irony
Tuesday, June 23, 2009

of course, after my previous glowing experience of travelling to Thailand by train, the State Railway of Thailand decides to go on strike...

posted by noelbynature @ 3:36 PM, ,


Thailand by Train
Monday, June 22, 2009


It was a trip months in the making. May and I decided to make this year's holiday a trip to Thailand by train, a 23-hour commute from Butterworth, on the mainland of Penang, to Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit... More commonly known as Bangkok (locals just call it Krung Thep).

In many ways, train travel is better than flying. Compared with 22 hours on a cramped plane seat, the sleeper cabins are two to a booth with plenty of leg space and a collapsible table. The coach is air-conditioned and sealed from the noise, and the toilet facilities are decent. And of course, the view can't be beat!



Only two sleeper carriages take off from Butterworth every afternoon, but the train gets longer later in the evening when it arrives at Hat Yai with 6-7 more sleeper carriages and the dining cart. I heard good reviews about the food aboard the train and I wasn't disappointed. For B150 (RM15, SGD6), the dinner set consisted of Tom Yam soup, an entree (eg, red curry duck), a main (eg, rice and stir-fried chicken with cashews) and fresh fruit. You won't find a better authentic culinary welcome to Thailand!


After dinner, people usually get an early night. The train attendant comes round and converts the booths into sleeper bunks - an upper and lower. Each bunk has a thin mattress on top of the initial cushion, a pillow, fresh sheets and blanket. The lower bunk is slightly wider and has the window, but both bunks have a little pocket to hold all the small stuff, a night light and hooks to hang your bags. Definitely more comfortable than a plane!


We reached Bangkok's Hualampong station just before noon (Thailand being one hour behind Malaysia) making the journey about 23 hours. The journey back to Butterworth took the same time too. All in all, this was a great alternative way to travel to Bangkok, something that Christine and I will try again - hopefully annually!



Practical information: travelling to Thailand by train is real easy. Trains leave from Butterworth and Bangkok daily around 2, but you can only get tickets from the originating country - to embark from Butterworth you need to get a ticket from Malaysia, and from Hualampong the ticket must be bought from Thailand. Ticket prices are around RM120/B1200 (USD ) are available 60 days from date of departure. More information can be found here, and on the websites of the State Railway of Thailand and KTMB.

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posted by noelbynature @ 8:53 PM, ,


Monty Haul
Saturday, June 20, 2009


Back from Thailand, feeling refreshed but having major pork withdrawal symptoms. It was a great holiday with Christine up to Bangkok - taking a train from Butterworth, exploring Ayutthaya and well as walking much of the Bangkok streets. More on that once I get the photos done and the other deadlines out of the way.

I'm really proud about the book haul from this trip though... took up half my luggage space and probably wouldn't have gotten past the check-in counters if I went by plane. The whole lot of books weighed something like 25 kg, some for research, many for interest. The research books are in Thai though... am seriously considering learning the language to get access to the data.

posted by noelbynature @ 5:50 PM, ,