Singapore to Chiang Mai by Train

7Bangkok to Chiang Mai

Trains to Chiang Mai depart from Hualamphong station several times a day. There are various classes of trains, depending on speed and seating so prices can vary quite considerably. Some trains, such as the Special Express, only have booked seats. This train is the fastest, which is to say it stops less often but it is still a twelve hour journey. It’s a small three carriage train, looking more like a local branch-line train than a long-distance express. Twelve hours is along time to be stuck in your seat, there isn’t much space to walk around and the food served by the hostess could pass as an airline meal without the style.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to break your journey at Sukhothai or Ayutthaya, ancient cities passed on the way and popular destinations in their own right, but if you must do it in one go and don’t mind missing the views then the evening train is a sleeper. However, the route to Chiang-Mai passes through some delightful country and it would be a pity to miss it by travelling through the night.

Once past the slums of Bangkok, the train jogs through some glorious farm land, paddy filled with flocks of egrets and beautifully kept stations. After about seven hours, you leave the plains near Phitsanaloke, and start climbing into the jungle covered hills which will eventually become the Himalayas. For several hours you hardly see any sign of human activity, it’s all trees and creepers.

The special express pulls into Chiang-Mai station around an hour after dark with still plenty of time to find a place to stay at the station accommodation counter before heading out to sample the local night-life.