Traveling to Hua Hin by Train

[TotallyOz]

Friends want to go to Hua Hin by train. Do they need to reserve tickets in advance or just get them the day of the trip at the train station?

Also, any other suggestions for getting to Hua Hin from Bangkok?

[spoon]

For the first class airconditioned train (~400 baht), i dont think u need to reserve early. The cheaper class 3 one definitely worth booking early. When i went there before for 2 night visit, i managed to get the class 3 going there walk in but had to take the second train. But going back from hua hin, only the aircon car is available, so we bought it together there. 

Any other suggestion would be pattaya and ferry to hua hin? But only if pattaya is within the itinerary, otherwise, might not justify the extra hours travelling by bus to pattaya, then to the pier for ferry. May want to also check the timetable for the ferry.

[DivineMadman]

One year I went by minivan.  12Go.com lists a bunch of van and bus alternatives from different locations in BKK.  https://12go.asia/en/travel/bangkok/hua-hin?date=2020-01-27&people=2  I think the cost is around what Spoon quoted for 1st class a/c train car.  

Taxi is about 2,000.  (I just checked Grab and got a 2,250 quote.)

 

[Guest]

I've used the train over 10 times in Thailand and not yet booked in advance.   I'm intending to take a train tomorrow without booking as well.

I arrived in Hua Hin by train on my only visit so far and found it very comfortable, although I was travelling from the south.   Much more spacious and comfortable than those minivans.

SEAT61 is a good authority on trains, although his booking suggestion appears to be motivated by possible comissions, so I would ignore that.

[pong]

 its definitely the worst of the options-the road is much faster, as its the triangle-shape: on the iron roads you travel via the longer 2 sectors.

THE world wide site for any Qs re trains is seat61.com, but do realise its anti-bus.

To the Q'depends on the train and the comfort wished for. In fact 3d cl canNOT even be reserved in most trains. There is 1 morning train which is more like a bus on rails and has only AC 2nd cl. Must be reserved-that comes together automatic with the ticket. May sell out on busy days. Also for the views its worthless: windows are opaque and as soon as there is a ray of sun any decent Thai closes the curtains etc. There may-or may not now-still be some food offered-think of a 20 bt box of rice with a few chickenpieces.

From around 14.00 the overnight trains to the far south start running, these vary in what they offer and their prices. 1st cl. is totally unnecessary for that sector-its an enclosed 2 berth compartment with AC, meant for sleeping overnight. Remaining empty space for NOT overnight (thus to HH ) will only be sold on the day itself and is due to all the supllmts. very expensive for the distance and only available on a few crack premium trains. Its now fairly easy to book yourself on the site of the SRT=State Railways-again see seat61 for the details. Expect late arrivals of 30 mns to hours-its mostly still single track so trains must wait for all the delays coming from south up.

BIG bus is now much fewer as before and leaves from the faraway Sai Thai NEW Terminal along the western ring rd. This is VIP or 1st cl. and should be 1st choice-except for the nasty dep.point and few trips left.  2nd cl is now all VAN=minibus, often with terrific speeding and idiot drivers, TiTs after all and go very often -ev 20/30 mins all together from various terminals. Sites like busbud or rome2rio are notorious bad informed about things bus here in TH-often relying on data from 5-10 yrs ago.

Most people/tourists in fact use the direct bus from Swampy airport. There are also a few direct buses from Mochit terminal, these come from further north.

@909-good luck tomorrow, its stillChin.NwYr so many a transpo is mobbed out.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, pong said:

 @909-good luck tomorrow, its stillChin.NwYr so many a transpo is mobbed out.

The train I took yesterday had less than 1/4 of the seats filled, so I remain optimistic about tomorrow.  However, I am on the Northern line.   

When I travelled from Surat Thani to Hua Hin a few years back, the train was a very nice choice.   Good cruising speed and none of the slow stops that the crappy bus companies make.   The train did it faster than the google maps time for driving non-stop.  Thai busses usually stop to pick up passengers and for a 30 minute lunch break (sometimes 30 going on 50 min).  So much worse than the google non-stop driving time.

Travelling south from Bangkok, only the "Special Express" trains look like a candidate to Hua Hin.   The other trains look too slow.  So when you want to travel is a factor.

If travelling from the airport, taking the Roong Reung bus is an easy decision.   I've used them from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya and Hua Hin to Pattaya.  Both routes were direct, with none of the time wasting stops I have had on every other Thai bus company I have used.  The Hus Hin ==>Pattaya bus really was direct and only stopped once, for the driver to pee (2 minutes). 

However, for any bus from Bangkok centre to Hua Hin, it's only going to beat the faster train if the bus goes direct, without stopping about 4 times.  

Of course if someone can tell me how to find better bus companies every time, I'm listening.

Also, I usually find train travel to be more relaxing.

 

[Guest]

Update:  I strolled into the station about 30 minutes before departure and was able to reserve a window seat on the left side of the train, which I correctly figured would havd less direct sun.   About 30% of seats were empty (northern line,  obviously it's the southern line to Hua Hin),

Max speed was 120 km/h, which is something I have not yet seen on a Thai bus.   A very pleasant way to travel.  

I strongly suggest that if Michael's friends want to take the train, that's exactly what they should do.   It's only a short trip, not like the Trans Siberian.

I've probably travelled on over half of the Thai rail network now and find it very pleasant.   The possible exception was the line to Udon Thani, which is in the process of being upgraded and had large delays.

 

[vinapu]

any word when rail connection to Cambodia vie Poipet will be operational ?

[Guest]

10 hours ago, vinapu said:

any word when rail connection to Cambodia vie Poipet will be operational ?

A good question.

It seems Thailand now operates trains all the way to Ban Klong Luk at the border, so no need to take a Tuk Tuk from Aranya Prathet.   This also means I can no longer claim to have travelled the whole length of this line.

Also, info on rail services in Cambodia:

https://railtravelstation.com/royal-railway-cambodia/phnom-penh-poipet-line/

 

[Guest]

The line to Hua Hin is currently in the process of being upgraded to dual track.  This of course results in some low train speeds as they pass the construction sites.   So more like 20-60km/h than 100-120km/h.

Unless you are very patient, leaving the train experience until all the work is completed might be a good strategy.

[Guest]

For those of you with access to BBC2, Michael Portillo's latest excellent rail travel series is in Thailand for this evening's programme:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h9x8

 

 

[Nasherich]

4 hours ago, z909 said:

For those of you with access to BBC2, Michael Portillo's latest excellent rail travel series is in Thailand for this evening's programme:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h9x8

 

 

And very interesting it was too. Some new ideas for my next trip whenever that may be...

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, Nasherich said:

. Some new ideas for my next trip whenever that may be...

in May,  we just don't know in May of which year