With no need to hurry from place to place, Thailand train travel can become as much about enjoying the journey as the end destination. This is easy to do within the comfort of Thailand’s trains, many of which exude a stuck-in-time charm and also serve delicious authentic cuisine. Tuck into tasty pad Thai, smoky pad see ew and spicy green papaya salad as you watch the blur of verdant hillsides and emerald tea plantations glide past your window. For a beachside escape, take the train from Bangkok to Hua Hin, a route which hugs the Gulf of Thailand and offers sweeping vistas of coconut plantations and salt flats. Hua Hin’s train station is a stand-out attraction of this beach resort, hailed as the most beautiful in the country.
Thailand train travel can also help you save time on your trip, with the sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai keeping you moving through the night. Awaken the next morning to stunning snapshots of the northern Thai countryside as the route takes you through the tangled forest of Doi Khun Tan National Park. If you fancy travelling further afield and combining your Thailand holiday with another country, hop aboard the night train to Laos – which takes you across the delightfully-named Friendship Bridge – or book a ticket for the luxurious Eastern & Oriental Express to reach Singapore.