Train Ticket Booking Via Call Center Made Easier: Thailand

[webfact]

Train ticket booking via call center made easier

BANGKOK, 8 September 2012 (NNT)-The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has made ticket booking via its call center 1690 easier by allowing callers to pay for the tickets at any of the more than 200 kiosks nationwide.

According to the SRT, ticket reservations via the call center provide a much faster alternative to the face-to-face purchasing method, saving time for those who are reluctant to embark on a long commute to pick up the tickets in Bangkok or its vicinity.

More than 200 advance ticket stations have been set up around the country to facilitate passengers to make payments at a spot convenient to them. However, the SRT said passengers must make reservations 5 days prior to their trip. The 1690 hotline is operated 24 hours a day.

Details on departure dates, types of ticket and destinations must be given upon the phone call. A code will then be provided to passengers and must be presented to the kiosks at the time of payment. Tickets will be available for pickup before 10 pm of the following day. However, the reservation will be automatically canceled if it has not been claimed before the time mentioned.

-- NNT 2012-09-08

[bluebluewater]

It has always tickled me that when you look at the English portion of the SRT website and then click on "schedules" that they are all in Thai!

Does anyone ever do any thinking out there? Well . . . we all know the answer to that one.

And it's not like those train schedules are not out there in English. You can go to any train station and get them. No one has ever bothered to load them onto the web site however.

[lomatopo]

I wonder where the "...More than 200 advance ticket stations have been set up around the country" might be? I'm guessing these would be train stations?

I think you can still use the on-line system: http://www.thairailticket.com/esrt/

[Colabamumbai]

I wonder where the "...More than 200 advance ticket stations have been set up around the country" might be? I'm guessing these would be train stations?

I think you can still use the on-line system: http://www.thairailticket.com/esrt/

Thanks for the link, I just visited the site, I even registered even though I am not going anywhere, I just wanted to see the process. Looks good.

[cdnski12]

Do the same for Thai Express Buses and you will really have a system!

[Colabamumbai]

Do the same for Thai Express Buses and you will really have a system!

Maybe enough to start travelling. cdnski12 are you a Canadian/skier?

[TheWalkingMan]

Is 200 kiosks a lot? It sounds like a small number to me for a country the size of Thailand. Maybe the upgrade will have tickets available for pick-up at 7-11, FamilyMart etc.

[madmitch]

Is 200 kiosks a lot? It sounds like a small number to me for a country the size of Thailand. Maybe the upgrade will have tickets available for pick-up at 7-11, FamilyMart etc.

As someone said before, this is Thailand so it would not be surprising if the kiosks are all at the stations where you could buy the tickets anyway.

Has anyone used the online service? I often have guests wishing to book trains from Suratthani (I am in Phuket) and this would be a very useful website if it definitely works!

Good to see the Thai railway making at least some effort to enter the 21st century (even if most of the trains are stuck in the 1950s!)

[SunsetT]

It has always tickled me that when you look at the English portion of the SRT website and then click on "schedules" that they are all in Thai!

Does anyone ever do any thinking out there? Well . . . we all know the answer to that one.

And it's not like those train schedules are not out there in English. You can go to any train station and get them. No one has ever bothered to load them onto the web site however.

Nokair's website used to be the same, but I complained at their office in Dong Muang while passing through with time to kill, and 'Guess What?.....They have actually put it right.

[brotherother]

Is 200 kiosks a lot? It sounds like a small number to me for a country the size of Thailand. Maybe the upgrade will have tickets available for pick-up at 7-11, FamilyMart etc.

As someone said before, this is Thailand so it would not be surprising if the kiosks are all at the stations where you could buy the tickets anyway.

Has anyone used the online service? I often have guests wishing to book trains from Suratthani (I am in Phuket) and this would be a very useful website if it definitely works!

Good to see the Thai railway making at least some effort to enter the 21st century (even if most of the trains are stuck in the 1950s!)

I can confirm it is indeed possible to book tickets using this online method. I did it last month, Phitsalulok - Bangkok for 2 people (which I ended up cancelling at the station in Chiang Mai and getting, I think, 50% of the money back). The only slight inconvenience (for me) was setting up the ' Verified By Visa' thing to do with my Bangkok Bank Visa debit card, but it's a one-off thing and just required a phone call and receiving a text / code. Then I just had to print out the ticket(s) emailed to my email account. There's a small charge for booking online but but nothing significant.

[keestha]

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Edited September 10, 2012 by keestha

[uptheos]

Nokair's website used to be the same, but I complained at their office in Dong Muang while passing through with time to kill, and 'Guess What?.....They have actually put it right.

Yep, they promised that they would after the 1,000th complaint.