Tourist train 909/910 to/from Nam
Tok Sai Yok Noi
The classiest way to go from
Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and beyond is by train, on the Thailand-Burma railway
built by the Japanese during WWII.
Facts about the railway line and
the movie about the bridge can be found on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Railway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_over_the_River_Kwai
but let me point out the
following: The movie is "The Bridge on the River Kwai",
based on the novel "The Bridge over the River Kwai",
original in French by Pierre Boulle “Le Pont de la Rivière
Kwai” which I would translates as "The bridge
of the river Kwai".
Regular trains end at Nam Tok
น้ำตก railway
station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_Tok_Railway_Station, but
in my quest to ride the train to every possible point in Thailand, I had to use
the weekend excursion train which goes 1.4 km further to Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi
น้ำตกไทรโยคน้อย.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_Tok_Sai_Yok_Noi: After
the war most of the railway was dismantled, leaving Nam Tok at the terminus. In
2003 the 1.4 km from Nam Tok station to Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi was reopened for
easier access to the nearby Sai Yok waterfall. However, as Sai Yok
Noi is a single-platform terminus with no run-round loop, the line is only used
by diesel multiple units. In 2010, the only services to use the extension are
trains 909/910 which run an excursion to the waterfall each Saturday and
Sunday.
Fri 19may2017 ask at ticket
counter in Hua Lampong: 2 fan and 34 aircon seats left. Only return trips sold
in Hua Lampong: 3rd class fan 120 THB, aircon 234 (?). I would have to buy
Kanchanaburi – Nam Tok in Kanchanaburi, but for fear of train sold out buy the
return ticket in Hua Lampong.
With 6:30 am departure at Bangkok
being prohibitively early, and then 1 hour stop in Nakon Pathom which would be
of no use to me as I can go there any time, I go to Kanchanaburi with a Farang
friend FF by car to get on the train at a
not-so-ungodly-hour.
Sat 20may2017 9:22 enquire at
railway station in Kanchanaburi: indeed excursion train is sold out. Glad I
bought the ticket the day before in Hua Lampong. Train enters Kanchanaburi
railway station (in town, 3.2 km by rail from bridge):
Departure schedule 9:33, real
9:37. The Japanese can build that track and bridge in difficult terrain, at the
same time fighting in a world war, in less than projected time, and the Thai
can’t even run the train on time!
Train stops before bridge
9:40-10:10 so passengers can walk on the bridge:
Then slowly drives over bridge,
short stop in Tha Kilen, no stop but drives slowly at Tham Krasae (separate
post), no stop in Nam Tok.
The ride in 3rd class was rather
uncomfortable: I had a seat near the end of the carriage with no overhead
storage (had to keep my backpack between my legs or on my lap - beware of drinks
spilled by others on the floor!), open windows and all kind of dirt and dust
blowing in, no platform between carriages, and I had the aisle seat so not easy
to look out the window.
Finally 11:41 arrive at Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi,
14.237506, 99.058806 =
14°14'15.0"N 99°03'31.7"E
the platform at is shorter than
the train (4 carriages):
Front end of the train, after the masses have dispelled, with insert of train label EXCURTION TRAIN (sic!):
There are open restaurants
(reasonably prices, but slow), toilets (5 Baht, no running water), and the train
engine is running and making noise throughout the stop. Near the train station
are old train:
Shrine:
Sai Yok Noi waterfall dry:
A bit further away is the source
of the river (not much water, but the giant tree is interesting) and a cave (was
closed):
FF picks me up at the highway,
and we go to a temple on the return to Kanchanaburi, where I catch the same
train (schedule 16:53, real 16:58) to Bangkok.
See here for general information about train travel:
https://www.seat61.com/Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.htm
See here for general information about train travel:
https://www.seat61.com/Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.htm
Copyright 2017
ChristianPFC
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