Mae Klong Railway

Posted by Stuart at 09:03 PM on August 12, 2006

"I recommend taking the secret train to no where," my friend Kary confided to me yesterday over lunch on Silom. I guarantee you will be the only farang around. It's a great day trip to get out of the city."

I had heard of the secret train to no where, a.k.a. the Mae Klong Railway, before, but I had never had a chance to ride it. So today, to celebrate Thai Mother's Day, I journeyed from Bangkok to Mae Klong on this historic route.

The secret line starts at a tiny station near the Wong Wien Yai traffic circle in Thonburi, across the river from Bangkok. There are no signs in English, so to find the station one must walk south from the traffic circle and peek down narrow alleyways until the tracks are visable. The open-air train leaves more or less every hour and one hour and 10 baht later, riders will find themselves at the other end of the line in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province.

But the end of the line is not actually the end. Two hundred meters from the Mahachai train station is a river, which can be crossed on a ferry for 2 baht. On the other side of the river, 500 meters from the pier is another tiny train station, called Ban Laem. The trains leave Ban Laem four times a day and take riders an additional hour through the countryside to Mae Klong, Samut Songkram province. The cost for this trip is 10 baht as well.

To be honest, there's not a whole lot to see on these trips. But feeling the cool breeze blow in through the open train windows as we pass grey-water klong (canals), rice farms, salt marshes, palm tree jungles, tiny villages, and very active temples is worth the trip alone. Many people along the way use these trains to commute to the huge produce and seafood markets at each end, so it was fun just to sit back and watch them interact with each other.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the entire trip is at the very end. The tracks run make a tight squeeze through the middle of a market. The squeeze is so tight, in fact, that as the train approaches, the vendors have to pull back the tarps over their produce so the train can pass. Once the train is in the station, everything goes back to normal and the train tracks are nothing more than a narrow path between stalls.

So that was the gist of my day today -- always on the move as I made my way 70 kilometers west of Bangkok and back. From the start of the journey at Wong Wien Yai train station, my expenses for the all-day trip looked something like:

Train to Mahachai: 10 baht (25 cents)
Ferry across river: 2 baht (5 cents)
Mototaxi to train station: 10 baht (25 cents)
Noodle Soup and Pepsi: 28 baht (75 cents)
Train to Mae Klong: 10 baht (25 cents)

And then basically the same thing back, without the mototaxi, now that I knew where I was going.

Train to Baan Laem: 10 baht (25 cents)
Ferry across the River: 2 baht (5 cents)
Train to Wong Wien Yai: 10 baht (25 cents)

So that's a full-day trip to see "real-life" Thailand outside of Bangkok, for a total of 82 baht, or US$2.10. Now that is a great deal.

I have to admit though, I blew the idea of a cheap get-away out of the water when I had dinner in Mahachai before heading back to Bangkok. Kary also recommended an excellent air-con seafood restaurant at the ferry terminal. My amazingly delicious but relatively-speaking expensive black pepper shrimp set me back a whole 255 baht! (Almost US $7!)

So we'll call it a full-day trip with a great dinner for 10 bucks. Anyone want to join me next time?

Pictures from the Mae Klong Railway

Posted by Stuart at 08:04 PM on August 13, 2006

Here are some pictures of yesterday's trip down the Mae Klong Railway to the amazing railway-track market in Samut Songkram. (Click on any picture for a bigger version.)

	Here I am at the start of the journey at Wong Wien Yai station in Thonburi. Note the light blue shirts being worn in the background. They are commemorating the Queen's Birthday today.
	This river at Mahachai is very close to the Gulf of Thailand, and so there were many fishing boats like this one. I was also trying to take a picture of the birds who were standing on floating plants in the middle of the river.
	A look at the chaos of getting on and off the ferry across the river. And yes, you are allowed to bring your motorcycle on the ferry as well.
	The end of the line at Ban Laem station. The train shown here is waiting to take me to Mae Klong, Samut Songkram province.
	The first stop after Ban Laem station is at this temple, with a huge statute of the Chinese goddess Kuan Yin pouring water out of her vase. Her two acolytes, Long Nu and Shan Tsai, stand in front of her.
	When the train is not using them, the tracks become a foot path between the produce and seafood stalls. Be sure to wash those veggies when you get them home!
	Amazingly enough, these are the tracks that the Mae Klong train uses. When it's time to leave the station, the vendors hold back the overhead tarps to make room for the passing train.
	One of the tiny stations along the way is nothing more than a rain shelter. A dirt road leads from the tracks to the village.