Why Thailand’s Trains Are Back on Track

This is an interview I did in 2023 with Colin Hastings from the Big Chilli about my love of trains and rail travel in Thailand.

Exciting times ahead for Thailand’s trains, says top blogger Richard Barrow
By Colin Hastings
The Big Chilli

For more than 130 years, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has chugged along merrily and mostly rather uneventfully, while being largely ignored by Thais who see it as inefficient with trains that are forever late, but adored by foreign visitors who’ve always relished its quirkiness.

That’s all about to change, however, with exciting though probably less quirky times ahead for this giant government monopoly.

So says Richard Barrow, Thailand’s foremost expat blogger, a 30-year veteran of this country who’s been writing about travel and life in general for most of that time. It’s won him a huge international following, surpassing several major media companies, and even a British royal accolade.

In recent years, this gently spoken 55-year-old Englishman has turned his attention to Thailand’s rail and train system, exploring mostly at first hand the SRT’s surprisingly extensive network and telling the world about its services, special excursions and historic steam trains and locomotives.

The “exciting times” Richard mentions revolve around the government’s hugely ambitious yet little known 33-billion-baht rehabilitation plan that envisages SRT becoming the largest railway state enterprise in ASEAN.

To publicize his travels and unique insight, Richard has launched a series of booklets for passengers containing stacks of fascinating and normally hard-to-find information about Thailand’s rail network.

Published monthly in English as ‘Richard Barrow’s Thai Train Guide’ these user-friendly publications are essential for train enthusiasts. They’re available free online.

A recent edition focused on Bangkok’s new train station, Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, featuring just about everything you need to know about this enormous structure, including how to get there, maps showing food courts and shops, departure and arrival boards, buying a ticket, and even how to board a train. “Hopefully, by the end of 2023 I will be able to put together a complete guide book on train travel in Thailand and Southeast Asia. My inspiration is the Bradshaw guide, which was a kind of bible for rail travellers in the UK and Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries,” explains Richard.

Curiously, there’s no Thai language equivalent, which doesn’t surprise Richard, who often suggests that debt-ridden SRT (currently estimated at nearly 190 billion baht) as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) are missing a golden opportunity to promote one of this country’s most attractive assets, boost tourism, and reverse the fall in passenger numbers.

Richard’s passion for trains knows no bounds. He spends most of his spare time travelling somewhere by train, stopping off to gather more knowledge about local towns and what they have to offer.

He writes: “A slower and more of a local experience is the growing trend among travellers. People no longer want to rush to their destination but rather have more of a meaningful experience during the journey.

“My Thai Train Guides promote slow and sustainable travel by train across the kingdom. Instead of flying, or sitting in a bus speeding down a highway, why not take a slow train where you can interact with locals and immerse yourself in the passing scenery? At the same time, you will be helping to reduce the carbon footprint of your trip.”

Born in Kent, England, in a family of tenant farmers, Richard’s first job was a film editor for the BBC. “Although I commuted from home to work by train, I was never that interested in trains or trainspotting. In fact, I was a film buff.”

He arrived in Thailand in 1994 for a two-week stay on the invitation of two Thai sisters his mother had met while she was running a scout commissioner course in London that they had joined. “They kept in touch and my mother suggested that I should stay with them.”

Australia was his next stop, but not for long, as the sisters invited him back to Bangkok to run the computer department for their privately owned school, Sriwittayapaknam, in the southern Bangkok suburb of Samut Prakan. He accepted their invitation and has been there ever since.

Soon it became apparent that the local social media scene needed an independent English language reporter. Richard took up the challenge. “I believe I was one of the first bloggers in Thailand when I set up a travel website in 1997. I set out to report on a combination of tourism and trains.”

“At school, I wanted to be a photo journalist, using photos to tell a story.

“I had always dreamed of doing live uploads – quite literally, everything I did, everything live. People feel they are there with you. Although it is extremely exhausting, having to deal with constant inquiries, it is my trademark and I will continue. I like the idea of bringing people along as virtual tourists.”

Richard first caught the public’s attention during the mass political protests in Bangkok 2010, when most foreigners in Thailand had little idea about what was going on. Fluent in both reading and writing Thai, Richard was able to tweet an English translation of the latest updates on the situation from local sources. He was hours ahead of the country’s two main English language newspapers, the Bangkok Post and The Nation. Interestingly, his followers included a great number of Thais.

He gained further prominence during the Covid pandemic when, almost exclusively, his blog carried the latest news on the pandemic, again, way ahead of other English language media in Thailand.

His work over the years has been recognised by his mother country with a prestigious award – the British Empire Medal (BEM) – for helping fellow Brits and other foreigners in Thailand. Richard admits the British Embassy in Bangkok played a role in highlighting his work back in the UK and earning this accolade.
Actually, it’s not the first award his family has received – Richard’s father received an MBE (Member of the British Empire) for his work in scouting.

But his social media presence in Thailand hasn’t always been appreciated. When Richard posted news about the air pollution in Chiang Mai earlier this year, the TAT was unhappy. When he reported on Thai politics, he was accused of bias.

“I report on the good, the bad and the ugly,” says Richard. “I have no agendas. People believe me. And that’s why I have a lot of Thai followers.

“Today I have nearly as many followers as the Bangkok Post.”
Can he make a living through his work on social media? “I want to keep it as a hobby,” he says. “When it’s paid-for, things change.

“If, for example, I’m invited for a complimentary stay at a hotel, I tell them that I will devote five per cent of my report to the hotel, and the rest to the destination. That’s it. Hotels usually agree.
“If a hotel invites me or wants to pay me because they see me as some kind of influencer, I delete them.”

The government’s plan to rehabilitate the country’s rail network is comprehensive, with double tracks for all the major routes, new tunnels and viaducts 55m high spanning valleys and offering spectacular views of the countryside.

Passenger capacity will double, while freight capacity will increase three-fold. By 2037, the network length is expected grow by 60 per cent with routes added to tourist destinations and border towns.
Bangkok’s new main train terminus, known officially as Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal (and also called, somewhat confusingly, Bang Sue Grand Station), has taken over from the dated but elegant Hua Lamphong station as the start and finish point for most long-distance train services in Thailand. The new station is Southeast Asia’s largest train station.

High speed trains are coming to Thailand, the first being the Bangkok–Nong Khai high-speed railway. The first phase, between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, is expected to open in 2026. The rest of the line is expected to be operational by 2028. The railway is seen as a major connection along the Kunming–Singapore railway central line. Another high-speed train initiative links Thailand’s three international airports, but is progressing slowly.

Richard’s sponsor 12Go.asia makes it possible to offer his Thai Train Guides as free downloads. Use their popular website to book seats for trains, buses, ferries, and flights in Asia. www.ThaiTrainGuide.com