Thai – Malaysia Border
8 July 2019.
I planned to spend the entire day shopping in Bangkok today and move to another Guesthouse closer to the Hua Lamphong Train Station in view of my overnight train to Malaysia the next day. Since the Terminal Station for Bus 49 is Hua Lamphong itself, I conveniently boarded it at the same bus station in the morning.
Bus 49 to Hua Lamphong Station. 0954 hr.
Haircut Service at Hua Lamphong Station. 1043 hr. My next guesthouse near the Train Station, 3o0 baht per night.
Lunch, 1155 hr.
Spent the entire day shopping at Pratunam. 1208 hr.
9 July 2019.
As my train only leaves in the afternoon, I decided to spend my morning at Pratunam which could be reached from Hua Lamphong train station by bus 113. Instead of leaving my backpack at the hostel, I decided to try out the train station’s leave luggage service. The receptionist took one look at my backpack and punched out 80 baht on his calculator. They were full house, my backpack was squeezed near the front desk with dozens of other backpacks, any person entering the space could easily access these luggages. No one would probably take it however, in future, I might consider leaving my backpack at the hostel for free instead although it will mean returning earlier to pick it up.
Leaving my backpack at Hua Lamphong Station before proceeding to eat long one of the small streets.
Impromptu decision to return to Pratunam for some last minute shhopping. 1153 hr.
Returning to Hua Lamphong early afternoon, I had my printed ticket which would serve as my boarding pass on the train. There are bathing facilities at the train station where you can shower for 10 baht. Almost everyone carried little bags of fresh fruits and chips for their respective train journeys though you can also buy street food from vendors who would board your train as you travel down Southern Thailand in approximately 18 hours.
Bought some grilled pork with sticky rice before boarding the overnight train. 1444 hr.
When booking your tickets for the second class berth, you can choose between an upper or lower berth. The lower berth costs 960 baht, a little more than the upper berth’s cost of 870 baht however, that additional 90 baht buys you the privilege of having a wide window screen to watch passing landscapes from. Both the upper and lower berth passenger would sit facing one another in the day time till around 1830 when the steward would come down the aisle to convert these makeshift seats into beds. The upper berth passenger will then have to retire to their space at the top, which is unfortunately without windows.
Pillows and fresh sheets are stored in the foldable upper berth which the steward unlocks in the process of making our beds.
With the bed made, the rest of the ride was extremely pleasant with the warmth of the provided blanket and privacy of the blue curtains. The train restaurant in the eighth carriage sold dinner sets, as well as hot water for 5 Baht. It would be better to either buy one’s dinner beforehand at Hua Lamphong or from the street vendors who board the train at intervals as a mama cup noodle from the train restaurant costs 30 baht, lays chips 35 baht and small drink packets sell for 15 to 20 baht each. The service was exceptional though, I had bought hot water for my cup noodle and they used plastic cling wrap to secure the aluminium foil lid to prevent the hot water from spilling out.
Left: Muu Bing snack bought from a vendor for 20 baht, 1807 hr. Middle: Restaurant Carriage. Right: Packing my cup noodle dinner, 2013 hr.