Third Class Train Travel from Bangkok to Phuket

Do you need to get from Vietnam to Bangkok to Surat Thani to Phuket to Koh Phi Phi? Here’s how you probably shouldn’t do it.

What’s third-class train travel like in Thailand?

I’m all for intrepid travel, but I wasn’t expecting third-class train compartments in South East Asia to be quite so horrific. We chose Koh Phi Phi as our last stop in our three month expedition, a place to unwind after all that strenuous travelling – but first we had to get there from the North of Vietnam.

C and I had slept on a catamaran in the Whitsunday Islands, in tents on Fraser Island, in shared dorms in New Zealand, the back of a taxi with a man named Banana in Cambodia and on 15 hour sleeper buses in Thailand.

We had done every mode of transport from tuk tuks to airplanes, but the overnight journey from Bangkok Hualamphong train station to Koh Phi Phi island was one experience with transit I’ll never forget.

Vietnam to Bangkok flight

After a cruise around Halong Bay, we caught a flight from Vietnam back to Bangkok (which was never my favourite city). The in-flight magazine had some odd advice on mile-high etiquette.

Back in the Land of Smiles! Unfortunately we still had a long way to go to get to Koh Phi Phi. All I wanted was a picture of me, in a bikini, in front of a long boat – and then I could go home.

Bangkok to Surat Thani by train

After landing in Bangkok, we went to the train station to buy a ticket back to the gulf. There were a few options with different pricing. Did we want aircon? A bed? Ha.

The only tickets they had left were third class, but we could buy a combined train and bus ticket that would get us all the way to Phuket. It turns out you can’t buy tourist tickets at the station. Conversely, they don’t list third-class tickets online.

How bad could it really be?

The train wasn’t scheduled to leave for a few hours, so we sat on the floor in the train station, rising to mouth the national anthem every hour, and munching a bag of Dairy Milk that had cost us about £8. When you need a chocolate fix, it’s worth it.

The train looked like a tin can. We had allotted seats opposite each other so tried to stretch out on the hard wooden benches, thinking we had the two seats to ourselves. Nah. We were sharing.

The carriage quickly filled up and I ended up asleep on the hard floor, with cockroaches and crying babies crawling all over me. Imagine bringing a child on that trip!

I forgot that in Thai culture, people generally don’t like to step over people out of respect, and caused quite a pile-up when I was sprawled out in the aisle.

The journey took around eight hours. I stepped over tangled limbs to use the bathroom at one point, took one look at the hole in the floor and changed my mind.

A butterfly landed on a sleeping lady’s foot, so that was nice. A brief moment of beauty in an otherwise tedious ordeal.

Surat Thani to Phuket

We finally alighted the death train, and waited around in Surat Thani for a long time with no idea if anybody was coming for us. Oh Thailand.

Eventually, a minivan turned up and the driver tried to convince us our ticket wasn’t valid. Definitely a scam, because we remained insistent and he eventually gave in, grudgingly handing us our bright orange stickers that got us our seats.

We settled in for the four-hour drive. This air-conditioned bus felt like the lap of luxury after the tin can.

Phuket to Koh Phi Phi

After our super friendly bus ride we got a 90-minute ferry to Koh Phi Phi from Phuket. The ferry to the island sails from Phuket at 08:30 and 13:30, and the views made it clear we were heading towards paradise.

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