The helpful staff at the Hualmphong information desk did the station proud. Considering my rather vague notion of where I wanted to end up, they clarified things quickly. Surat Thani was indeed the stop I needed to get to the south western islands around Krabi, and it didn’t take long to sort out the details.

Sleepers were the way ahead, and quite popular, it seemed, as the first available berth wasn’t for a couple of days. I went for a 2nd class sleeper (with fan, not air con) and a bottom bunk. You pay an extra couple of bucks for the bottom bunk but it’s seems well worth it as it’s a bit cooler (worth considering if you’re fan not aircon) and you also get a 13-stone-westerner sized bed instead of an oriental perch. For me, at least, it was the way to go.

With my chosen departure (the sleepers left frequently from early afternoon through into the evening), the 12-hour trip would get me in at around 6am – when the east west busses have kicked in for their days work. If all went well I’d hit the beach (whichever one that turns out to be) by nightfall. It could not have worked out better.
The ticket described above cost 508 Baht, about 17 bucks, and the air conditioned version came in at around 200 hundred Baht more. Still pretty cheap for a 500km* journey – particularly when you consider that you’re getting a free nights’ accommodation thrown into the bargain (Recommended Retail Price 200 Baht, subject to cockroaches, conditions may apply.)

*Distance approximate. Worked out using Nath’s fat fingers on a tatty map.

Since I didn’t fancy getting caught in the early evening rain on the return journey (and I really couldn’t be arsed walking for another pair of hours and didn’t want to shell out 50 Baht for a Tuk Tuk – or more for a taxi) I went looking for a bus back. It didn’t take long at all to sniff out the bus stop. Although the local city bus network seems a bit confusing as first, people are so helpful around here that it doesn’t take long for you to be put on the right track.

I ended up getting a regular city bus straight back to Khao San Road. I say straight back, but in reality it went around the houses – but at least without changes. If anything, it served more as a cheapskate sightseeing tour than an A to B bus journey. Like a geek, I followed its progress on my airport city map and can tell you we went through Chinatown, past the thieves market, through the sweet smelling flower market (no windows in the bus), up past Wat Pho and the Grand Temple complex, past the stadium and the park and then back ‘home’ . A one way trip cost 7 Baht, or about 20 cents.

If that’s all a bit too much to take in, I’ve almost finished plotting the places to get on and off (both directions with colours, numbers and prices of relevant busses in info bubbles), Khao San Road, Hualamphong Train Station and a few of the sights on the way (should you want to jump off and check them out) on a little map. Once its completed I’ll post the link here and probably on the site homepage too. Once they’re up you’ll be able to Login to check out this and the other interactive maps. If you don’t have an account yet, you can get a free one here.

There are only a few points on the maps right now, but as I find good deals and handy info I’ll be adding more regularly. Decent eats, good value digs, and random transport info etc will all be going onto the maps.

Just out of curiosity, upon my return I checked the price of the same berth on the same train etc with a few KSR travel agents. They were all charging at least 20% booking/handling fee on top of the station ticket price (after adding in the round trip bus fare).

Anyway, now you’ve got the facts n figures and the way to go about saving money by getting Bangkok train tickets at source – which in theory should be standard for any train trip out of Bangkok’s Hualamphong station – it’s over to you.

If you’re heading to Bangkok shortly – or know someone else who is – and think this post may be useful, feel free to bookmark it or pass it on. If it helps save someone time and/or travel funds then it was worth me taking the time to sit down and write it.

Oh, and here’s a map with the khao san/Hualamphong bus route details.