Today, departure from Bangkok towards Hua Hin.

Hua Hin is a seaside town (the oldest in Thailand) about 150 km south of Bangkok. I chose Hua Hin as a base camp for a few months for 4 reasons:

– It’s a seaside city, I’m able to swim

– It’s a big city with all the medical facilities

– It’s a city surrounded by several golf courses

– It’s not the most touristy point, so I’ll be calmer there

My goal is not to stay without moving in Hua Hin, but to use it as a base camp to visit other corners of Thailand, while returning to rest from time to time, and play golf.

The train that departs from Hua Lamphong station is prehistoric.

This very old station, which is the main station in Bangkok, will soon close. It was time to come there.

On the way, I pass the new station that will open in December.

What strikes me on the way is the impressive modernisation work on this line. Currently, the stops are very summary in the different villages crossed:

– the station buildings are very old

– the train crosses roads, with various conditions

Automatic level crossing

Manual levelling. There in general it is an employee who rolls 2 small metal barriers, like construction gates

No device at all: the train slows down a little, honks for a long time before arriving and passes in front of stopped cars without any security

Yes, but the Thai government is undertaking pharaonic work. Moreover, it gives work to many people.

– All the current stations, plus places where there is not really a station, are replaced by very beautiful and large buildings, all of the same model. All these new stations are under construction, more or less advanced, all on the same plane, all very large and they will probably be very modern.

– All current road crossings are the subject of the construction of a semi-circular bridge, all obviously on the same model. The clever aspect of the construction of these bridges is that they do not require cutting the current road, they are on the side, and their connection will be done almost instantly. You have to see the photos to understand.

In Hua Hin, the current station is friendly, not so tiny, and seems to absorb traffic. But it will soon be replaced by an impressive air station.

It still raises questions. In France, all the stations in the villages have been removed for a long time to give full importance to roads, which are increasingly wide, with more lanes and roundabouts.

Are the Thais a century behind or are they getting ahead of us in the transport of the future?