found clever touches of railwayana and retro memorabilia. The guests at the hotel may not be railway enthusiasts, but they spend hours taking photographs of the rail theme for their instagram accounts. I’ve never seen so much time and effort go into this practice before. What a strange world we now live in.

Every day my fantasy train departed Khao Yai station at 17.57. That is 3 minutes before happy hour starts in an amazing bar carriage called ‘Papillon’. Behind it, the restaurant carriage ‘Poirot’, and at the back the kitchen car. There may be no E&O Express train in Thailand next year, but this has to be the next best thing.. or even better!

I spent several days lounging about taking in the rail inspiration of the resort before heading back to The Big Mango for some book events. I’m looking forward to returning!

My train on Saturday was to the Pasak Chonlasit Dam, a huge reservoir that at the end of the rainy season is so full that the train appears to ‘float’ across the water just below the tracks on both sides of the line.

The only downside of this train (for me) is the 6am departure time, but on the plus side it is from Hua Lamphong rather than the new Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal. I’m still wondering how to shorten that for taxi drivers.

The train is 16 carriages long and will soon expand even more, much longer than most Thai trains, and so long that at the front and back of the train there is not always a platform, so you need to move down inside the train. It’s an eclectic mix of 3rd class, commuter style 3rd class, second class and seated first class. Even more than one dining car some weekends. Up front however was my carriage, one of a pair of Japanese sleeper carriages running in daytime configuration. Lots of space, but a little uncomfortable compared to a normal seat as the backs are upright and the berths have little padding without a mattress.

The atmosphere on board was great, a real feel of people heading off on a holiday trip. Most of the passengers were Thai, but a few other nationalities were there too. I shared with a friendly Taiwanese couple, and Richard Barrow, my partner in crime for the weekend. Three and a half hours sped by looking out the window and drinking coconut smoothies from the restaurant carriage.

We made one stop near the final reservoir, at a station that had been turned into a market. Our arrival was slightly delayed after an unfortunate collision with a cow. The train was undamaged, which is more than be said for the cow.

Thai people love sunflowers, and they were not disappointed on this trip. There were a couple of tours by van to local farms and places to eat.

We had a few hours at the dam before hoping back onboard for the return trip, which was a bit more low tempo. I even got told to be quiet by someone in the carriage who thought it was intended to be a real sleeper!

My journey finished at Ayutthaya, where I changed trains for Lopburi, home of the annual monkey festival the following day. I have to be honest and tell you that I’m not a monkey person, but it was still a fun day out.

I’m grateful to Richard Barrow, my travel companion this weekend, who runs the Thai Train Guide, for grabbing the tickets – they sell out fast – and making everything go smoothly.

I’ve had a few questions about the book from readers of my other books, so I have shared some of them here.

Why is it called Bang Sue Junction, and who is Sue?

Bang Sue is a district in Bangkok, and it is home to one of the city’s oldest stations. It is now next door to the newly built Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal. If you are looking to find a promiscuous character called Sue, this might not be the book for you.

What’s the book about?

At the back end of the COVID pandemic I decided I needed to escape lockdown and travel to improve my mental health and well-being. Train travel fixes both my mind and my soul. The problem was that the land borders were all closed. My plan was therefore to spend time on a slow adventure on the rails around Thailand visiting its frontiers. What came out of this approach was a much stronger connection to the railway stations and the people I met compared to some of my past whistle stop long-range adventures.

Did it all go according to plan?

Mostly, but I found myself in a few sticky situations along the way. Fortunately, I avoided ending up in prison or a hospital. The latter was a particular risk owing to the prevailing quarantine rules at the time of travel, possibly linked to the profitability of private healthcare.

Do you like Thai trains?

I love Thai trains. They might not always travel on time, but if you are not in a hurry they are safe, fun, and have real character. High speed is coming, but now is a golden time to enjoy slow speed and life at an open window whilst you still can.

Are the railways very old?

Queen Victoria gave a model steam train set to the King of Siam in 1855, possibly providing inspiration to the King and his young son who later became King Rama V. The first private rail line opened in 1893, and a network began to develop rapidly in the early 1900’s. Today there are over 3000 miles of tracks across the kingdom.

Are there any particular themes in this book?

A few. The cult of trainspotting and time travel from the old to the new underpin my rail journeys. Beer was also an ongoing source of joy in the incredible heat at this time of the year (April – June).

Was the food good?

It was epic. I discovered Hat Yai fried chicken and also learned how to cook some wonderful curries in Chiang Mai, where I became addicted to Khao Soi, a coconut based noodle curry.

What was your favourite journey?

It’s the journey up to Nam Tok from Bangkok’s Thonburi Station. Third class only, open windows and wonderful scenery. The history of the line is also something to be very mindful of as it was part of the infamous ‘Death Railway’. You can easily do it in a day, but there are many great places to stay around Kanchanaburi and on the banks of the River Kwai. It costs just 200 baht (£4.50) for the return trip.

Would you recommend Thailand as a place to travel by train?

Without question. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has a variety of rolling stock that makes travel very interesting. One express train might have four different classes of carriage. The modern sleepers are incredibly comfortable and clean. Travel is also good value. Stations are calm and peaceful, the total opposite of many other countries.

What’s next?

I’m back in Thailand shortly to finish off a few adventures and also to talk about the book. The Asian launch event is at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Bangkok on 22^nd November. Tickets are still available on their website.

Where do I buy the book?

It’s on sale over at Amazon as both a paperback (£9.89) and Kindle book (£4.89).

Was there really a Sue?

You will have to read the book to find out!