New rail service linking Bangkok and Vientiane kicking off soon

[snoop1130]

 

The State Railway of Thailand will soon introduce a new service all the way between Bangkok and the Laotian capital Vientiane. Trials of the service will get underway next month, with the service expected to launch in April.

 

The service is expected to start from the Thanaleng station just over the border in Laos, travelling to Vientiane’s new Khamsavath station. From April, the service would be extended, according to Pichet Kunadhamraks from the Department of Rail Transport.

 

Pichet says the SRT already runs trains to Thanaleng from Nong Khai station in northeast Thailand. The section from Thanaleng to Khamsavath would be the final step. The fare is expected to be around 60 – 70 baht, for a journey taking 20 minutes.

 

By Peter Roche

Caption: PHOTO: Go World Travel

 

Full story: Phuket GO 2024-01-26

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

 

[Chris Daley]

Who the hell wants to go to Laos out of choice?

[grain]

6 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

Who the hell wants to go to Laos out of choice?

More than likely this is to connect up with the China - Vientiane railway to get Chinese products by rail to Thailand, Malaysia and S'Pore.

[NorthernRyland]

21 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

Who the hell wants to go to Laos out of choice?

Vientiane is actually a pretty nice city within a certain radius. In fact I'd say it's cleaner and more organized looking than any city in Thailand but thanks to the French actually knowing how to plan a city. Outside of that it turns to ghetto in a hurry though.

[mfd101]

The usual peculiar article full of non-sequiturs. Supposed to be about BKK to Vientiane, but the article is all about 20 minutes either side of the border, without ever quite connecting it all together.

 

Still, at least there'll be a change of drivers at the border. Lao of course drive on the right.

[NoDisplayName]

2 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

Who the hell wants to go to Laos out of choice?

 

Thais can travel to Vientienne to board the high-speed railway to Kunming, and enjoy that juicy visa-free entry, starting in March.

 

Or you can enjoy cycling or motorbiking the countryside, much less traffic than Thailand.

[bokningar]

They just do what their new maters (China) tells them to do. Bangkok  to Malaysia to follow.

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

Who the hell wants to go to Laos out of choice?

Smugglers?

[khunjeff]

14 hours ago, grain said:

More than likely this is to connect up with the China - Vientiane railway to get Chinese products by rail to Thailand, Malaysia and S'Pore.

 

This is a totally separate station and separate set of tracks - there's no connection between this and the Lao-China HSR.

[brianthainess]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The service is expected to start from the Thanaleng station just over the border in Laos,

 

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Pichet says the SRT already runs trains to Thanaleng from Nong Khai station in northeast Thailand

I don't understand this article at all it already has a rail link.

[brianthainess]

17 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

Who the hell wants to go to Laos out of choice?

 Hello BIG KNOK, It is a very beautiful country, the drivers are so much better, it is far cleaner than Thailand or Cambodia

 

[Chris Daley]

The Laos side is showing some delays:

 

[Chris Daley]

33 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

 Hello BIG KNOK, It is a very beautiful country, the drivers are so much better, it is far cleaner than Thailand or Cambodia

 

So you lived in a waterfall?  Okay.  Well I saw trash everywhere.  Very few places open during the day and the entire city closes at 2pm.  The most vile immigration staff you could imagine even worse than Thailand.  You can't even find a coffee anywere.  They can't speak English and the staff just stare at you in silence.  The mall is covered in feces and 90 percent of the shops where closed.  The airport closes at night.  There are no street lights or bridges to cross the roads and school kids are forced to run across high speed motorways.  People park on the sidewalks which forces you into oncoming traffic.  They don't have taxis at all in any form.  The city is totally dead at night and it is over run with packs of dogs.  The country is communist.  They don't have TV stations of their own only fuzzy ones coming from Thailand.  Alcohol and bargirls are completely banned by law.  And the maid threw water over me in the toilets.  Disgusting country.

Edited January 27 by Chris Daley

[brianthainess]

2 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

So you lived in a waterfall?  Okay.  Well I saw trash everywhere.  Very few places open during the day and the entire city closes at 2pm.  The most vile immigration staff you could imagine even worse than Thailand.  You can't even find a coffee anywere.  They can't speak English and the staff just stare at you in silence.  The mall is covered in feces and 90 percent of the shops where closed.  The airport closes at night.  There are no street lights or bridges to cross the roads and school kids are forced to run across high speed motorways.  People park on the sidewalks which forces you into oncoming traffic.  They don't have taxis at all in any form.  The city is totally dead at night and it is over run with packs of dogs.  The country is communist.  They don't have TV stations of their own only fuzzy ones coming from Thailand.  Alcohol and bargirls are completely banned by law.  And the maid threw water over me in the toilets.  Disgusting country.

Utter BS. 

[brianthainess]

14 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

The Laos side is showing some delays:

 

Bignok's new nest being built, so he can go out looking for sex after 2am in Laos and good looking LBs.

[bokningar]

16 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

Alcohol and bargirls are completely banned by law

Strange I had quite a few bottles of Beer Lao when I was there. And they are very good.

[Hanuman2547]

26 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

So you lived in a waterfall?  Okay.  Well I saw trash everywhere.  Very few places open during the day and the entire city closes at 2pm.  The most vile immigration staff you could imagine even worse than Thailand.  You can't even find a coffee anywere.  They can't speak English and the staff just stare at you in silence.  The mall is covered in feces and 90 percent of the shops where closed.  The airport closes at night.  There are no street lights or bridges to cross the roads and school kids are forced to run across high speed motorways.  People park on the sidewalks which forces you into oncoming traffic.  They don't have taxis at all in any form.  The city is totally dead at night and it is over run with packs of dogs.  The country is communist.  They don't have TV stations of their own only fuzzy ones coming from Thailand.  Alcohol and bargirls are completely banned by law.  And the maid threw water over me in the toilets.  Disgusting country.

This is utter nonsense!  I have experienced none of what you describe in my numerous visits to Laos over the past 25 years.  The beer Lao is quite good too!

[brianthainess]

31 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

bargirls are completely banned by law. 

And you didn't know that before going, if in fact you have ever been.  

[grain]

37 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

So you lived in a waterfall?  Okay.  Well I saw trash everywhere.  Very few places open during the day and the entire city closes at 2pm.  The most vile immigration staff you could imagine even worse than Thailand.  You can't even find a coffee anywere.  They can't speak English and the staff just stare at you in silence.  The mall is covered in feces and 90 percent of the shops where closed.  The airport closes at night.  There are no street lights or bridges to cross the roads and school kids are forced to run across high speed motorways.  People park on the sidewalks which forces you into oncoming traffic.  They don't have taxis at all in any form.  The city is totally dead at night and it is over run with packs of dogs.  The country is communist.  They don't have TV stations of their own only fuzzy ones coming from Thailand.  Alcohol and bargirls are completely banned by law.  And the maid threw water over me in the toilets.  Disgusting country.

Not quite correct Chris. Lao (as with the other former French colonies, Cambodia & Vietnam) has very good coffee and a thriving coffee growing industry. Lao does have it's own TV stations, you can even get them when you are in NE Thailand. Alcohol and bargirls are not banned at all. Beer Lao is excellent and readily available all over the country, there are also numerous other beers available, and local Lao Lao is available everywhere. There isn't the huge bargirl scene like Thailand but a scaled down version does exist. In past years it was illegal for foreigners to have relations out of wedlock with local girls but those restrictions have vanished now. Personally I far prefer Thailand to Lao, but I do like going to Vientiane every year or so just for a change.

[Burma Bill]

19 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

Who the hell wants to go to Laos out of choice?

 

I did by choice. I went to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Luang Prabang - the old capital city of Laos on the Mekong. A wonderful experience with such lovely scenery. (stock photo)

 

 

 

[Burma Bill]

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The fare is expected to be around 60 – 70 baht, for a journey taking 20 minutes.

 

As the article states, there is already a service between Bangkok and Thanaleng in Laos via Nong Khai and across the Friendship Bridge. This new service is just a short extension from Thanaleng to the main railway station in Vientiane where passengers and freight have to change from metre (narrow) gauge SRT trains to the standard gauge HST to China (or vice versa). Freight containers will have to be lifted from narrow gauge to standard gauge bogies to continue their journey. Picture shows dual gauge railway where freight is being lifted from one gauge to the other. (stock photo)

It will be many years before a standard gauge HST railway becomes operational between Bangkok and China.

 

 

Edited January 27 by Burma Bill
additional information

[Des1]

2 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

So you lived in a waterfall?  Okay.  Well I saw trash everywhere.  Very few places open during the day and the entire city closes at 2pm.  The most vile immigration staff you could imagine even worse than Thailand.  You can't even find a coffee anywere.  They can't speak English and the staff just stare at you in silence.  The mall is covered in feces and 90 percent of the shops where closed.  The airport closes at night.  There are no street lights or bridges to cross the roads and school kids are forced to run across high speed motorways.  People park on the sidewalks which forces you into oncoming traffic.  They don't have taxis at all in any form.  The city is totally dead at night and it is over run with packs of dogs.  The country is communist.  They don't have TV stations of their own only fuzzy ones coming from Thailand.  Alcohol and bargirls are completely banned by law.  And the maid threw water over me in the toilets.  Disgusting country.

So much of you say is nonsense. It's sad you even get a forum to promote such crap. The thing about travelling to a foreign country is accepting their rules. Don't like it? ..Stay home.

[NoDisplayName]

3 hours ago, brianthainess said:

I don't understand this article at all it already has a rail link.

 

There was already a line from Bangkok to NongKai, but then you had to switch to a short shuttle train to cross the river from NongKai to Thanaleng.  Then you'd taxi or bus or songteau into the city.

 

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

service is expected to start from the Thanaleng station just over the border in Laos, travelling to Vientiane’s new Khamsavath station. From April, the service would be extended,

 

All they've done is extend the shuttle line from Thanaleng to Khamsavath.  You still have to switch from main rail to shuttle at Nongkai.

 

Hub of nothingburgers.

[natway09]

I enjoy going to Laos & have found everything there I enjoy.

The Sawadee Bar & Restaurant has  over 400 different beers, including from Belgium, great farang food

& clean massage places. After 10pm the Clubs operate & the ladies I find very accommodating.

It is also a much more beautiful country than Thailand

[billrose]

But the Bangkok to Nong Khai railway is still single track for many sections. Convertion to dual track has been going on for many years and is still nowhere near complete!

[khunjeff]

On 1/27/2024 at 2:39 PM, Burma Bill said:

This new service is just a short extension from Thanaleng to the main railway station in Vientiane where passengers and freight have to change from metre (narrow) gauge SRT trains to the standard gauge HST to China (or vice versa).

 

No, the new Khamsavath station is about 10km north of the current Thanaleng station, but still about 15km south of the Vientiane HSR station.

 

This new project is meant to: (1) bring passengers to a newer, bigger station that is closer to the city of Vientiane, and (2) allow through passengers from Bangkok to travel all the way to Vientiane without having to switch to a shuttle train at the border. The extension of the HSR line to Thailand will be a completely separate project.