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Don Mueang is Asia’s oldest continually operating international airports. Its actually owned and run by the Royal Thai Air Force, who have a golf course in between the airstrips.

Originally opened as a Royal Thai Air Force base in 1914, it began accepting international flights with the arrival of a KLM Airlines flight in 1924.

The first airfield in Thailand is actually now the site of Royal Bangkok Sports Club, which is down the line closer to town. This was established in 1911 following a visit to Thailand by Orville Wright 7 years after he co-invented the first airplane.

It has an impressive war history: During WWII, the airport was used by the occupying Japanese Imperial Army, and was bombed and strafed by Allied aircraft on several occasions. It was also a major command and logistics hub for the United States Air Force during the Vietnam war.

It was once the 14th busiest airports in the world, and 2nd busiest in Asia, but since the opening of the gigantic Suvarnabhumi Airport on the other side of town, Don Mueang has been relegated to Bangkok’s second airport and de-facto low-cost airline hub. It was actually closed for a short time in 2006 when Suvarnabhumi was opened, as it was the policy of the Thai government to have only one major airport in Bangkok. However, hight landing fees and safety concerns led low cost airlines to lobby for its temporary re-opening, which has now become permanent. Yet, further investment into the airport has been politically difficult, and it increasingly looks like a relic of decades gone by.

The Royal Thai Air Force still owns the airport, and operates the 1st Air Division from there. Between the two airstrips sits the Air Force’s golf links, which includes a drive across a taxiway – a red light signals for play to stop when there is a plane approaching. If you are ever unfortunate enough to get stuck at Don Mueang for a number of hours, there is a Royal Thai Air Force museum a short taxi ride away on the opposite side of the airfield from the terminal.

WANNA BOOK A FLIGHT INSTEAD?:
We understand! Its a long way on a slow train. You can get off here and take a flight instead. We recommend booking with 12Go, who include smaller and lesser known airlines to more destinations in Thailand and Southeast Asia.

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This is perhaps a strange place for an artistic hub.

THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, BANGKOK:

MOCA is a private art collection of one of Thailand’s wealthiest men, Mr. Boonchai Bencharongkul – local partner of the DTAC telecoms joint venture with Telenor. Mr. Boonchai spent $30 million on the land and construction of the building you should be able to see from the train, and tens of millions more on the art.

Opened in 2012, MOCA is a giant white cube with six stories filled with almost a thousand works of art – one of the biggest contemporary art museums in Asia. The building searches for an aesthetic of being carved from a single piece of granite. The open carvings on its facade resembles plumes of jasmine cascading down the wall, and is repeated on the inside to allow natural light to trace patterns on the floor of the inner atrium.

Thai has a long and rich artistic history rooted largely in Buddhist artistic traditions. Contemporary Thai art often makes reference to its traditional motifs and practices, but is diverse and less censored compared with other countries in the region. If you’re into contemporary art, MOCA is one of quite a few excellent spaces in Bangkok to see more. You might want to check out the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, H-Gallery, Thailand Creative Design Centre, The Queen’s Gallery, or the Art Centre at Chulalongkorn University.

European artistic norms were an important driver of contemporary Thai art. Particularly, the Italian-born sculptor, Corrado Feroci had a huge impact. He was responsible for two famous works built close to Thailand’s rail network – “Victory Monument”, and the Phutthamonthon buddha – the world’s largest freestanding buddha, which we pass on the Southern and Western lines. He also founded Silpakorn University of Fine Arts.

KRASETSART UNIVERSITY:

Also near here is the country’s largest university – with 67,000 students – started as a project of the ever-entrepreneurial King Chulalongkorn to develop a silk industry in Thailand. He invited a renouned Japanese silk expert from the University of Tokyo to instruct locals in sericulture – the study of silk – and this project eventually turned into an official School of Sericulture.

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Where the train lines diverge between North and South is as good a place as any to tell you a bit about both.

THE NORTHERN LINE:
The Northern Line was the first line that King Chulalongkorn built when he founded Thailand’s rail system in the early 1900s. It took 16 years to build to its current extent, and totally changed Thailand. Before this train, getting from here to Chiang Mai woudl mean weeks of travel – by riverboat or muddy bullock cart up through the floodplains, and then over mountainous roads into the Northern highlands. The Northern Line reduced that trip down to a couple of days, and now takes about 12 hours. The reduction in the time and cost of transport meant that, economically, large new tracts of Thailand’s hinterlands – and particularly the agricultural heartland of the Chaophraya River basin – was brought into the global economic trading network that Thailand had established over the centuries. Politically, it meant that the Siamese capital could better communicate with, and project its central power into, the restive northern areas, and demonstrate to its expansionist colonial neighbours that its borders could be enforced and Thailand was not to be trifled with.

THE SOUTHERN LINE:
The turnoff towards the West loops us, eventually, towards the South. It too has helped bring new economic connectivity, central political legitimacy, and security to the southern reaches of Thailand, but to a lesser extent as it follows the ancient maritime trading routes along the coast of Thailand down to its southern neighbours in the Malay Peninsular.

The line connects all the way down to Singapore (previously it took you all the way into central Singapore, but they’ve moved the railhead to the North of Singapore Island, just across the causeway). It would take an uncomfortable day and a half by regular Thai and Malay services to get there, and you could do it for about $50.

The luxury option is the Eastern & Oriental Express. They have trains departing once or twice a month heading from Singapore to Bangkok and back, taking either three or 4 days, depending on the direction you go. The service commenced in 1992 by the same people who operate the Venice-Simplon Orient Express in Europe. Generously refurbished Japanese coaches feature two dining cars, a lounge car, a piano bar car, a saloon car with a reading room and a small boutique, and an open-air observation deck at the rear of the train, which is perfect for us window seaters. Tickets start at a couple of US dollars each way, depending on the time of year and your birthing.

OTHER LINES:
The infamous “Death Railway”, originally built in WWII by the Japanese, and which sets the scene for the famous book and movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”, splits off the Southern Line after Nakhon Pathom. The Eastern lines, which head to Nong Khai (connecting to Vientiane, Laos), and Ubon Ratchathani, split off later, a bit north of Ayutthaya. The lines to Aranyaprathet (near the Cambodian border) and Pattaya split off further south.

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Its not a thrilling sight, but Bang Sue junction is about to become rather important place for Thai rail travel, and its an interesting case study on how Thai’s like to build things.

Bang Sue Junction:

From here, the rail line splits off West toward the South. It also connects to the Bangkok underground MRT line, and serves many city bus lines.

They’re currently building a large 5-level Bang Sue Central Station. It will have twenty-four 600-meter long platforms, and will eventually replace Hua Lumphong as the terminal station for all State Railway lines, moving train travel out of the inner city entirely

:'( We love Hua Lumphong. It will be sorely missed.

The Library Train:

You might see a well-decorated train carriage on the side of the tracks. Its actually a library for homeless children. The project was initiated in 1999 by the Royal Thai Police to offer basic education services to homeless children living in the Bang Sue area. There’s another one down in Hua Lumphong.

:’) Gosh we love the State Railways of Thailand!

A cement city:

You might be able to see the headquarters of Siam Cement Group (SCG) – the largest cement company in Southeast Asia, and the 4th largest company in Thailand. The Thai construction industry seems to absolutely love cement. A humble metro station looks like an aircraft carrier. Look how much of it is around Bang Sue Junction!

Interestingly, Siam Cement was founded by a royal decree, and is still 30% owned and controlled by the Crown.

TIPS:

Coming into Bangkok?: If you’re arriving into Bangkok from further afield, this might be the stop to get off thanks to its links to the MRT, and its proximity to the BTS – the two metro lines in Bangkok. Otherwise, the terminal station is also on the MRT, and its a nice place, so you should go check it out.

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Bangkok is a not-so-ancient seat of the Thai Royal court, and you may be passing a surprising and important palace.

Wang Dusit:

The “Celestial Dwelling” forms the main administrative centre of the Thai kingdom. Established by King Chulalongkorn, Dusit Palace was once outside of town and offered space, eventually becoming the primary residence of the kings. Unfortunately, its not visible from the train. But you may be able to see its moat and some of the King’s Royal Guards guarding it.

Chitralada Palace was a residence of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama the 9th) – a man with a keen interest in agriculture. He turned the palace grounds is also an operational farm, and its still possible to purchase products under the Chitralada Projects brand. We recommend the famous milk candies, and its honey, which you may be able to find in convenience stores, or at the airport.

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On your way through Bangkok, you might be thinking its a rather messy city, with tangles of cables, tight squeezes, and dirty canals. But there’s more than meets the eye.

The tangles of cables:

Microsoft founder Bill Gates once got on social media to say that they were a sign of “energy poverty”, and evidence of people stealing electricity from the grid. But thats not true. Rather private utilities companies hire the poles from the metropolitan or provincial electricity authorities, and their competing interests mean that they tend not to coordinate and share cables like in other countries.

It may look dangerous, but most are just telephone and internet wires with very low voltages. The higher voltage wires are placed higher up, in relative safety. They can become dangerous when vehicles collide with them, and the weight of all the cables can drag down multiple poles.

Most Thai people are willing to shrug it off the unsightly appearance as a necessary price for modern amenities.

The tight squeezes:

One of the few points for which the Thai rail system is famous is the precious little space left between the passing trains and the structures on either side. Space is short in Bangkok. The railway tracks are built on public land, so its up to the Thai authorities to tell people to vacate it. But I guess they don’t have the heart to do so, and the only convincing argument is made by a moving train.

In Maeklong – a town to the southwest of Bangkok – locals have a regular wet market where fresh fruit and vegetables are actually laid over the train tracks. When the train’s horn blows, awnings are withdrawn, produce is shifted, people disperse, before a slow-moving train pushes through a still space that was a briefly before a heaving mass of activity.

The stinky canals:

Bangkok was once referred to as “the Venice of the East” due to its sprawling network of “Klong”. They still serve a vital function for Bangkok for sewage disposal, transport, and flood mitigation.

The Klong Saen Saep, which we cross just outside of Hua Lumphong Station, was built by King Rama the 3rd in 1837 to transport soldiers during a conflict between Siam and Annam over Cambodia. It connects the Chao Phraya river to the Prachin Buri and Chachaoengsao rivers. The portion of the canal you should be able to see has an express boat service that cuts through and churns rather dodgy smelling water today, but its interesting to note that it was once so abundant with lotus flowers that King Mongkut built the Lotus Pond Palace on its banks.

TIPS:

Take a real klong ferry in Bangkok: No trip to Bangkok is complete without a canal boat ride. But avoid those people offering to take you to a water market – you will see no such thing. Rather, do as the locals do and take a canal ferry ride! It will cost you less than a dollar, and you will see just as much of Bangkok, as well as a more authentic slice of modern Bangkok life.

Don’t put your hand out the window: In the train stations, you might like to keep an eye out for the rather gruesome painted scenes of what happens to people who do.

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Hua Lumphong Station is, for the time being, the beginning or end of most great Thai rail journeys. We love it!

The Thai railway network was inaugurated here in 1897, and the building you see was erected in 1916. Like many significant Thai buildings with Royal patronage, the architecture is Italian, and of a neo-renaissance style – with a typically lofty and triumphant hall, and great natural light thanks to use of glass that was, at the times, considered state-of-the-art and adventurous.

A portrait of the founder of Thailand’s railway system greets you as you pass through to the train platforms. As an infant in 1855, King Chulalongkorn was presented with a model train set from an envoy of Queen Victoria who was trying to convince his father – King Mongkut – to link her colonies in British India and Malaya by rail. Mongkut declined to do as Victoria wished, but after assuming the throne 13 years later, Chulalongkorn began surveying a rail link in 1888 – not to Britain’s bordering colonies, but instead north to Siam’s second city of Chiangmai.

Hua Lumphong serves over 60,000 passengers daily. It is a terminus for every line in State Railway of Thailand network, taking you north to Chiangmai, Northeast to Laos, East to Cambodia, West toward Myanmar, and South to Malaysia. It is also, usually, the terminus of the Eastern and Oriental Express luxury train that connects all the way down to Singapore.

A not so pleasant story about this departures hall: At 8.55am on 8 November 1986, a newly repaired locamotive was heading here from Bang Sue station, towing 6 carriages, travelling at around 50km per hour. But there was nobody on it! The train careened into the barriers at the railhead and was flung upwards onto the elevated platform, skidding onto its side across the terminal floor. It grinded to a halt a few metres short of the station entrance. A book stall, information booth, soft drink stand, and foreign exchange counter were all smashed. Fortunately, the station master had been notified of the coming disaster as the train began its 8km dash from the North, and was able to evacuate the area in the few minutes he had to respond. However, the airborne train knocked over two giant timetable boards which caused 4 fatalities.

SOME TIPS:

Buying tickets in advance: Trains can get sold out well in advance. If you’re still in the planning stages, we recommend using 12Go.asia and book early. They have a great website for train tickets, but can also connect buses, ferries, and flights if you need. You can pick up tickets in their office across the road from Hua Lumphong to the south when you exit through the main hall, but be sure to check their opening times. You’ll see a building labelled D.O.B – it also has a cafe with great juices! You can book your ticket with them in the little booking window below.

Public Transport Connections: The station is connected to Bangkok’s underground train – The MRT – which then connects to the the overground BTS Skytrain lines, and the Airport link to Suvarnabumi Airport.

Thonburi / Bangkok Noi departures: Some train journeys to the West and South depart instead from Thonburi Station, which is across the river to the West from here. If you are heading that way, be sure to check your tickets for the departure station listed. It can be tricky to get there, so if you need to get to Thonburi, leave plenty of time to either take a taxi, or inquire about how to get there by train.

Children: under 100cm and younger than 3 years travel free, provided they can share a seat with you if it comes to it.

Ladies: Some trains have special carriages for ladies and their accompanying children. Keep a look out for the pink signs on the side of carriages if you’re interested.

Dogs: You can bring dogs and cats on 3rd class carriages if they have a cage or case. They may charge between 90 and 150 baht per animal.

Old rolling stock: There are a few interesting pieces of old rolling stock around Hua Lumphong. Go exploring and you might find a 1935 Hitachi engine, another engine that has been converted into a mini shrine for railway workers, and a curious military carriage with cannons poking out of it.

Railway Museum: If you exit to the south of the main hall, you’ll find a small railway museum to the right (attached to the southwestern corner of the building). Not a bad place to visit if you have some time to burn, but keep expectations low).

Hungry?: There are some cheap and clean eats in and around the station, but you’re in a bit of a culinary dead-zone by Bangkok standards. There’s always the food court on the eastern flank of the main hall, which looks dodgey and has a strange coupon-based payment system, but has okay Thai fair.

Thirsty?: I don’t mind the coffee at Black Canyon upstairs inside the main station. If you have time, there are some hipster-styled cafes or bars if you head to Chinatown (to the west of the station, over the canal and into the alleys). I like 2W for a good coffee, and the oddly named “Teens of Thailand” for a fancy G&T at night.

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