Train to Penang question

[sean88]

I will be doing a visa run to Penang.

I have been down to Hat Yai on a previous trip and took the second class sleeper . I thoroughly enjoyed it but I think this trip I will try the first class sleeper to Butterworth station. Has anyone done this trip first class sleeper? It appears that they pull the sleeper cars off in Hat Yai. I assume that I will simply get off in Hat Yai and move to a different car for the rest of the journey to Buterworth . Correct ???

I enjoyed the second class sleeper but im a bigger fella and will have a guitar and some gear as well so I might try first class this trip.

Anyone done this route ?

Cheers

[Pagey]

Loads of info on all Asia trains here www.seat61.com

[sean88]

Loads of info on all Asia trains here http://www.seat61.com

Thx for the reply Pagey !

Yes Im all over that site and for a couple years now. Its really the most informative site for train travel in Thailand for sure. He suggests that second class sleepers are awesome and they SURE ARE but I was just curious if anyone has taken the first class and the transfer that I assume has to happen in Hat Yai ! It appears that from Bangkok to hat yai they have connect a restaurant and first class sleeper cars that get removed in Hat Yai ?

Yes for anyone looking train travel in Thailand ... seat 61 is a GREAT link !

cheers !

[dtaai-maai]

I haven't done the Butterworth trip for a long time, and certainly never 1st class, but I do remember a longish stop (10-15 mins) at Hat Yai with a lot of shunting backwards and forwards.

[lomuamart]

I did first class a number of years ago - 2nd class full due to Chinese NY and I had to get a visa from Penang.
I don't remember moving to 2nd class at Hat Yai but I may have done. It does make sense though as the Thai restaurant car and some carriages get disconnected either there or at Pedang Basar as you're crossing the border - different prices, taxes and so on. From the border to Butterworth is about 4 hours, if I remember correctly.
The first class carriage was great. Two bunk beds in each compartment (I had it to myself on that trip) and waiter service for food and drink by ringing a bell.
It was about twice the price of 2nd class back then. Maybe about 2,000 THB. Not sure of cost now.

[Dannie Boy]

I went to Chang Mai a few years back - 2nd class air con going up which was comfortable enough but the drawback was that you were in a long shared carriage with just curtains, so lots of noise. Coming back we travelled first class which as lomuamart says was a compartment for two, so nobody (other than my companion ) to disturb your sleep, mind you the "cudunk cudunk" of the rail line will do that for you!!

[sean88]

Thx for the replies gents. It should be pretty straight forward and I'll have lots of time to figure it out when im in Hua Hin.

Cheers !

[Takiap]

I took the train from Hua-Hin to Butterworth last year, but I travelled second class. What I'd like to know is what's the best way to get from Butterworth station to Penang? The last time I did the trip I used a taxi, but that basically cost me the same as my train ticket.

So, are there buses operating between the station and Penang, or maybe to the ferry termina? If not, does anyone know the cost of a taxi to the ferry terminal?

I'm planning on going down early next year with the missus, but if there's no cheaper way to get from the station to Penang then we'll probably just fly down since it's cheaper.

[lomuamart]

Takiap,
When you get out at Butterworth, follow the signs or ask for the ferry to Penang. It's only a short walk from the station.
You pay, I can't remember how much but peanuts, to get over to Penang and nothing for the return journey. The ferries are frequent.
It's really easy!!

[Takiap]

Okay thanks for that Lomu.......................the train it is then.

[wpcoe]

I went to Chang Mai a few years back - 2nd class air con going up which was comfortable enough but the drawback was that you were in a long shared carriage with just curtains, so lots of noise. Coming back we travelled first class which as lomuamart says was a compartment for two, so nobody (other than my companion ) to disturb your sleep, mind you the "cudunk cudunk" of the rail line will do that for you!!

Yes there is notable noise in the Second Class compartment. Before the advent of mobile phones, it was not so bad, but these days phones ring all through the night, and of course the phone owners are obliged to answer -- often loudly -- and conduct lengthy conversations, just as loudly.

I frequently travel Second Class between Hua Hin and Bangkok on daytime trains -- in fact I'm onthe 401pm train today to Bangkok -- but when I do any long distance overnight trains, it is in First Class, solely because of the phones.

FYI, First Class compartments are booked as Male or Female for parties of one, so single travelers will only be bunked with someone of the same gender. A party of two, of course, can be mixed gender. If your travel party is more than two, you can get adjoining First Class compartments with a connecting door. As a single traveler, you can also reserve the entire compartment for a fairly small surcharge -- I forget how much, but much less than paying for both berths.

[Homer]

When you get out at Butterworth, follow the signs or ask for the ferry to Penang. It's only a short walk from the station.
You pay, I can't remember how much but peanuts, to get over to Penang and nothing for the return journey. The ferries are frequent.
It's really easy!!

Frequent and easy, yes. With enough gear the 400 meter walk from train to ferry may be a problem.

There is signage pointing to the elevated covered walkway but it's between platform and station. Can't be one outside the station because the taxi mafia would destroy it as soon as it was put up. With the station door at your back, look left about 45 degrees. You'll see the elevated, covered walkway.

One way for sure* to find out if first class car is detached at Hat Yai is to try to buy a 1st class ticket from Hat Yai to Butterworth*

* remembering, of course, This Is Thailand.

[Big Boy]

One way for sure* to find out if first class car is detached at Hat Yai is to try to buy a 1st class ticket from Hat Yai to Butterworth*

* remembering, of course, This Is Thailand.

Not necessarily a Thailandism. When I used to travel 1st class (with work) in the UK, there were often legs of a journey where there was no 1st class. It never stopped them selling you a 1st class ticket though. Regularly I would get a 1st class ticket from London Paddington to Yate. The 1st class service always stopped in Bristol.

[Homer]

One way for sure* to find out if first class car is detached at Hat Yai is to try to buy a 1st class ticket from Hat Yai to Butterworth*

* remembering, of course, This Is Thailand.

Not necessarily a Thailandism. When I used to travel 1st class (with work) in the UK, there were often legs of a journey where there was no 1st class. It never stopped them selling you a 1st class ticket though. Regularly I would get a 1st class ticket from London Paddington to Yate. The 1st class service always stopped in Bristol.

I see my warning wasn't clear. What I tried to say is the willingness of a station agent to sell a ticket for a specific class on a specific route may have no relation to the existence of that class on that route. Or that class. Or that route.

[Big Boy]

No, your warning was clear, but you qualified it as it might be a quirk of Thailand. All that I was pointing out was that if it does happen, it isn't specific to Thailand.