The train to PakChong

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I know this seems a little extravagant for a blog entry about a train journey but this train journey deserves a blog entry, and I would highly recommend the train from Bangkok to Pak Chong if you ever need to travel between these two places, or even if you don’t!

We got 3^rd class tickets on the train which cost less than a pound, though for a short journey of 3hrs 3^rd class does you well! The carriage was the set up of a normal train carriage however the seats were wooden benches and the windows were wooden shutters. At the far end was a section reserved for monks, who as a group of people are marvelous to watch as they just go about their normal lives, laughing and chatting with each other, going out for cigarettes or negotiating prices of eggs with the people selling things on the train, they weren’t doing anything unusual except I am just not use to seeing them in the real world.

The team of sellers on the train sported pink t-shirts saying “advanced marketing team” which made us laugh initially as their system of sales didn’t look very advanced at all. In retrospect I have to agree with their t-shirts as due to the sheer volume of goods they sold they had to actually be the most advanced group of people who sell things on trains I have ever seen! The team pretty much sold everything, starting with common snacks and drinks as you would expect, going on to more fancy snack like pot noodles, then moving on to fruit and veg which you would buy from the market, fried insects, boxes of cakes and then eventually moving on to a man selling an eclectic range of toys.

We bonded early with the advanced marketing team as we tried to get photos of their t-shirts, they would retaliate by pressing ice against our skin, by the end of the trip they were taking great delight in displaying their goods as we just sat in awe of their selection. As the train got further away from Bangkok the atmosphere on the carriage returned to lighthearted and jovial.

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Comments

[David Fosdal]

love 3rd class train
I took a 7 hr train ride in 3rd class in 2007--loved it--luckily I had a travel pillow. To me this yet another great way to meet and greet the Local Thais. It seemed as tho there was someone selling something about every 2-3 minutes--really good if you need a drink or packaged food like chips but would never eat anything else on these trains-the second half of my trip was 2nd class and was not a third as enjoyable

[IPF]

Thanks for comment
Haha, yeah i didn't end up buying any of the eggs or insects, although i have bought them from the markets and they taste surprisingly good, but I am a sucker for chicken on a stick so when that came round it was an investment I had to make :o)