All the Lines Thailand
These are my notes for doing the All the Lines Thailand Challenge. My aim is to take trains up and down all the lines in Thailand. I have worked it out that I will be able to complete this challenge in 14 days. I will spend at least 140 hours on 31 different trains. Total cost of tickets is estimated at 6,401 baht. I will have the cost of hotels on top of that. You can follow along live on social media. Click here for the map of the route.
DAY ONE: FRIDAY 8TH MARCH:
| ORD No. 275 | Bangkok – Ban Klong Border | 05:55 | 11:17 | 5 hrs and 22 mins | ฿45 |
| ORD No. 276 | Ban Klong Border – Chachoengsao | 14:50 | 18:47 | 3 hrs and 57 mins | ฿40 |
My first line will be completed on the first day. This is the Eastern Line between Bangkok and the Thai-Cambodian border. I have about three hours there to walk around and have lunch. I will then come part of the way back on the same train. I will get off at Chachoengsao Junction. I will stay the night at a hotel near the station.
DAY TWO: SATURDAY 9TH MARCH:
| SP No. 997 | Chachoengsao – Chuk Samet | 08:02 | 10:10 | 2 hrs and 8 mins | ฿90 |
| ORD No. 284 | Chuk Samet – Bangkok | 13:05 | 18:15 | 5 hrs and 10 mins | ฿40 |
On the second day, I will complete the Chuk Samet Branch Line along the Eastern Line that goes all the way down to Sattahip. I will take the weekend Sprinter train down to the end of the line. There I will have three hours for a leisurely lunch on the beach. I will then come back all the way to Bangkok. I will stay in a hotel near the station.
DAY THREE: SUNDAY 10TH MARCH:
| SP No. 909 | Bangkok – Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi | 06:30 | 11:30 | 5 hrs and 0 mins | ฿120 |
| ORD No. 258 | Nam Tok – Nakhon Pathom | 13:00 | 16:23 | 3 hrs and 23 mins | ฿100 |
| COM No. 355 | Nakhon Pathom – Suphanburi | 18:16 | 20:15 | 1 hrs and 59 mins | ฿20 |
Today is an early start. I will take the weekend tourist train to the end of the Nam Tok Branch Line in Kanchanaburi. Only this train goes all the way to the end. The train from Thonburi only goes as far as Nam Tok Station. I will have time to eat lunch at the waterfall. In theory I could come back on the same train, but I don’t want to miss my connection. So, I will come back early and get off in Nakhon Pathom. Here I have nearly two hours to wait for the once weekly train that will take me to the end of the Suphanburi Branch Line. I cannot miss this connection. I will stay at a hotel near the station.
DAY FOUR: MONDAY 11TH MARCH:
| COM No. 356 | Suphanburi – Nakhon Pathom | 04:15 | 06:32 | 2 hrs and 17 mins | ฿20 |
| COM 1124 | Nakhon Pathom – Thonburi | 08:00 | 09:05 | 1 hrs and 5 mins | ฿20 |
| COM No. 317 | Bangkok – Don Mueang | 17:30 | 18:18 | 0 hrs and 48 mins | ฿5 |
| SP EXP No. 9 | Don Mueang – Chiang Mai | 18:55 | 07:15 | 12 hrs and 20 mins | ฿1,033 |
The once a week Suphanburi train returns to Bangkok at the early hour of 4:15 a.m. My train reaches Bangkok at 8:05 a.m. I then have nine hours before my next train. So, I will probably go home for a shower and a nap before coming back. I need to do the line from Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) to where it goes up onto the elevated tracks on the other side of Bang Sue Junction. I will probably go as far as Don Mueang Station where I will wait for my Chiang Mai train. I am then on my first sleeper train of the trip.
DAY FIVE: TUESDAY: 12TH MARCH:
| LOC No. 408 | Chiang Mai – Uttaradit | 09:30 | 15:37 | 6 hrs and 7 mins | ฿51 |
If my train is on time, I will arrive in Chiang Mai at 7:15 a.m. That completes the Northern Line for me. I should have plenty of time to have a shower in the station and eat some breakfast before catching the local train back down to Uttaradit. From here, I will be doing the branch line to Sawankhalok. Unfortunately, there is only one train a day and as I would have missed it already, I will stay in a hotel near the station.
DAY SIX: WEDNESDAY: 13TH MARCH:
| LOC No. 405 | Uttaradit – Sawankhalok | 10:03 | 11:00 | 0 hrs and 57 mins | ฿2 |
| LOC No. 406 | Sawankhalok – Uttaradit | 11:35 | 12:37 | 1 hrs and 2 mins | ฿2 |
| SP EXP No. 8 | Uttaradit – Krung Thep Aphiwat | 13:29 | 18:56 | 5 hrs and 27 mins | ฿429 |
| SP EXP No. 23 | Krung Thep Aphiwat – Ubon Ratchathani | 21:05 | 06:35 | 9 hrs and 30 mins | ฿979 |
I will have four trains today. The first one takes me to the end of the Sawankhalok Branch Line. That is now all of the lines in the north completed. I have about half an hour in Sawankhalok before the train comes back to Uttaradit. Hopefully my train is not delayed as I have less than an hour before my train back to Bangkok arrives. Once back at Krung Thep Aphiwat Station, I will have a couple of hours to take a shower and have dinner. I am then on the sleeper train to Ubon Ratchathani.
DAY SEVEN: THURSDAY: 14TH MARCH:
| RAPID No. 136 | Ubon Ratchathani – Nakhon Ratchasima | 07:00 | 12:23 | 5 hrs and 23 mins | ฿168 |
My sleeper train should arrive in Ubon at 6:35 a.m. This then completes the main Northeastern Line. I only have 25 minutes to catch my train back down to Nakhon Ratchasima. If I miss it, it is not a problem as I only have this one train today. I can catch No. 426 at 12:35 p.m. This will give me time to take a shower at the station and eat breakfast. Once in Nakhon Ratchasima, or maybe at the stop before at Thanon Chira Junction, I will spend the night at a hotel near the station.
DAY EIGHT: FRIDAY: 15TH MARCH:
| LOCAL No. 415 | Nakhon Ratchasima – Nong Khai | 06:20 | 12:05 | 5 hrs and 45 mins | ฿64 |
| SP EXP No. 26 | Nong Khai – Krung Thep Aphiwat | 19:40 | 05:50 | 10 hrs and 10 mins | ฿994 |
There are two routes to Nong Khai. Trains from Bangkok go past Pasak Chonlasit reservoir. However, I will go a different way from Nakhon Ratchasima. I will reach Nong Khai at around noon. I then have around seven hours before my next train. I am not sure what I will do yet yet. Then at 7:40 p.m. I will then catch the sleeper train back to Bangkok. This is my third night on a train on this trip.
DAY NINE: SATURDAY: 16TH MARCH:
| COM No. 4341 | Wongwian Yai – Maha Chai | 07:40 | 08:39 | 0 hrs and 59 mins | ฿10 |
| COM No. 4383 | Ban Laem – Mae Klong | 10:10 | 11:10 | 1 hrs and 0 mins | ฿10 |
| RAPID No. 167 | Krung Thep Aphiwat – Kantang | 20:30 | 11:25 | 14 hrs and 55 mins | ฿576 |
Once I have arrived back in Bangkok, I would have completed the Northeastern Line. As I have ten hours until my sleeper train down south, I will head over to Wongwian Yai Station to ride a train down the two halves of the Maeklong Railway. First to Samut Sakhon and then a boat across the river. Then another train to the end at Samut Sakhon. I will then probably catch a bus back to Bangkok. With luck, I might have time to go home to have a shower and get a change of clothes. Then it is back to Krung Thep Aphiwat Station for the sleeper train down to Kantang on the Southern Line. This will be two nights in a row on a sleeper train.
DAY TEN: SUNDAY: 17TH MARCH:
| RAPID No. 168 | Kantang – Thung Song Junction | 14:15 | 16:01 | 1 hrs and 46 mins | ฿20 |
On arrival, I would have completed the Kantang Branch Line. I will have a couple of hours here. No shower at this station but there are places to eat nearby. I will then catch the same train back but get off at Thun Song Junction on the main line. Unfortunately, there was a change in timetables recently. So, I will need to stay the night at a hotel near the station.
DAY ELEVEN: MONDAY: 18TH MARCH:
| SP EXP No. 37 | Thung Song Junction – Sungai Kolok | 03:48 | 10:35 | 6 hrs and 47 mins | ฿349 |
| LOCAL No. 464 | Sungai Kolok – Hat Yai Junction | 12:40 | 16:50 | 4 hrs and 10 mins | ฿42 |
It will be a very early morning train for me down to Sungai Kolok. But it will mean I can tick off the main Southern Line. I will just have to do three more branch lines before heading home. I will have only two hours there before heading back to Hat Yai Junction. I will then stay in a hotel near the station.
DAY TWELVE: TUESDAY: 19TH MARCH:
| SP No. 947 | Hat Yai Junction – Padang Besar | 08:55 | 09:40 | 0 hrs and 45 mins | ฿50 |
| SP No. 948 | Padang Besar – Hat Yai Junction | 10:21 | 11:00 | 0 hrs and 39 mins | ฿50 |
| RAPID No. 172 | Hat Yai Junction – Surat Thani | 16:05 | 20:52 | 4 hrs and 47 mins | ฿176 |
Today I will be able to tick off the Pedang Besar Branch Line. There are two stations with the same name. I will be going to the one on the Thai side of the border. Then I will wait for the train to cross back before heading back to Hat Yai. Then, later in the afternoon, I will catch the train up to Surat Thani where I will spend two nights near the station. I will have a couple of branch lines to do from here.
DAY THIRTEEN: WEDNESDAY: 20TH MARCH:
| EXP No. 85 | Surat Thani – Nakhon Si Thammarat | 06:33 | 09:40 | 3 hrs and 7 mins | ฿187 |
| EXP No. 86 | Nakhon Si Thammarat – Surat Thani | 16:00 | 19:21 | 3 hrs and 21 mins | ฿187 |
Today I will be catching the early morning train so I can tick off the Nakhon Si Thammarat Branch Line. I will have about six hours there before catching the same train back to Surat Thani.
DAY FOURTEEN: THURSDAY: 21ST MARCH:
| LOCAL No. 490 | Khiri Rathanikom – Surat Thani | 06:25 | 07:10 | 0 hrs and 45 mins | ฿6 |
| SP EXP No. 40 | Surat Thani – Krung Thep Aphiwat | 09:00 | 18:05 | 9 hrs and 5 mins | ฿524 |
This is now my last day and my last branch line. Unfortunately, there is only one train a day and that goes in the evening. So, I will have to take an early morning taxi for about 800 baht to the end of the line. I will then catch the morning train back so I can tick off the Khiri Rathanikhom Branch Line. I then have about two hours before I catch the day train all the way back to Bangkok.
This then completes my 14 day challenge to ride trains along all the lines in Thailand. Will I then rest at home? Nope. The next day I am joining other rail fans to charter the Japanese sleeper carriage (red train) to head up to Northern Thailand. I will be taking my tent with me as we will be camping along the train line at Tha Chomphu Bridge for one night and two days. We will then take the same chartered carriage back to Bangkok. Then I will rest at home for a week.