Thailand's Luxury Train Experiences: Eastern & Oriental Express and Beyond

Thailand's railways cover an unusually wide range for one network — a genuine world-class luxury train at one end, and an affordable, comfortable overnight sleeper at the other that most backpackers use without ever thinking of it as a scenic journey in its own right. Both are worth treating as an experience rather than simply transport, particularly on the Bangkok–Chiang Mai route, which both services cover in very different styles.

The Belmond Eastern & Oriental Express runs seasonal itineraries — three nights from Bangkok to Singapore, two nights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai — inside carriages restored in a 1930s style, with an observation car built specifically for watching the Thai countryside slide past rather than simply enduring the journey. Evenings on board lean formal, with proper multi-course dining rather than a trolley service, which is very much the point for the roughly US$2,000–5,000 per person the experience commands depending on cabin class. It's a train built around the journey being the destination, in a way that's genuinely rare even among luxury travel options.

The ordinary State Railway sleeper covers similar ground for a fraction of the price and delivers its own, quieter pleasure. Trains 9 and 13 leave Bangkok's Hua Lamphong station at roughly 6pm and arrive in Chiang Mai at dawn, covering 750km of rice plains and mountain foothills while you sleep in a curtained berth that converts from a daytime seat. First-class sleeper cabins run ฿1,100–1,500, air-conditioned and comfortable enough that arriving at a civilised hour feels like the reward for a night that barely felt like travelling at all. There's something genuinely restorative about waking to a landscape that has completely changed since you closed the curtain the night before.

The Bangkok–Nong Khai sleeper crosses the Thai–Laos Friendship Bridge and works well as a practical, scenic option for anyone continuing into Laos, while the southern line to Surat Thani remains one of the most heavily used tourist routes in the country, feeding directly into ferry connections for Koh Samui and Koh Tao.

Tickets can be booked in person at Hua Lamphong station or through the newer online system at railway.th, though the site has occasional technical issues worth allowing extra time for. Book at least two weeks ahead for travel around December and January, when demand for sleeper berths runs highest. Whichever service you choose, the basic appeal is the same one that's kept sleeper trains relevant for a century: falling asleep in one kind of Thailand and waking up in another.