Ist Class Train To Chiang Mai?

[jingjingna]

Does anyone know how much a 1st class sleeper cabin(i.e for two people)on the express train from Bangkok to Chiang mai costs?

I have been able to find out the departure/arrival times but nothing on prices.

Any help would be appreciated!

[boogie]

Try this link

http://www.asia-discovery.com/train.htm

Prices as of Jan this year

[ovenman]

http://www.asia-discovery.com/train.htm

The prices look correct on that website. Keep in mind that they are tacking on a 200 baht service charge to obtain a ticket for you, but a service of this nature is the only option if one is outside Thailand as the SRT does not have an online booking facility.

[kenk3z]

200 Baht is very reasonable for them to do the legwork for you and deliver the ticket to you in downtown BKK. They naturally need to charge more to mail the ticket to you overseas or another area in-country.

If I were already in downtown BKK I'd probably just take the subway over to the train station and buy a ticket.

In reading up on the train system, it does seem you need to buy the 1st class sleeper tickets in advance of the trip. 2nd class is not booked up as quickly. 3rd class (HOT) you just show up.

Maybe someone can comment how far in advance to book 1st and 2nd class tickets? Holiday periods obviously require further in advance booking, etc. But just a general idea would be helpful......

kenk3z

[ovenman]

Maybe someone can comment how far in advance to book 1st and 2nd class tickets?  Holiday periods obviously require further in advance booking, etc.  But just a general idea would be helpful......

Depends on the train as well. On the Bangkok-Chiang Mai and v.v. route, the most popular and nicest sleeper train is the one called the Nakhon Ping. It is train 1 going north and train 2 returning south. The Nakhon Ping (along with the International Express to/from Butterworth) uses the newest second-class air-con sleeper coaches in the system. This is the train on the Chiang Mai route that books up first. It might be pretty well filled up two or three weeks in advance.

First class is hard to predict. There is generally only one first class coach on any given train. First class is not overly popular since it is more expensive so the seats don't go as fast. On the other hand, there is only one coach so if a particular train has a group of people traveling in first, it could book up early as well.

OvenMan's moral of the rails story is to book train tickets as early as you can. A train ticket can always be changed for a minimal fee (or 80% refunded) but's truly difficult to obtain a ticket for a sold out journey!

[neverburi]

First class sleeper Bangkok to Chiangmai A/C 1,193 baht per person.

NB.

[dfwbkk]

Now, since you can fly AirAsia for around 1200 each way including fees I guess you're a train afficionado?

But then again, the trip there is half of the journey, right? Shame on me for valuing my travel time over the actual experience. I like trains myself - taking the family to Europe next week and we've got a couple of train rides booked already (albeit to places where there's no airport...)

/// dfw

[ovenman]

A hidden bonus about the overnight train to keep in mind - if one is truly a tourist (i.e. no home at either end of the train journey), taking a sleeper train saves the cost of one night in a hotel.

[lopburi3]

Does anyone know how much a 1st class sleeper cabin(i.e for two people)on the express train from Bangkok to Chiang mai costs?

I have been able to find out the departure/arrival times but nothing on prices.

Any help would be appreciated!

SRT

Above is the rail web site will full schedule and fare information. 1st class is often available on day of travel as most people prefer second class for price, people and sleeping. Price is much less. You have people to talk/watch. You sleep from front to back of car so stops do not throw you out of bunk - you sleep across car in first class so you are rolling all night (there are lots of stops/slowdowns).

Except for the LP fans who want to save a nights hotel can not recommend overnight train when air fares are so low. If taking train it would be better to do so in day so that you can see something IMHO.

[jingjingna]

Thanks guys!

[craig]

On the 16th of July I purchased two first class tickets leaving Nakhon Lampang to Bkk on 14 September...I paid 1,172 baht each...Nakhon Lampang is 2hours south of Chiang Mai. We will fly up to Chiang Mai on Air Asia on 1 September for a total price for two seats of 1,177 baht. It is cheaper to fly...however, I like trains and live here so time is not an issue.

When we purchased the tickets, the ticket agent at the Pattaya train station showed us a diagram of the 1st class car and two months ahead of time there were already 8 seats sold...ours being number 9 and 10....my advise is book ahead as soon as possible.