Today, departure from Bangkok in direction of Hua Hin.
Hua Hin is a seaside city (the oldest of Thailand) at approximately 150 kms in the south of Bangkok. I chose Hua Hin as my base camp for a few months for 4 reasons:
– It’s a seaside town, I’ll be able to swim
– It’s a big town with all the medical facilities
– It’s a town surrounded by several golf courses
– It’s not the most touristic point, so I’ll be more quiet there
My goal is not to stay in Hua Hin, but to use it as a base camp to visit other parts of Thailand, while coming back to rest from time to time, and play golf.
The train 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 ride is the impressive upgrades to this line. Currently, the stops are very basic in the various villages we pass through:
– the station buildings are very old
– the train crosses roads, with various conditions
- automatic level crossing
- manual level crossing. Here, in general, it is an employee who rolls 2 small metallic barriers, like construction site barriers
- no device at all: the train slows down a little, honks for a long time before arriving and passes in front of the stopped cars without any security
Yes, but the Thai government is undertaking pharaonic works. Besides, it provides work to many people.
– All the current stations, plus some places where there is no station at all, are being replaced by very nice and big buildings, all of the same model. All these new stations are under construction, more or less advanced, all on the same plan, all very large and they will probably be very modern.
– All the current road crossings are having a semi-circular bridge built, all obviously on the same pattern. The clever thing about building these bridges is that they don’t need to cut through the current road, they are on the side, and their connection will be almost instantaneous. You have to see the pictures to understand.
In Hua Hin, the current station is nice, not so tiny, and seems to absorb the traffic. But it will soon be replaced by an impressive aerial station.
It still makes you wonder. In France, all the train stations in villages were removed long ago to give full importance to roads, wider and wider, with more and more lanes, roundabouts.
Are the Thais a century behind or are they ahead of us in the transportation of the future?
