Express No. 85: Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat

This is Express No. 85 train from Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat in Southern Thailand. This is an overnight sleeper that has a mixture of carriages depending on your budget. For example, 2nd and 3rd Class carriages with seats and fans start at 282 Baht and 1st and 2nd Class carriages with beds start at 725 Baht.

The train leaves Krung Thep Aphiwat Station at 7:50 p.m. and arrives in Nakhon Si Thammarat about 13 hours and 50 minutes later at 9:40 a.m. This is a popular train for people wanting to catch a boat to Samui and Koh Phan-Ngan. The train arrives in Surat Thani at 6:23 a.m. Another popular train is Rapid No. 167 that arrives at 7:16 a.m.

This train has a dining car though the food is expensive. However, there are also breakfast options when the train stops for ten minutes at Surat Thani at 6:23 a.m. and at Thung Song Junction at 8:30 a.m. You can track this train here which will tell you estimated arrival times for these stations. The return train is made by Express No. 86.

Scroll down for reviews left by people in our Facebook group Asian Train Guide.

TRAIN TIMETABLE

No.	STATION	Arr.	Dep.
1	Krung Thep Aphiwat	0:00	19:50
2	Bang Bamru	20:01	20:02
3	Sala Ya	20:22	20:23
4	Nakhon Pathom	20:50	20:52
5	Ban Pong	21:14	21:15
6	Rachaburi	21:47	21:57
7	Phetchaburi	22:41	22:46
8	Hua Hin	23:42	23:47
9	Wang Phong	12:08	12:09
10	Prachuap Khiri Khan	1:07	1:08
11	Bang Saphan Yai	2:11	2:12
12	Map Ammarit	2:50	2:51
13	Pathiu	3:08	3:09
14	Chumphon	3:43	3:53
15	Lang Suan	4:54	4:55
16	Chaiya	5:50	5:51
17	Surat Thani	6:23	6:33
18	Na San	7:07	7:08
19	Ban Song	7:25	7:26
20	Thanpho	7:47	7:48
21	Chawang	7:54	7:55
22	Khlong Chan Di	8:01	8:02
23	Na Bon	8:15	8:16
24	Thung Song Junction	8:30	8:40
25	Khao Chum Thong Junction	9:06	9:07
26	Ban Thung Lo	9:16	9:17
27	Khok Khram	9:22	9:23
28	Nakhon Si Thammarat	9:40

Timetable Updated: 20th February 2024

All times are subject to change, Please check with the station master where you bought your ticket or call 1690.

TICKET PRICES AND HOW TO BUY THEM

Tickets cost 455 Baht for seats in 2nd Class and 282 Baht for seats in 3rd Class. For the sleeper carriages, 2nd Class with A/C costs 755/825 Baht, and 1st Class with A/C costs 1,265/1,465 Baht or 1,965 Baht for single occupancy. The lower berths are always more expensive as they have windows and are slightly large. Tickets can be bought 30 days in advance from the official D-Ticket website. Some people have reported trouble using their credit cards on the official website and have told me they prefer the agency website such as 12GO which also have a better interface. For more information, please visit my How to Buy Train Tickets page.

PASSENGER REVIEWS:

Amber Shaw: We recently did the overnight journey on Express No. 85 from Bangkok to Surat Thani. I booked 90 days in advance as we wanted the privacy of 1st class and required two cabins as we had two children with us. The trains were just as we had expected. No frills way to travel. I saw a little of the journey in the dark before they came to make the beds, then woke up to get us all dressed to the morning sunrise which was lovely. We all managed to sleep, less for us adults as we were conscious the train stopped early and we needed to make a connection. They come round offering food in 1st class, and bring it to you. It was more pricey than the street vendors but still reasonable. The cabins are small but enough room for luggage and the beds were better than I expected. Only negative were the toilets although may be more about who is travelling. They were not overly clean and did smell by morning. Nothing more than public toilets in UK though! They were good enough to use and vacate quickly. We did not use the shower as they were located in the toilet, a wet room as such. Over all I would do the journey again. It was a novel way to spend a night whilst we made our way to Phuket from Bangkok.