Join us as we travel from Bangkok to the south of Thailand on the sleeper train with the kids. An exciting new form of transport or a disaster to be avoided??!
When the flights from Bangkok to Krabi (to access Koh Lanta) were coming up at over £400 for us, we knew we had to look into other options. And the night train from Bangkok to Trang seemed reasonable and we were all quite excited at a new experience and way to travel.
We booked our tickets online for £20 per person (no child discounts) for a 2nd class sleeper (lie flat bed) and air con. Here’s our top tips to make it a success. Whilst this blog covers the Bangkok to Trang experience, I’m confident most Thai night trains would be the same!
Our train departed from Bangkok at 8.30pm and we opted to arrive at the station for 7.30pm. The station itself is like an airport with a food court so we stocked up on snacks and ate before boarding. There’s not security checks so you wouldn’t need to leave as long if you didn’t want to.
Boarding took place 20 minutes before departure, with a steady plod through the gates to our train and carriage.
On boarding we each had a bed which was already made up for the night, with a blanket, pillow and privacy curtain. We got ourselves settled just as the train departed the city. The bedding was impeccably clean, but the cabin was a bit more rustic! But it was more than fine!
We weren’t in a private cabin for the 4 of us, so one of us did choose to sleep with Nyle but we had enough space and there are storage areas for luggage separate to your bed area. The bathroom was more than survivable – although note, whilst it is a western style toilet but the waste just falls through onto the track! There is a sink outside the bathroom as well.
Bring warm clothes with you as the aircon was strong – we all ended up in our jumpers and wished we had an extra blanket it was that strong – so keep your warm clothes accessible!
Also stock up on snacks and drinks as there is no canteen or restaurant carriage. Locals do board the train at each station with their offerings of food and drink, but a lot of it was unidentifiable and they don’t speak much / any English. We did take some chopped mango in the morning which was very welcome.
The beds themselves offer a comfy experience. The wobble of the train will lull you to sleep and both our kids slept from 10.30pm until 8am, Nyle even longer. As parents we had less sleep mainly because we were cold, or whenever the train stopped at a station (which happened all night) there was a bit of a jolt. But I’ve been on worse and we would definitely travel this way again.
It’s also worth noting there are very limited plugs onboard so make sure all your devices are fully charged! The one plug in our cabin had been taken over by someone with they rice cooker!!
In the morning, once you are awake and up, the staff come and convert your bed into chairs and tables. There’s no rush to get up as they start with the beds that were vacated by passengers through the night, so we lounged in bed watching the scenery and world go by for a while.
We arrived into Trang at 11am, right on time. Depending on your next destination, the chances are you will need to get to the bus station which cost us 100 baht and took 15 minutes in a tuk tuk across town. Trang bus station doesn’t offer much so don’t expect to get a full meal before boarding the bus to your next destination. We would also advise booking your onward bus online before arriving at the bus station.
On the topic of booking, do book your sleeper train in advance as they book up very early, especially if you want a bed / sleeper cabin! Definitely not a form of transport you can just rock up at the station and expect to walk onto! We booked our tickets through 12Go: Book Trains, Buses, Ferries, Transfers & Flights and it worked fine and the confirmation came through on a PDF. We booked the train and bus this way under separate bookings.
All in all, it was good fun, a different experience, the kids enjoyed it and learned another form of transport and way of life, and we would totally do it again to save money and spice up our travel adventure – let’s face it, airports and planes do get a bit monotonous after a while!
