The Railroad Less Travelled In Thailand

Take the slow train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and unlock ‘old Thailand’: a land of misty temples, golden Buddhas and epic history…

- Alex Robinson

The setting was a Thai palace, its gables covered in glistening gold and mirrored glass, framed against a backdrop of night sky. Dancers moved to the tinkle and pluck of Eastern instruments, wearing long, spidery fingernail rings wrought in delicate shapes. Their smiles were fixed under headdresses garlanded with orchids and amulets that twinkled in the light of the lanterns. I was transfixed. So much so that I forgot about the table of food that lay in front of me, all courtesy of my hosts, Ame and Dong.

Ame coughed loudly. “Try this one,” she said, enthusiastically thrusting a portion of steaming hot, chilli-red fish towards me. “Lan Na food. Lan Na music,” she said with a big, proud smile.

I was in Chiang Mai, the ‘capital’ of northern Thailand and once the centre of the powerful Lan Na kingdom. It was part of the country’s past that I had been curious to learn more about, and so had come up with an ingenious plan – all the while saving some cash in the process.

While most people fly the popular route between Bangkok and Chiang Mai or take a whistle-stop highlights tour, the map showed me another way: a railway that, for around the cost of a one-day London travel card, slowly cut south-to-north through the centre of the country. No beaches, beer bars or designer spas. Instead, I would peer into Thailand’s historical heart, and by taking it easy I hoped to learn a lot more about its local tribes and people along the way.

Here to modernity