Tips and information on boarding a train from Butterworth to Huahin

After our New Year's day wedding, we decided to go for a mini honeymoon before the one we planned for this coming Sept. It was a short n' sweet trip. The husband let me plan the whole trip, just the way I like it.. I love the excitement while planning for a trip.. Hehe.

We decided to go by the train! Actually... I decided to go by the train. Just because I have never been on a train (unless you count the MRTs/LRTs haha). I love to experience new things and be the one to say 'been there, done that'. So, reluctantly, the husband give the go-ahead. We purchased the train ticket from the new Butterworth Railway Station as the train tickets cannot be purchased online. For those of you who have been to the old railway station before, it has already been demolished and in its place now is the new and modern station. The entrance is a little further away than the original one and we went circling around few times before we were able to locate the entrance. For those of you staying on Penang island, you can buy your train tickets in George Town at the small KTM office on Penang Island.

The new Butterworth Train Station

The easiest way to travel from Penang to Hua Hin is by train as both cities are located on the main Southern railway line that extends down from Bangkok and stops in Butterworth on its way to KL and finally Singapore. Butterworth railway station is only a short 15 minute ferry ride from George Town on Penang island. It is not possible to book this trip online as mentioned earlier as it is operated by the State Railways of Thailand.

There is however just one departure every day, leaving Butterworth in the early afternoon at 1400H and arriving in Hua Hin just after sunrise at 0626H, so it is best to purchase the tickets as far in advance as possible as the train can quickly fill up during peak travel periods and holidays. However, we learned the hard way that they may not be punctual and the train can be delayed. Ours got held up and we ended up reaching at 11am. But it is a blessing in disguise since we could not check in our hotel until late in the afternoon anyway and most of the places we plan to visit only opens at earliest around 10am. 

The train has just two second class sleeper carriage available where you will have to purchase a sleeper bed, either lower bed or upper bed. The lower beds are the best by far and are much wider than the upper beds.

This means they are the first to sell out, so it's best to book at least a few days in advance. Try to get a bed in the middle of the train as you don't want to be right next to the automatic doors (at either end of the carriage) which will mean you won't get much sleep. You may also ask the ticketing officer when you purchase the tickets which seats are nearer to the electric outlets. That's right! You have access to electric on board. We were just glad to have electric outlet to charge our mobile phones. I even saw some people boiling water and cooking rice on the train! Interesting... Seats / beds numbers 37 - 40 are right by the door to the exit and 1 - 4 are at the toilet end.

Food is also available on the train for dinner and breakfast as well as soft drinks. One of the stewards will come around with a menu. There are food items such as tomyam and fried rice. I think the food is overpriced a little bit- more than Rm10 per bowl of tomyam.. So we prepared our own food such as bread and potato chips to ate and snack on the train. 

If you have a friend or relative in Thailand, you can ask them to buy the return train ticket from Thailand to Penang, as the tickets are sold at any railway station in Thailand up to 60 days in advance. Another alternative is to pick your tickets up at the border at Padang Besar when the train stops for passport control, just like what we did. You will have to pick up all your luggage and follow the crowd to have your passport checked and stamped before entering Thailand.

In my opinion, taking a train is a far more relaxing journey than taking a bus. The cons of taking a train is probably the possibility of dying from boredom. I though there would be nice views to keep me entertained, but nope. The views are pretty much the same from start to finish except when nearing Hua Hin railway station. Hua hin is unfortunately not accessible by flight unless you take a 3-hour bus from Bangkok after landing. 

P.S: 

• It can get a bit cold in the air-conditioned train, so make sure you bring some sweaters. Blankets are provided (one blanket per bed) but i think they are too thin for me- I am very cold-intolerant :p
• Also, bring some mosquito repellant, I remember seeing a few mozzies flying around in the train.

Train Ticket Butterworth-Huahin: 

RM97.90 (upper) RM105.90 (lower)

Train Ticket Huahin-Butterworth:

Adult Fare : Upper berth 1020 Baht - Lower berth 1110 Baht 

Child Fare (aged 3-11) : Upper 681 Baht - Lower 771 Baht