Chiang Mai Advice

[Gaybutton]

There is a poster on one of the boards . . .

Folks, some of you seem to think mentioning the name of other boards is not permissible. Yes it is. There is no problem at all saying the name of the board you are referring to or providing a link to a specific post.

This board, Sawatdee, Gayguides, or any other board are not rival boards. The board owners work in conjunction with each other, not against each other. Moses, for example, owns the Sawatdee board. Without the help of Moses, this board probably would no longer even exist.

[christianpfc]

,...and plan to start our one week trek at the train station in Bangkok (whichever one that is).

Hua Lamphong is still the main railway station of Bangkok and Thailand. You will pass the huge construction site at Bang Sue which will become the main railway station in a few years.

You can start your journey at Hua Lamphong, or any other railway station that the train stops at.

I rode night trains, and to lesser extent night buses, many times in Thailand and now take sleeping pills, else I cannot fall asleep. From my experience, the train will arrive two hours late in Chiang Mai.

The dire public transport, and lack of reasonable priced individual transport, makes me visit Chiang Mai only rarely. One day I might get Grab/Ueber app and try it in Chiang Mai and Pattaya (where taxis ask outrageous rates, but at least there is cheap and abundant songtheo).

[firecat69]

I really can't imagine why anyone would punish themselves by taking a train to Chiang Mai. It has become so cheap to fly there . It is one of the true bargains in air transport. 2000 baht Round Trip BKK - Chiang Mai. That is not to say that there are not some train trips in the world that might be worthwhile but IMHO, this is not one of them.

Been 3 years since I have been to Chiang Mai but I always found once you got away from the airport , it was quite easy and inexpensive to hire a car and driver for a day of sightseeing. Of course everybody has their own parameters of what is reasonable.

[Gaybutton]

I really can't imagine why anyone would punish themselves by taking a train to Chiang Mai. It has become so cheap to fly there

I doubt that many who spend the money it takes just to go to Thailand are considering train travel to save money. I would be more inclined to think people are thinking about going by train simply for the experience of it.

Are there any amenities on the train, such as clean toilets, drinking water, food?

[Dodger]

I want to thank each of you for your input and the links you provided which are very helpful.

So far, just based on your input, I have tailored our plans to split our time between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, and now I'm actually thinking about flying versus taking the train. It never dawned on me, but I'm 6' 4" (192 cm) tall and it sounds like those sleeping births were designed more for hobbits, which would be pretty uncomfortable. We really wanted the experience riding the train and have heard that the scenery is great on the ride up - but that's too many hours to go without having circulation in my legs. So, thanks again for the details you provided.

The only thing I have firmly carved in the plan so far is a full day visit to Doi Inthanon National Park to enjoy the mountains, waterfalls, tribal villages, etc. A friend of mine showed me pictures of this place years ago and I've always had it on my "Must Do" list.

Thanks again.

[Gaybutton]

You might want to take a look at this site:

https://www.gay-in-chiangmai.com/

[ceejay]

The only thing I have firmly carved in the plan so far is a full day visit to Doi Inthanon National Park to enjoy the mountains, waterfalls, tribal villages, etc. A friend of mine showed me pictures of this place years ago and I've always had it on my "Must Do" list.

Thanks again.

A tip for this. Take warm clothes. Doi Inthanon, being the highest point in Thailand, is also the coldest. It can get down to 5 degrees C there, or even less.

A suggestion, if you are in CM on a Saturday, Sanpatong buffalo market:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_ ... =313930065
OK, it's on Trip Advisor now, but far enough outside town not to get many tourists. The last time I was there, I only saw 2 other farang (but that was 5 years ago.
It does not do it justice just to call it a buffalo market. It is huge. It even has it's own police station, which only opens on a Saturday. You can get anything you can think of there - there was even a fully equipped opticians when I went. It's nearly all Thai people, thousands of them, buying stuff they need.
You need to get up early and hire a car. Get there around 7.00 a.m. - it's a morning market.
Thinking about it, you could pass by there on the way to Doi Inthanon, so you could combine the two - but you would have a long day.

[Gaybutton]

It even has it's own police station, which only opens on a Saturday.

I didn't quite understand what you meant here. Is it the police station that only opens on Saturday or the market itself?

[ceejay]

It even has it's own police station, which only opens on a Saturday.

I didn't quite understand what you meant here. Is it the police station that only opens on Saturday or the market itself?

Thanks, I could have been clearer. The market only opens on Saturday and has its own police station which, I believe, is also only staffed on a Saturday.

When I was there last it also had - I don't know what you would call them - two pickup trucks,one on each side of the road, each decked out in religious paraphernalia, each with a monk enthroned on a fancy seat in the back, dispensing blessings.

[Jun]

In response to a few of the previous comments:

Personally, to answer Firecat, I would not "punish" myself by taking a sleeper all the way to Chiang Mai, as the sleeping arrangements look unsatisfactory and if it is mostly overnight, I wouldn't actually see that much. So the sightseeing is also a fail.
Neither would I go all the way there in daylight in one go, as it would drag on too much.

Rather, I would split the trip up and visit some other places on the way. That way, there would be perhaps 3 pleasant train journeys of a few hours.

I have been about 2/3rds of the way by train. A few years ago, I flew to Phitsanulok with Nok Air, then took their bus out to Sukhothai & had a nice time cycling around the ruins (worth seeing). Then back to Phitsanulok by bus & I took a very pleasant train down to Ayutthaya. I spent a couple of nights there & then took the train back to Bangkok.
This train was reasonably quick and cheap. I would take it over the bus any day. However, that was in December, which means the non-aircon trains were perfectly comfortable. If you're going to try this in a warmer season, it might be worth checking the timetable for aircon trains.

I thought the train service on this line was considerably better than the one going towards Nong Khai or Ubon Rachathani, both of which I have sampled early this year and need to write about.


The only time I have made it to Chiang Mai must be almost 10 years ago. I got there via Udon Thani (Nok Air), Nong Khai, Vientiane,Luang Prabang (bus), Huai Xai (2 day boat) & a bus to Chiang Mai. That's a well trodden tourist route, although I went in the opposite way to normal to avoid the crowds.
Then after a few days in Chiang Mai, a flight back to Bangkok.

As for facilities on trains, there is usually some kind of service providing food and water.

The toilets are perfectly adequate for stand up visits, which is all I have tried. If a longer visit becomes unavoidable, just remember there are always people who have had worse hardships. e.g. being forced to build a railway as POW slave labour.