Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [652]
Club Adventure (514 527 0999; www.clubaventure.com; 757 ave du Mont-Royal Est, Montreal, QUE H2J 1W8, Canada) French-language tour operators.
Exodus (800 843 4272; www.exodustravels.co.uk; 1311 63rd St, Ste 200, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA) Award-winning agency for its environmentally responsible tours.
Hands Up Holidays (0 800 783 3554; www.handsupholidays.com; 5 Kendal Pl, London SW15 2QZ, UK) Volunteer and sightseeing programmes for comfort travellers.
Intrepid Travel (www.intrepidtravel.com) Specialises in small-group travel geared toward young people; visit the website for country-specific contact details.
I-to-I (800 985 4852; www.i-to-i.com) Volunteer and sightseeing tours.
Starfish Ventures (44 800 1974817; www.starfishvolunteers.com) Organises a gap year volunteer and sightseeing package.
Tours with Kasma Loha-Unchit (510 655 8900; www.thaifoodandtravel.com; PO Box 21165, Oakland, CA 94620, USA) This Thai cookbook author offers personalised ‘cultural immersion’ tours of Thailand.
TRAIN
The government rail network, operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT; 1690; www.railway.co.th), covers four main lines: the northern, southern, northeastern and eastern lines (Map for major routes). The train is most convenient as an alternative to buses for the long journey north to Chiang Mai or south to Surat Thani. The train is also ideal for trips to Ayuthaya and Lopburi from Bangkok.
Although they can take longer (trains generally don’t run on time), the trains offer many advantages over buses. To start with, there is more room to move and stretch out and the scenery rolling by the windows is grander from the vantage point of rail than highway. On the 3rd-class trains there’s also more local commotion: hawkers selling food and drinks, babies staring wide-eyed at foreigners, sarong-clad villagers – to name just a few.
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Main Terminals & Routes
Almost all the long-distance trains originate from Bangkok’s Hualamphong station. Bangkok Noi station in Thonburi serves the commuter and the short-line trains running to Kanchanaburi/Nam Tok and Nakhon Pathom. You can also get to Nakhon Pathom by train from Hualamphong. Thonburi’s Wong Wian Yai station runs a short commuter line to Samut Songkhram.
Four main rail lines cover 4500km along northern, southern, northeastern and eastern routes. There are several side routes, notably from the Bangkok Noi station in Thonburi (Click here) to Nam Tok (stopping in Kanchanaburi and Nakhon Pathom), and between Thung Song and Kantang (stopping in Trang) in the south. The southern line splits at Hat Yai: one route goes to Sungai Kolok on the Malaysian east coast border, via Yala; the other goes to Padang Besar in the west, also on the Malaysian border. A Bangkok–Pattaya spur exists but is slower and less convenient than a bus.
Classes
The SRT operates passenger trains in three classes – 1st, 2nd and 3rd – but each class varies considerably depending on whether you’re on an ordinary, rapid or express train.
THIRD CLASS
A typical 3rd-class carriage consists of two rows of bench seats divided into facing pairs. Each bench seat is designed to seat two or three passengers, but on a crowded rural line nobody seems to care about design considerations. On some ordinary 3rd-class-only trains, seats are sometimes made of hard wooden slats, although these cars are being phased out. Express trains do not carry 3rd-class carriages at all. Commuter trains in the Bangkok area are all 3rd class.
SECOND CLASS
The seating arrangements in a 2nd-class, non-sleeper carriage are similar to those on a bus, with pairs of padded seats, usually recliners, all facing toward the front of the train.
On 2nd-class sleeper cars, pairs of seats face one another and convert into two fold-down berths, one over the other. Curtains provide a modicum of privacy and the berths are fairly comfortable, with fresh linen for every trip. The lower berth has more headroom than the upper berth and this is reflected in a higher fare. Children are