When in Thailand, there are two primary ways to travel long distance from one city to another: fly, or take the train. I chose the latter.

Despite loving to travel, I’m not a big fan of flying. To avoid that and experience something new, I decided to take a sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and back, despite it somehow being more expensive than flying.

A flight to Chiang Mai from Bangkok is only about an hour, while a train ride is about 14 hours. Yikes. However, I don’t regret my choice. Here’s my overall experience, from booking the tickets to sleeping and arrival.

Booking the tickets

I booked train tickets on 12Go Asia which I found to be the only site selling tickets. Navigating which train I wanted to take was a little tricky, as I had to figure out the names of the train stations first. I actually ended up choosing the wrong Bangkok station to get off at for the way back (there are 2! Hua Lamphong and Bang Sue), but I’m sure they would have let me stay on until I got where I needed to go.

My tickets cost a little over $50 on average, for a total of $100 to Chiang Mai and back. This was definitely pricey, but that’s because I paid for a more “luxurious” train. I also had private room with two bunks to share with a stranger as opposed to sharing an entire car of bunks with lots of strangers. I booked wayyy in advance because apparently trains fill up fast, especially if you want to book a private room on a first class sleeper like I did.

For both rides, I picked up my tickets at the 12Go Asia office across the road from the train stations, rather than picking them up at the stations themselves. It was a little nerve-wracking trying to find the offices on a time crunch, especially because the Chiang Mai location wasn’t advertised as a 12Go Asia office. However, once I had the tickets in hand everything went smoothly. (I’m just now realizing they had exterior photos of the pickup locations on the receipts…)

The Train to Chiang Mai

Boarding

I boarded the train at Bangkok’s current main station, Hua Lamphong (which is sadly being retired), at around 5 p.m. The ticket clearly showed the boarding time, but they also had screens in English to note if anything changed. Once boarding began, the attendants outside and inside the train were very helpful with finding my car and room.

The room

The room was a small space with a tiny metal sink and a single velvet-ish-lined bench. Right above the headrest was a velvet-lined panel, which pulled down to be the top bunk. There was also a big window and two TV screens for both occupants to track the journey. Overall, it was cozy. There was enough room to store everyone’s luggage below the bench, assuming both people only had a carry on-sized bag or two each.

The bathrooms were at the back end of each train car, and they were tiny. Like, tinyyyyy. It was very difficult to move in there. I tried to limit the amount of times I went to two per trip to avoid the cramped space.

The trip/the sleep

When we left Hua Lamphong, I was the only one in my room. I thought I was the luckiest person ever, being able to have a room all to myself. Wellll once we got to Bang Sue, I had a roommate. She was a very kind person from Eastern Europe and was about the same age as me, so I felt completely safe. We made polite conversation and talked about our travel plans, and I actually ended up seeing her briefly at one of the temples in Chiang Mai but didn’t want to intrude on her solo plans.

After an hour into the trip, the sun had set and an attendant came by to make our beds. We were each provided with a clean pillow, sheets, and a blanket.

I was a dummy and voluntarily chose the top bunk when I bought my tickets, but it actually wasn’t too bad. My main concern was the feeling of almost falling off the bunk a couple times, but luckily that never actually happened.

I was told they didn’t provide food on the trains, so I brought some snacks I’d bought earlier that day to tide me over til the morning. However, once we were settled, they provided us with a cup of noodles and tea/coffee for a small fee, which I gladly accepted. The train wasn’t very bumpy, so it was easy to eat from my bunk.

By the time I finished eating, it was only about 7 p.m. I had planned to work on journaling or editing a few videos, but I was still so jet lagged after three days that the train’s movement lulled me to sleep.

We were able to turn the lights out and the room got pretty dark (except for my bright screen that I didn’t realize I could turn off until the way back). I remember being slightly chilly, but it was a nice change from the humid heat. I was also too exhausted to care.

Overall I had a pretty decent sleep. I woke up a few times from the stopping and starting of the train at different stations along the way, and there were a couple times the train shook slightly and my sleepy brain jolted awake (probably because I thought I was falling off the bunk), but after a total of 11 hours of sleep, I felt incredibly rested. I also remember waking up around 1 a.m. and agonizing that we were only halfway there, but my complaints were quickly quelled by sleep once again.

The attendants came to change our beds back about 30 minutes before we arrived in Chiang Mai. They offered us more tea, which I again gladly accepted. The rest of the journey, we looked out the window and enjoyed the lush green scenery—a drastic change from the concrete structures in the busy city.

The arrival

As we pulled into the Chiang Mai train station, the attendants informed us to gather our belongings to disembark. We did so, and as we stepped off we were met with the much fresher air of the smaller city. There were a few snack stalls on the platform for anyone who was hungry, but I headed for exit to get to my Airbnb. I initially planned to take a Grab—Thailand’s equivalent of Uber—however there were many red trucks lined up outside offering a much cheaper price than a Grab. Also, I got to share the short ride with other travellers and enjoy the breeze from the open back of the truck.

Usually I wouldn’t accept rides from people right outside an airport or train station, but with the prices being cheaper than a Grab, there being dozens of other red trucks picking up passengers in the same lot, and traveling with 5 other people, it felt safe and was a much better deal. The red truck was very convenient and I got exactly where I needed to go (though that might not be the case if you take one in the city—always be wary of scams!)

Back to Bangkok

The train back to Bangkok was basically the same experience, just with a different roommate. The woman I stayed with this time was Thai, and she was briefly in Chiang Mai for a business trip. She mentioned she enjoys practicing her English, so we conversed about our different lives and cultures. She also helped translate the information over the intercom. You never know who you’re going to meet, and you never realize how much you take for granted when you learn about other cultures. That got deep, but it’s true, especially on solo travels to new places.

I booked the top bunk again and found it a little more difficult to sleep because I was more well-rested than I was on the way there, so I played some phone games and did other things to pass the time before I felt sleepy enough.

As I mentioned, I ended up choosing the wrong Bangkok station to get off at (Bang Sue, Southeast Asia’s largest railway station). They probably would have let me stay on and get off at Hua Lamphong, as this trip wasn’t any less expensive than my original ticket, but I decided to get off at Bang Sue because I had a lot of extra time before I could drop off my luggage to store for the day.

We arrived at Bang Sue around 6:30 a.m., and my roommate helped me navigate the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system to get where I needed to go, which was helpful to understand when heading back to the airport later.

In conclusion

Overall, I didn’t regret taking the overnight train and I’m glad I experienced it. It was convenient because it didn’t take away time during the day like a flight would have, but it was a long trip. However, if you sleep through most of the journey, it’s a breeze. I might look into flight options next time, but the train was worth the experience.