Do they really want this to work

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Dale1
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Do they really want this to work

Post by Dale1 »

Why would any tourist want to get up very early to catch a 6:30 am train when there are so many other alternative ways to get from BKK to Pattaya ... at least it could be late morning with the return scheduled as is ... then there is also the point that the train station is way over on the dark side making it particularly inconvenient for a large majority of potential users.
windwalker

Re: Do they really want this to work

Post by windwalker »

Very inexpensive way to travel if not in a hurry.
Dodger
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Re: Do they really want this to work

Post by Dodger »

Riding the rail to and from any location in Thailand can provide some nice eye candy, as well as the possibility for a spontaneous meeting with someone totally unexpected.

The last time I hopped a train was the Death Railway from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi some years back. It really sucked at first because there was no AC, it was noisy as hell and I think I spotted a snail passing us up at one point, but than things changed for the better.

Before making it out of Bangkok the train stopped at another small station to pick up more passengers. My boy radar was in the "on" position as always and I spotted this cute boy shuffling his way though the crowd causing me to strain my neck trying to see over the other passengers. He was a bit tall for a Thai, longish brown hair, slender build, cute as they come, wearing baggy short pants and toting a small backpack. My eyes stayed glued to him as he walked down the isle towards where I was seated, and as luck would have it he spotted me staring at him. Having very little choice as to where to sit he took one of the last available seats directly across from me...yeah!

After a few glances and polite smiles we started talking. He spoke limited English but was I was able to comprehend the fact that his name was Pawn and he was attending a school in BKK and returned home (Kachanaburi) routinely on weekends. ( Note, that I was later to learn that he in fact was not attending school in BKK but rather worked odd's n' ends earning money as well as the fact that he was Vietnamese). Odd n' ends seems to be a tasteful way of describing his chosen livelihood.

I've always been terrible at guessing age but noticed that he had no hair whatsoever on his legs...a few pimples on his cheeks reminiscent of a teenager, and his backpack was a mix of pink and yellow colors more reflective of something a younger person (or girl) would have. I couldn't get over his adorable smile and good looks which motivated me to get to know him better. (I was later to learn that he was, at least from his own disclosure, 18 years old)...who the hell knows.

Having referenced the term "Later" twice so far, later came when we linked up at a karaoke bar in Kanchanaburi later that night. As planned he showed up with a few of his friends where I hosted a night of fairly heavy drinking and of course getting to know him better primarily through the art of incessant groping and fondling. We said goodbye to his friends at about 2:00 AM and took a taxi to the houseboat on the River Kuai which I had rented for two nights. Unfortunately, he got sick as a dog that night due to his over indulgence with the 100 Pipers - but the next day and night were more than I could have hoped for.

He wanted to head back to Pattaya with me for a short visit but I had someone staying with me in my room at View Talay at the time so that was off the list for the time being. We did manage to get together on two more occasions during short rendezvous's in BKK during my next holiday and stayed in touch via e:mail for about a year or so. Meeting him was just one of those great memories to be cherished.

Riding a rickety train can be slow - uncomfortable - and inconvenient - but you just never know where it may lead you...choo...choo
gerefan
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Re: Do they really want this to work

Post by gerefan »

Dale1 wrote:Why would any tourist want to get up very early to catch a 6:30 am train when there are so many other alternative ways to get from BKK to Pattaya ... at least it could be late morning with the return scheduled as is ... then there is also the point that the train station is way over on the dark side making it particularly inconvenient for a large majority of potential users.

The train timetable is geared to get children to school and workers to the city, in time for normal office hours.

It’s not aimed at tourists as at all.

The Railway, like many others, had to be built on the flattest, straightest course avaialble, so it did not follow the coast. It was probably built long before Pattaya City existed.
pong
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Re: Do they really want this to work

Post by pong »

NO-that was not. it was primarily built to connect the main container port=Laem Chabang, just north of Patters, to the country-''wide'' rails. The branch to UTapao airport-nearby, was later built (somehow I recall mid 70ies) to transport oil/kerosene to that airport-as this also was the case for DMK-at that time the main INTernat. airport.
Passenger trains were only laid on much, much later (my guess: late 80ies/early 90ies), just 1/day, at times not convenient to anyone, esp. not schoolkids, at fist daily, later curtailed for this sideline to only mo-fr with some adapted times. Trains (just a single 2car-dieselset) are fairly often cancelled if there are too many borken sets or no staff at hand-making it also inconvenient for schoolkids.
Its a common feature of ALL Thai public transport to start very, very early (in BKK the citybuses start running daytime service from 4.00 from the garages) and to stop by dusk-with some majoer lines ad In BKK the exception. This also applies f.e. to the more frequent local commuter trains on the BKk-Chachoengsao line, of which that to PTY branches off. Actually its quite a joy to speed in a nearly empty bus thorugh the still dark BKK streets by 5.00 (yes, AM for nonplused norte americanos, who cannot understand a single worldwide measure). You can do in 12 mins what can take > 2 hrs in the worst of the PM-peak. Oh-and I've been approached indecently quite a few times in BKK's citybuses and once also had a quite indecent proposal in a local train-years ago. I will not say MeTOo for that.
Jun

Re: Do they really want this to work

Post by Jun »

What I have seen of the Thai train network is an odd mix.

The train from places like Phitsanulok & Ayyuthaya to Bangkok is a cheap & comfortable way to travel, probably lot faster than the buses. Think my GPS showed it doing over 75mph, which is not Shinkansen territory, but likely to be faster than any bus. Certainly more pleasant.

The train from Surat Thani to Hua Hin is again swift, comfortable & relaxing, except the timetable seems to have most of the northbound trains at obscene times & southbound ones in the day time. Thankfully there was one northbound train at about 10:39. Hua Hin to Bangkok didn't have any northbound trains at a time I considered civilized.

As for Bangkok to Pattaya, I fail to see why anyone would get to Hua Lamphong before 7:00 am to turn this trip into a 4 hour 25min journey. Well, other than the extremely poor.
If they started at about 12:00, it would be a perfect novelty trip. Have a morning coffee, check out of the hotel, meander down to Pattaya by train & arrive in Pattaya late enough to check in to a hotel.
Dodger
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Re: Do they really want this to work

Post by Dodger »

pong wrote:Oh-and I've been approached indecently quite a few times in BKK's citybuses and once also had a quite indecent proposal in a local train-years ago. I will not say MeTOo for that.
I don't have any problem with indecent proposals...but it's usually me who's making them... :lol:
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