Train Service Bkk-Cmai?

[klikster]

A couple of weeks ago I saw TV footage on one of the Thai Stations showing rails hanging in space above a slide area. I believe it was in Lamphang Province. So I'm wondering about rail service to Chiang Mai and surrounds.

[pisico]

Rail service from BKK to Chiang Mai: DISMAL

Late departing, late arriving. Always a delay en route. You know how Thais plan things.

It is an overnight ride But you make it to CM by 1 PM. or later. You cannot see anything. People around you will chat all night long. No private compartments. The WC in the Thai trains are holes that drop everything onto the track ties. WC Stinks from afar and are unsanitary. Food in the "restaurant" car is a challenge even for those who have a cast iron stomach. Expensive too.

Take any Bus company such Nakon Chai Air or Indra. It will be faster and more comfortable.

[montrii]

Wow, not like my experience, ever. There are sleepers, both first and second-class. First class are for 2 people only, completely quiet. A very pleasant trip, either way.

If the overnight train is coming in in the afternoon, it must be because of flood delays. It's supposed to arrive in the early morning, but might sometimes be as late as 10AM (quite late), but I've never heard of later than that.

As for how "the Thais plan things," that's a pretty blanket suggestion, an unwarranted ethnic insult. Responder should take it back, IMHO. Actually when I first came here the Thai trains were as punctual as the German trains. Something happened along the way, probably akin to what happened in the States for many years, where the powers that be decreed that freight transport would take precedence. Anybody ride Amtrak in the 90's or in the last 10 years? Horrible delays. That policy has changed in the States, and it can change here.

I saw the picture the OP refers to. Don't believe it's on a main track, probably leads off to a freight pickup. No second track, notice? Tracks up north are always double, at least.

[Lancelot]

Rail service from BKK to Chiang Mai: DISMAL

Late departing, late arriving. Always a delay en route. You know how Thais plan things.

It is an overnight ride But you make it to CM by 1 PM. or later. You cannot see anything. People around you will chat all night long. No private compartments. The WC in the Thai trains are holes that drop everything onto the track ties. WC Stinks from afar and are unsanitary. Food in the "restaurant" car is a challenge even for those who have a cast iron stomach. Expensive too.

Take any Bus company such Nakon Chai Air or Indra. It will be faster and more comfortable.

I've taken the overnight to and from Chiang Mai (to BKK) several times and it was always quiet at night. Depending on the train, I've always arrived in the morning, around 9ish am

[rak sa_ngop]

Rail service from BKK to Chiang Mai: DISMAL

Late departing, late arriving. Always a delay en route. You know how Thais plan things.

It is an overnight ride But you make it to CM by 1 PM. or later. You cannot see anything. People around you will chat all night long. No private compartments. The WC in the Thai trains are holes that drop everything onto the track ties. WC Stinks from afar and are unsanitary. Food in the "restaurant" car is a challenge even for those who have a cast iron stomach. Expensive too.

Take any Bus company such Nakon Chai Air or Indra. It will be faster and more comfortable.

I've taken the overnight to and from Chiang Mai (to BKK) several times and it was always quiet at night. Depending on the train, I've always arrived in the morning, around 9ish am

The 18.10 train scheduled to arrive CM at 07.45 am is now running. My friend texted me about 11.00 am yesterday saying that his train was still crawling its approach to Chian Mai.

Some other BKK - CM trains services have yet to be restarted.

Personally I having travelled to Nong Khai and Chiang Mai more than 20 times by train. I still love the experience, love the Tom Yam Kung in the restaurant car and love the party atmosphere.

[Ricardo]

If the overnight train is coming in in the afternoon, it must be because of flood delays. It's supposed to arrive in the early morning, but might sometimes be as late as 10AM (quite late), but I've never heard of later than that.

There's a train departing Hualumpong about 10pm, which usually arrives in C.M. about 2pm, the next afternoon. No worries, she'll get there sometime !

I saw the picture the OP refers to. Don't believe it's on a main track, probably leads off to a freight pickup. No second track, notice? Tracks up north are always double, at least.

Single-line, from at least Uttaradit northwards, last time I traveled by train to C.M. :jap:

[pisico]

Wow, not like my experience, ever. There are sleepers, both first and second-class. First class are for 2 people only, completely quiet. A very pleasant trip, either way.

If the overnight train is coming in in the afternoon, it must be because of flood delays. It's supposed to arrive in the early morning, but might sometimes be as late as 10AM (quite late), but I've never heard of later than that.

As for how "the Thais plan things," that's a pretty blanket suggestion, an unwarranted ethnic insult. Responder should take it back, IMHO. Actually when I first came here the Thai trains were as punctual as the German trains. Something happened along the way, probably akin to what happened in the States for many years, where the powers that be decreed that freight transport would take precedence. Anybody ride Amtrak in the 90's or in the last 10 years? Horrible delays. That policy has changed in the States, and it can change here.

I saw the picture the OP refers to. Don't believe it's on a main track, probably leads off to a freight pickup. No second track, notice? Tracks up north are always double, at least.

I guess it's all a matter of personal standards and experiences. It amuses me your description of First class on the BKK-Chiang Mai trains. Even in the defunct Soviet Union where I lived and worked for close to 3 years, this is what First Class meant on the Moscow-Leningrad trains, a journey I had to make 52 times a year.

A private lockable compartment with a regular bed, a small table to eat or write at, a small sofa and a private bathroom complete with shower and toilet. The VIP was even better.

About your comparison with the German rail service, is a non sequitor, a false analogy. Thais are notorious for being tardy and morose.

Thailand has been developing for the past 30 years and still does not get it together, no matter who is in government of color of the shirt. Germany has been fully developed as a First World country for decades. Rail treks within Germany are short because they are fast in bullet trains. Autobahns have made possible a reduced rail system. .Apples and Oranges.

As for your Politically Correct reaction to my assertion regarding how Thais plan things, again, your personal experience and standards will be different from mine and that of others.

I would not try to impose my views of this country, or any other, because people have different perceptions of the same thing and/or event. Which is that you, with a hoity-toity attitude attmept to do, practically demanding I take back that statement.There is nothing ethnic about it. Look at the myriad of soi dog population: a symptom of urban decay. Motorcycles zooming up and down the sidewalks enfangering the lives of pedestrians, is that also good planing in your view? How about the City Rail to the airport? It begins in a congested part of Bangkok forcing those who do not live in the Sukhumviit corridor to take a taxi to Phya Thai: is that good planing? Lastly, my next door neighbor is Dutch. The houses in the subdivision are Middle to High Middle Class. His home and mine are the only ones that inside are dry as a bone in the middle of the Kalahari dessert. The others, owned by Thais, have fish swimming in 4 feet of water inside their homes. Why? The way Thais plan things. When I showed my Dutch neighbor your PC reaction he just said: "If we did what Thais do, if we had their mentality, 60% of Holland would still be under the sea, and would continue to be under the sea for eternity.

[asanee]

1.here's a train departing Hualumpong about 10pm, which usually arrives in C.M. about 2pm, the next afternoon. No worries, she'll get there sometime !

2.Single-line, from at least Uttaradit northwards, last time I traveled by train to C.M. :jap:

@1. NOT at the mo-only the 18.00 super express is running-with a few sleepers on.

@2. Single line North from the split to the Khorat line=some 400 kms more south, Ban Pachi. But the delay seems more due to the reroute via the goods line to avoid floods. Proper thinking-again-does not seem to feature high on most TV-posters mindset

[klikster]

I saw the picture the OP refers to. Don't believe it's on a main track, probably leads off to a freight pickup. No second track, notice? Tracks up north are always double, at least.

If service is running, that must be the case. The damage I saw suggested that a new path would have to be carved out of the hillside.

Thanks for the answers.

About train travel. Many years ago I took a sleeper from BKK to Hat Yai. Pretty good experience. I also lived in Ban Krut (Bangsaphan, PKK) for a number of years. The Surat Thani - BKK "Sprinter" stopped at Ban Krut. I rode it several times. Nice service although sometimes slow. Air con, good seats, clean sit-down toilet. Some staff took food orders and called ahead -- picked up the food at Ratchaburi. Except for the travel time difference, better than a bus, IMO.

[rak sa_ngop]

The 18.10 from Bangkok to Chiang Mai train took over 20 hours to reach its destination 2 days ago.

I'm catching it today so am taking lots of reading and listening material!