These are my notes for doing the All the Lines Thailand Challenge. My aim is to take trains up and down all the lines in Thailand. I have worked it out that I will be able to complete this challenge in 14 days. I will spend at least 140 hours on 31 different trains. Total cost of tickets is estimated at 6,401 baht. I will have the cost of hotels on top of that. You can follow along live on social media. Click here for the map of the route.

DAY ONE: FRIDAY 8TH MARCH:

ORD No. 275	Bangkok – Ban Klong Border	05:55	11:17	5 hrs and 22 mins	฿45
ORD No. 276	Ban Klong Border – Chachoengsao	14:50	18:47	3 hrs and 57 mins	฿40

My first line will be completed on the first day. This is the Eastern Line between Bangkok and the Thai-Cambodian border. I have about three hours there to walk around and have lunch. I will then come part of the way back on the same train. I will get off at Chachoengsao Junction. I will stay the night at a hotel near the station.

DAY TWO: SATURDAY 9TH MARCH:

SP No. 997	Chachoengsao – Chuk Samet	08:02	10:10	2 hrs and 8 mins	฿90
ORD No. 284	Chuk Samet – Bangkok	13:05	18:15	5 hrs and 10 mins	฿40

On the second day, I will complete the Chuk Samet Branch Line along the Eastern Line that goes all the way down to Sattahip. I will take the weekend Sprinter train down to the end of the line. There I will have three hours for a leisurely lunch on the beach. I will then come back all the way to Bangkok. I will stay in a hotel near the station.

DAY THREE: SUNDAY 10TH MARCH:

SP No. 909	Bangkok – Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi	06:30	11:30	5 hrs and 0 mins	฿120
ORD No. 258	Nam Tok – Nakhon Pathom	13:00	16:23	3 hrs and 23 mins	฿100
COM No. 355	Nakhon Pathom – Suphanburi	18:16	20:15	1 hrs and 59 mins	฿20

Today is an early start. I will take the weekend tourist train to the end of the Nam Tok Branch Line in Kanchanaburi. Only this train goes all the way to the end. The train from Thonburi only goes as far as Nam Tok Station. I will have time to eat lunch at the waterfall. In theory I could come back on the same train, but I don’t want to miss my connection. So, I will come back early and get off in Nakhon Pathom. Here I have nearly two hours to wait for the once weekly train that will take me to the end of the Suphanburi Branch Line. I cannot miss this connection. I will stay at a hotel near the station.

DAY FOUR: MONDAY 11TH MARCH:

COM No. 356	Suphanburi – Nakhon Pathom	04:15	06:32	2 hrs and 17 mins	฿20
COM 1124	Nakhon Pathom – Thonburi	08:00	09:05	1 hrs and 5 mins	฿20
COM No. 317	Bangkok – Don Mueang	17:30	18:18	0 hrs and 48 mins	฿5
SP EXP No. 9	Don Mueang – Chiang Mai	18:55	07:15	12 hrs and 20 mins	฿1,033

The once a week Suphanburi train returns to Bangkok at the early hour of 4:15 a.m.  My train reaches Bangkok at 8:05 a.m. I then have nine hours before my next train. So, I will probably go home for a shower and a nap before coming back. I need to do the line from Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) to where it goes up onto the elevated tracks on the other side of Bang Sue Junction. I will probably go as far as Don Mueang Station where I will wait for my Chiang Mai train. I am then on my first sleeper train of the trip.

DAY FIVE: TUESDAY: 12TH MARCH:

LOC No. 408

Chiang Mai – Uttaradit

09:30

15:37

6 hrs and 7 mins

฿51

If my train is on time, I will arrive in Chiang Mai at 7:15 a.m. That completes the Northern Line for me. I should have plenty of time to have a shower in the station and eat some breakfast before catching the local train back down to Uttaradit. From here, I will be doing the branch line to Sawankhalok. Unfortunately, there is only one train a day and as I would have missed it already, I will stay in a hotel near the station.

DAY SIX: WEDNESDAY: 13TH MARCH:

LOC No. 405	Uttaradit – Sawankhalok	10:03	11:00	0 hrs and 57 mins	฿2
LOC No. 406	Sawankhalok – Uttaradit	11:35	12:37	1 hrs and 2 mins	฿2
SP EXP No. 8	Uttaradit – Krung Thep Aphiwat	13:29	18:56	5 hrs and 27 mins	฿429
SP EXP No. 23	Krung Thep Aphiwat – Ubon Ratchathani	21:05	06:35	9 hrs and 30 mins	฿979

I will have four trains today. The first one takes me to the end of the Sawankhalok Branch Line. That is now all of the lines in the north completed. I have about half an hour in Sawankhalok before the train comes back to Uttaradit. Hopefully my train is not delayed as I have less than an hour before my train back to Bangkok arrives. Once back at Krung Thep Aphiwat Station, I will have a couple of hours to take a shower and have dinner. I am then on the sleeper train to Ubon Ratchathani.

DAY SEVEN: THURSDAY: 14TH MARCH:

RAPID No. 136

Ubon Ratchathani – Nakhon Ratchasima

07:00

12:23

5 hrs and 23 mins

฿168

My sleeper train should arrive in Ubon at 6:35 a.m. This then completes the main Northeastern Line. I only have 25 minutes to catch my train back down to Nakhon Ratchasima. If I miss it, it is not a problem as I only have this one train today. I can catch No. 426 at 12:35 p.m. This will give me time to take a shower at the station and eat breakfast. Once in Nakhon Ratchasima, or maybe at the stop before at Thanon Chira Junction, I will spend the night at a hotel near the station.

DAY EIGHT: FRIDAY: 15TH MARCH:

LOCAL No. 415	Nakhon Ratchasima – Nong Khai	06:20	12:05	5 hrs and 45 mins	฿64
SP EXP No. 26	Nong Khai – Krung Thep Aphiwat	19:40	05:50	10 hrs and 10 mins	฿994

There are two routes to Nong Khai. Trains from Bangkok go past Pasak Chonlasit reservoir. However, I will go a different way from Nakhon Ratchasima. I will reach Nong Khai at around noon. I then have around seven hours before my next train. I am not sure what I will do yet yet. Then at 7:40 p.m. I will then catch the sleeper train back to Bangkok. This is my third night on a train on this trip.

DAY NINE: SATURDAY: 16TH MARCH:

COM No. 4341	Wongwian Yai – Maha Chai	07:40	08:39	0 hrs and 59 mins	฿10
COM No. 4383	Ban Laem – Mae Klong	10:10	11:10	1 hrs and 0 mins	฿10
RAPID No. 167	Krung Thep Aphiwat – Kantang	20:30	11:25	14 hrs and 55 mins	฿576

Once I have arrived back in Bangkok, I would have completed the Northeastern Line. As I have ten hours until my sleeper train down south, I will head over to Wongwian Yai Station to ride a train down the two halves of the Maeklong Railway. First to Samut Sakhon and then a boat across the river. Then another train to the end at Samut Sakhon. I will then probably catch a bus back to Bangkok. With luck, I might have time to go home to have a shower and get a change of clothes. Then it is back to Krung Thep Aphiwat Station for the sleeper train down to Kantang on the Southern Line. This will be two nights in a row on a sleeper train.

DAY TEN: SUNDAY: 17TH MARCH:

RAPID No. 168

Kantang – Thung Song Junction

14:15

16:01

1 hrs and 46 mins

฿20

On arrival, I would have completed the Kantang Branch Line. I will have a couple of hours here. No shower at this station but there are places to eat nearby. I will then catch the same train back but get off at Thun Song Junction on the main line. Unfortunately, there was a change in timetables recently. So, I will need to stay the night at a hotel near the station.

DAY ELEVEN: MONDAY: 18TH MARCH:

SP EXP No. 37	Thung Song Junction – Sungai Kolok	03:48	10:35	6 hrs and 47 mins	฿349
LOCAL No. 464	Sungai Kolok – Hat Yai Junction	12:40	16:50	4 hrs and 10 mins	฿42

It will be a very early morning train for me down to Sungai Kolok. But it will mean I can tick off the main Southern Line. I will just have to do three more branch lines before heading home. I will have only two hours there before heading back to Hat Yai Junction. I will then stay in a hotel near the station.

DAY TWELVE: TUESDAY: 19TH MARCH:

SP No. 947	Hat Yai Junction – Padang Besar	08:55	09:40	0 hrs and 45 mins	฿50
SP No. 948	Padang Besar – Hat Yai Junction	10:21	11:00	0 hrs and 39 mins	฿50
RAPID No. 172	Hat Yai Junction – Surat Thani	16:05	20:52	4 hrs and 47 mins	฿176

Today I will be able to tick off the Pedang Besar Branch Line. There are two stations with the same name. I will be going to the one on the Thai side of the border. Then I will wait for the train to cross back before heading back to Hat Yai. Then, later in the afternoon, I will catch the train up to Surat Thani where I will spend two nights near the station. I will have a couple of branch lines to do from here.

DAY THIRTEEN: WEDNESDAY: 20TH MARCH:

EXP No. 85	Surat Thani – Nakhon Si Thammarat	06:33	09:40	3 hrs and 7 mins	฿187
EXP No. 86	Nakhon Si Thammarat – Surat Thani	16:00	19:21	3 hrs and 21 mins	฿187

Today I will be catching the early morning train so I can tick off the Nakhon Si Thammarat Branch Line.  I will have about six hours there before catching the same train back to Surat Thani.

DAY FOURTEEN: THURSDAY: 21ST MARCH:

LOCAL No. 490	Khiri Rathanikom – Surat Thani	06:25	07:10	0 hrs and 45 mins	฿6
SP EXP No. 40	Surat Thani – Krung Thep Aphiwat	09:00	18:05	9 hrs and 5 mins	฿524

This is now my last day and my last branch line. Unfortunately, there is only one train a day and that goes in the evening. So, I will have to take an early morning taxi for about 800 baht to the end of the line. I will then catch the morning train back so I can tick off the Khiri Rathanikhom Branch Line. I then have about two hours before I catch the day train all the way back to Bangkok.

This then completes my 14 day challenge to ride trains along all the lines in Thailand. Will I then rest at home? Nope. The next day I am joining other rail fans to charter the Japanese sleeper carriage (red train) to head up to Northern Thailand. I will be taking my tent with me as we will be camping along the train line at Tha Chomphu Bridge for one night and two days. We will then take the same chartered carriage back to Bangkok. Then I will rest at home for a week.