We took trains three times in Thailand: from Bangkok to Uttaradit, from Uttaradit to Bangkok, and from Bangkok to Chumphon.
The first train we took was an air-conditioned second class sleeper. Each section of a sleeper train has two seats facing each other on each side of the center aisle. When you want to go to sleep you convince the person in the other chair that they also want to sleep, then fold the two seats into a single mattress and pull down the shelf containing the upper bunk. When we got on the train we idly poked around to figure out this arrangement, but we didn't have to do any of the actual work: one of the train employees came down the aisle, gestured for us to get out of the way, and made the beds appear as soon as he saw any interest in sleeping. He also made the beds for us (clean sheets!) and generally provided great service for a second class train.
(Pic: Look at all that art!)
The only problem we had was that Wesley was quite a bit taller than his bunk. This situation was exacerbated by the fact the he had his backpack on the bed so that he could keep track of it during the night. After he pulled his curtain to go to sleep the rest of us amused ourselves by making guesses about what sleeping position he was presently trying out, then pulling back his curtain to check if we were right.
(Pic: so little room for activities.)
Wesley, on this game: "Guys, I haven't moved for the last three rounds. How is Rachel still getting it wrong?" I claim that I had a poor perspective during the reveal, of course.
(Pics: the view from the top bunk.)
We were also right next to the automatic door between compartments, so we got to watch everybody come up and struggle to open the door while the door considered whether it was really in an opening mood. Anna, who was closest to the sensor, took the role of magician and made the door open at her will.
Our second train was like the first one but without AC, at least according to the tickets. Somehow this also translated to the lights not working and the door falling off the compartment when I tried to open it to find the bathroom in the middle of the night. That train was substantially shabbier, but we were taking anything we could get because all of the people who had been in Chiang Mai for the lantern festival were trying to get back to Bangkok right when we were.
Our last train was a completely uneventful day train, which afforded us a lot of time to listen to music, play cards, and watch Thailand go by.
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