If you buy train tickets online or through a travel agent, there is a slight surcharge at the station. You can also buy day tickets and travel by train within one day. And Bangkok local guides are amazing people.
If you are however looking for a bed for the night, trains should be booked at least three days in advance to ensure you have reservations for the high season.
If you come to Bangkok, take the 0.920 normal train (third class for 44 Baht (free) or Thai National (depart at Hua Hin around 1143-1300) or express train (arrivée at 1525 for 55 Baht in third class and 87 Baht in second class). If you want to take a bus or minivan, you can take the BTS Sky Train to the Mo Chit station and take a five-minute transfer to a bus (3-26, 77, 96, 104 or 509) at the Mo Chits Northern bus station. From here you can take a taxi directly to your hotel or guesthouse. For a more comfortable service, the 1,410 regular train arrives at 1,900 hrs in Bangkok (third class 44 Baht, free for Thai National) the fastest and cheapest atmospheric express train leaving Hua Hin (1,601) or arriving at Hua Hin in 1,920 (costs 412 Baht for second class with air-conditioned seats).
From Bangkok
Take the international express to Hat Yai Arau, a small station on the border with Malaysia (see the train schedule). It is also possible to take an alternative route to KL (Singapore) from Khota Bahru by bus or taxi to the border and walk across the border to Thailand to Sungai Kolok train station to take the train back to Bangkok (see a security notice). Another advantage of the train or bus is the location of the station between Bangkok and Ayutthaya.
The train is spacious, most carriages have food and beverages, and C-vendors come by to sell meals, fruits and beverages, and landscapes as you cruise through the tropical landscape of the world. For a fun day trip from Bangkok, take the train to the Floating Market and Railway Market in Maeklong. The Railway Market is a busy street market along the actual railway tracks that the train passes several times a day.
We believe that trains are the best way to get around Ayutthaya on a DIY tour especially if traveling with small children. Having said that, I love traveling by train in Thailand, so don’t rush. Our love of traveling by train is something that life in Laos has not enabled us to do, so we are very excited to ride the rails.
Timetables
Timetables and ticket prices can be found on the website of the Thai State Railways, railwaycoth. This page explains how to travel north or south by train from Singapore, KL, Penang, and southern Thailand to Bangkok, as well as the time, fare, and where to buy tickets. The same trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai costs between $15 and $60 to take a bus or a flight, but you pay about $20 to take a train.
The same US $20 spent on the night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai will receive a free overnight stay on the train. A 12GO ticket for the Thai train 46 Padang Besar from Bangkok can be picked up by the train staff for 400 Baht ($12) plus a fee, but if you visit Bangkok or Chiangmai in advance, the tickets will be collected free of charge.
There is no ticket from Singapore to Bangkok – you have to buy separate tickets for each train with a specific seat or berth number and a specific date for that particular train.
The only real daily train on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route leaves Bangkok at 8.30 am and arrives at 7.30 pm. It is a small, air-conditioned second-class express service, which costs 641 Baht. From Chiang Mai to Bangkok by night train, the 430-mile journey takes about 12 hours. The day trains are the worst, with frequent stops and wait at stations for reasons I never found out.
Taking the Ayutthaya day trip to Bangkok on our own meant that we had to work on a legitimate train ride for the day. We explained how to do this, including taking the Bangkok-Ayutthaya train, other routes into the city, and more.
Ayutthaya
Those looking to explore Bangkok can browse the various tours of Takemetour, reserve one with a local expert, experience the famous Damnoen Saduak floating above Maeklong Railway Market and dine in authentic fish markets and restaurants in local ways. For that traveling long-haul between Southeast Asian countries, focus on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai train fare to compare different travel methods in Southeast Asia. For Bangkok, the logical way to experience its rousing fame is with no less than a local Thailand tour guide.
In the end
We watched as the train chugged along, while the market vendors opened their umbrellas, put them on, and removed them the next time the train passed. When a Thai friend of mine returned home, she paid the full train fare for her trip to Chiang Mai after she had paid for the return trip by bus, which felt refreshing in itself. After setting off from Bangkok, overwhelmed by its sights and smells, I boarded a night train back to the capital to escape the chaos. Check out showaround.com for more information.