Overnight sleeper train to Issan

[Phil Conners]

Planning to go up towards Ubon Ratchatani and thinking about ticking an item off my bucket list, overnight train ride in Thailand.

 

Normally there are lots of travel videos with people taking trains around the world but not so much to Issan.  I found the one below which in spite of the titillating title actually only have a few minutes of the actual train experience.  I was wondering if anyone have experience of this they would like to share? 

 

 

 

[Bobtheblob]

I have taken the sleeper a few times from bkk to ubon it's slow but relaxing it's fine. 

[LogicThai]

The Sleeper on the North-East line is an excellent way to go to Issaan. I have taken it many times to go to Buriram. Departure from BKK (still Hualamphong, I assume?) at 8:30pm. The one First Class railcar at the end of the train offers private rooms, which I find to be good value. It is a slow train, like all trains in Thailand, but who cares? 

[Farmerslife]

https://www.thailandtrains.com/guide-to-train-travel-from-bangkok-to-ubon-ratchathani/

 

You have probably already seen this but, if not, it is quite useful.

Train no.23 is the one you want (a more modern train).

As someone who travels fairly regularly between Pak Chong and Bangkok I can testify that the toilets can be a bit grim on the older rolling stock. ???? 

[Lancashirelad]

If travelling alone, 1st class will be a cold and lonely experience. If you are a sociable person, 2nd class air con would be more interesting.

[Phil Conners]

Thanks for the replies and good info - and sorry for my late reply!

 

My wife and I are going together. We were thinking about going to Pattaya for a couple of days first, but decided to go up to the village near Kukhan, Sisaket, directly.  Taking the overnight train would have us sit around all day, and after a 10 hour flight we probably don't have energy to go shopping all day.

 

Long story short, I think we will take a driver / limo service / uber / taxi for the trip up and take the sleeper when we go back.

 

We used to have a regular driver, but haven't been back since 2019 and I guess a lot has changed since then?  Any recommendations? 

[Phil Conners]

Did anyone try the #71 train from Bangkok to Ubon?  There is preciously little information about it available online, at least in English. I'd be curious what classes are available and how crowded it typically is -- and any other personal experiences anyone has with it.

[3NUMBAS]

ties your bags to the steelwork as i had thieves try to nick em at 1 stop . i just caught em and retreeved my bags,i was only seconds away from ,losing em