Cashew Nüsse - Eine der Delikatessen aus Thailand

© Frank P. Schneidewind

Die Cashew - Kashew oder Kaschubäume auf dieser Welt haben wir den Portugiesen zu verdanken, welche im Mittelalter den Baum in Brasilien entdeckten und überall dort hin exportierten, wo sie Kolonien betrieben. Der 10 bis 12 m hohe Baum hat ein enormes Wurzelsystem, welches sich sowohl in die Tiefe (Pfahlwurzel), als auch seitlich (Seitenwurzel) ausbreitet. In Gegenden tropischer Regenfälle gedeiht Cashew besonders gut, der anspruchslose Laubbaum benötigt einfachen, sandigen oder rote Böden. Von Melakka in Malaysia aus, fand der Baum entlang der gesamten Küste des Indischen Ozeans Verbreitung, wegen seiner famosen Wurzelbildung spielte er schon immer im Erosionsschutz eine wichtige Rolle. Cashew is eigentlich gar keine Nuß im biologischen Sinne, sondern ein Samen. Dieser bildet sich am Baum unter einer männerfaustgroßen Fruchtdolde, dem Cashewapfel. Dieser wird wegen seiner fehlenden Transportfähigket nur lokal verzehrt, oder mancherorts zu Spirituosen verarbeitet. Die Frucht ist nicht geschmacksintensiv, beginnt am Tage nach dem Pflücken mit dem Faulen, sie ist aber reich an Vitamin C und wird beispielsweise im Ursprungsland Brasilien zu Marmelade eingekocht. Aus dem Raume Goa an der Küste des indischen Subkontinents kommt Feni, eine Spirituosenspezialität aus Cashewäpfeln dort. In Thailand findet man Cashew entlang vieler Küstenregionen, besonders auf den bei Ranong liegenden Inseln Koh Phayam und Koh Chang, wo Cashewanbau neben der Fischerei und einer zaghaften Entwicklung des Strandtourismus eine der Haupteinnahmequellen für die Bevölkerung der Region darstellt. Im folgenden Foto sehen wir einen Cashewapfel in Reifem Zustand nebst der Cashew, welche sich unter der Cashewfrucht bildet:

Die manuelle Verarbeitung ist sehr aufwändig, die Doppelschale rund um die Cashewnuß beinhaltet hautaggressive Stoffe. Auch ist das Trennen des verzehrbaren Kerns von dieser Doppelschale ist eine vorwiegend in Handarbeit verrichtete Angelegenheit. Mit einer Arbeitsleistung von maximal 5 KG Cashew je Arbeiter und Tag, kann das Entkernen auch treffend als eine sehr arbeitsintensive Tätigkeit beschrieben werden.

Meist ist diese Tätigkeit somit auch Broterwerb auf den Plantagen für ganze Familiensippen von Tagelöhnern, welche oft als Saisonarbeiter aus ärmeren Regionen, so dem benachbarten Burma, hierher zum Arbeiten kommen.

Das CNSL (Cashew-Nut-Shell-Liquid) ist ein Harz, welches in der Industrie sehr gefragt ist. Vom Arzeneimittel über seewasserresistente Schutzlacke für Boote bis hin zu Bremsbelagsbeimengungen von Automobil-Bremsbelägen, wird das CNSL als Grundsubstanz weltweit benötigt. Das CNSL oder Cardinol wird aus der Anacardinsäure des Schalenöls beim Erhitzen gewonnen.

Intensive Waschvorgänge der Cashewnuß können daher zur Erntezeit in den betreffenden Regionen beobachtet werden. In Röstvorgängen werden nach der Trennung des verzehrbaren Teils von den Schalen, aus diesen der wertvolle Industrierohstoff gewonnen. Von hier gehen die Cashewnuß und das Cardinol getrennte Wege, die Schalenreste befeuern den Röstvorgang als Kohle- oder Ölersatz! Eine gewisse ökologische Effizienz ist hierbei nicht abzustreiten. Restfeuchte spielt in dem verzehrbaren Teil einer Cashewnuß eine große Rolle hinsichtlich dessen Transportfähigkeit und der Lagerhaltung. Cashewkerne aus Thailand haben meist eine ökologisch unbedenkliche Sonnentrocknung hinter sich, auch sind sie sehr sauber verarbeitet und werden ansehnlich in Klarsichtbeuteln zum Verkauf angeboten. Industrielle oder Export-Verpackungseinheiten bis 25 lbs. in Großkonserven, werden international gehandelt. Der Anteil an unversehrten, ungebrochenen Kernen ist hier ausschlaggebend.

Diese Köstlichkeit ist reich an essenzieller Aminosäure, welche sich bei menschlichem Verzehr sehr positiv auf die Bildung des wichtigen Hormons Serotonin auswirkt. Ernährungsphysiologisch gesehen, sind Cashewnüsse also ein recht wertiges Nahrungsmittel.

Der Besucher einer Cashewplantage kann die Früchte meist in mehreren Vegetationsstufen betrachten. Während überreife Früchte schon mal laut platschend auf dem Boden aufschlagen und dabei platzen, sind solche in einem früheren Reifestadium oftmals noch am gleichen Baum zu bestaunen.

Der Cashewbaum gilt als immergrünes Gewächs, er verliert sein Laub nicht zyklisch im Laufe eines Jahres, wie viele anderen Frucht- und Laubbäume.

Still worth a trip - but for how long? Koh Phayam

© Frank P. Schneidewind

The tickets for the economical slow boat are being sold at the pier in Ranong town. Here you can buy your passage to either Koh Phayam or the smaller Koh Chang in the Andaman Sea for 150 Baht a person. But it sure won't be long until overpowered speed boats shuttle tourist masses in herds in a nick of time to those laid back islands.

The islands are a perfect retreat for a few days or an entire holiday at present, but for sure they will have not too long to wait until the full-moon-party-type of crowd starts to destroy the tranquility on those marvellous beaches and the islands will be "koh samuied" in one way or another.

While some will call it "progress", Thailand will soon find out, that quite a percentage of it's international arrivals do not really treasure a McDonalds branch open 24 hours only steps from the beach as in Ao Nang, Krabi province and other "amenities", brought by mass-tourism.

Enough of this now, our readers want to know, what's so special about Koh Phayam and what used to make it one of the authors prime destinations for a family-beach retreat within the Kingdom. Known previously only for it's crop of high quality cashew nuts, Koh Phayam was discovered by the backpacker crowd, that escaped the former paradises of Phuket and Koh Samui about a little over a decade ago. Rather conservative locals and the lack of big dollar spenders on giant resorts preserved Koh Phayams originality a little bit longer than other tropical islands. Today, you can still witness pristine, unspoiled beaches and drive there on your moped on single lane paved pathways, too narrow to accommodate pickup trucks! Car traffic will nowhere to be seen. The number of paved ways is very limited throughout the island. Cashew trees and their plantations everywhere inland and rolling hills that seperate the bigger beaches. Resorts are plentyful on most beaches, their accommodations range from rather basic straw huts on the beach to wooden or solidly built bungalows adjacent to these beaches.

The boat is equipped with a number of seats, life vests are visible on board. It departs on schedule and picks up a slow speed.

A short while later, you deboard at a nice concrete pier on the eastern (landward) side of the island. Here are some shops, restaurants and snackerias. 2 moped hire stations are right past the welcome-sign, they also have moped taxis for those without driving skills or the desire to drive here - we surely took this cool opportunity and book a rental moped for the duration of our planned stay. Moped taxis are not necessarily our cup of tea!

We did set right off to the western beaches and crossed the island for this purpose on the bikes, checking out the variety of bungalows to find one that meets our demands. The selection is quite outstanding, as every decent stretch of beach has a number of well suited holiday homes for rent. Nice beaches are already to be found on the landward side where you arrive in the northern and southern sections of this island. To those resorts here you can walk from the pier.

Beaches are placed on Koh Phayam like symbols on a clockface. If you project a clock onto a map of it, you may find:

The snorkler's paradise Aow Kwang Peep at 12 o'clock, Aow Pai at 1 o'clock, the huge Aow Hin Khao at 2 o'clock and south of that near your arrival pier the flat and quiet Aow Mae Mai. Aow is a Thai word and means simply: beach, by the way. Aow Mook and Aow Kho-Kiew are at 4 and 5 o'clock and seperated by the rocky island of Kho Kham, which can be reached on foot in low tide. The main touristic beaches with most resorts follow on the eastern shoreline, with the majestic Aow Yai or Long beachat the 7 to 8 o'clock position and the Aow Kwai with it's gorgeous sunset bay at the 10 to 11 o'clock spot. The later is divided by some rocks in two distinctive sections and huge as well. A beach overload for a relative small island, but visitors can pick their favorite one and visit others on occasion to collect even more impressions of this tropical jewel in the Andaman Sea.

Beachbiking is a must for us, we also want to avoid the maze of plantation paths in the cashew jungles. Those are harder to navigate and negotiate on two wheels with two people, than a wet beach.

The beaches are perfect, occasional restaurants and no nasty sales people hawking anything you may not need. There is also no ocean of beachchairs in crazy numbers, but you may lay your blanket or beachmat anywhere you fancy :)

The beaches west are several km long and had a playful weak surf during our time there, the waters were clean with no sgn of jellyfish! They were also free of nasty sandflies. Nothing appeared dirty here, the beaches were natural and didn't need any upkeep as it appeared.

The beaches were sometimes flanked by rocks, these had funny forms at low tide. We also found shelter here during our beachcomber trips when showers came in occasionally from the burmese islans further west. These pics were taken in Aow Kwai Bay in the west during low tide.

Each shower was short and soon gave way to better weather:

To our regular readers, these pictures look familiar as we use that motive as our avatar:

...and this one for SIAMPEDIA's logo:

It is very picturesque on Koh Phayam and the western beaches offer fabolous sunsets almost nightly. The cashew tree farming we found attractive enough to dedicate an own feature for this. On the island is no 7eleven or larger store, everything is being handled by established Ma & Pa type of stores, dotted all across the island. The foundation for larger aircon-resorts has been laid a while ago, they will draw a different crowd and noisier generators. The infrastructure will then not gradually grow, but jump, and attract more money for investments and resorts for a higher prices paying group of customers - the "Koh Samui"-phenomenon will start one day with roads being upgraded to accommodate cars and trucks, by then we will have escaped already and report from a left over paradise some place else :)

Visit Koh Phayam now, when a limited infrastructure and now connection for a powergrid cable to the mainland's electrical power system still guarantees a certain tranquility and very reasonable prices. It may be too late to experience all this beauty in a few more years from now. Spa's and fancy amenities are unheard of as per yet, but the profits will linger one day and surely bring the crowds, which we flee from since ages.

SRT - Thailands State Railway - 3rd class seat

© Frank P. Schneidewind

Thailand's rail system offers with the cheap 3rd class a ticket to all, which is very economical. Roughly 300 Baht will get you to any place the rails are laid out to. The ride is as quick or slow as in any "better" class. But third does have some other features too, which may interest the filming or photographing tourists and passengers. We'll go through this step by step to explain this issue in detail.

Firstly, third class isn't as uncomfortable as some think it may be, the seats on the routes north and south are of the upholstered variety. 2 people can easily travel for a 100 Baht bill from Bangkok to Pattaya or even to the Cambodian border in Aranyaprathet.

This type of train is typical for Thailand and your contacts with locals and other travellers are not subdued ba any walls or distances. Seats are numbered and can be booked well in advance (recommended). The only exception are trains into the isaan (northeast), where SRT still uses even more basic waggons with wooden benches and less space per passenger.

Each seat is often numbered multiple times in true Thai style, engraved numbering, the marker pen numbers on the wall or the sratched numbers into the steel bar on top of the seats do not correspond and makes seat assignments a bit of a guesswork. Windows are usually much wider then in the 2nd class seat waggon and there is no lack of ventilation with the train in motion, some fans on the ceiling can be manually turned on, if the train stops longer or windows have to be raised during a rain shower. Louvered blinds compliment the windows for those sitting in the direct sun if the sun's intensity is too strong.

Officials include ticket checkers and armed uniformed personnel, they aren't unfriendly but very strict. Their Rambo-looks and guns scare youngsters from harassing others or disregard the smoke-ban in the waggons of the train, the trains are constantly patroled by them.

Services offered on all routes are snacks from the dining-cart's kitchen in styrofoam containers for marginal amounts of money, drinks are served ice cold also for a small surcharge. Everything is being delivered to the seat for you.

A habit of the citizens, which I personally dislike, is the chronical dumping of all waste out of the windows without any care for the nature outside or second thoughts about this. You can watch the trash flying out every waggon, when you lean out the window and look alongside the moving train. Garbage receptacles are provided at every end of the waggon, but hardly anyone cares to walk there to dump his empty styrofoam, water bottle, plastic bag or paper trash.

This is very annoying right after large stations (Surat Thani, Korat, Ratchaburi, Ayutthaya etc.), when the trash lines the track for several miles, after some local cheap food has been delivered by vendors throughout the train.

The stops seem sometimes very long, trains with 3 rd class attached don't rank high on SRT's priority list. Quite a few times the halt is preceding a single track segment and the train is stalled to let a higher ranked train go through first or let another one clear it, before your train can proceed to his destination.

Luggage room is plenty, unless you plan to travel on or before Thai holidays.

Smokers resort to the ends of the waggon, both doors there usually remain open and it is officially ok to lite up a cigarette or so here. Some sit in these open doors andd read a book or just enjoy the breeze. The styrofoam trash lines the immediate track neighborhood significantly in some places.

Toilets are somewhat basic and special to foreigners. Plan your bowel movements accordingly and please don't use it in stations. All falls right down through the hole there! You can safely walk around in the whole train and even step outside to take pictures or shop at station kiosks, the departing train will be announced by whistle blows or a big bell ringing. Watch for the flag waving official in the middle of the train an the platform, he communicates with the engineer up front and tells him by waving a green flag to go. It's time to jump back on the train then!

The dining car party in the train leaving Chiang Mai in the afternoon is almost a tradition, sometimes the Chiang Mai bound train has parties too. Dining carts are rented out privately in Thailand and the quality of their services depends on their respective renters. Some have a couple rows of Christmas-style lights attached to the ceiling, smoking and consumption of alcoholic beverages is encouraged here. Entertainment is provided by a stereo system of the management here and choices of music being played are slim but some folks bring their tapes or CDs along. Dancing is a normality and sometimes this gets a bit wild. Some wild girls dance on the seats there, they will later be reminded to leave enough clothes on for the dining cart team not to get in any troubles during any station stops.

The party stops in the wee hours, when profits from the crowd sink below acceptable limits here. Melona and I would never miss this fun event, when returning by rail from the north. Chosing the right train back seems to be a key factor to join this international crowd. Parties like this seem to be an exclusive on the Bangkok bound Chiangmai train, as we have never witnessed such fun on southern or northeastern routes.
The dining car is, however, a sanctuary for smokers, it closes normally some time before midnight and reopens for breakfast between 5 and 6 a.m.
The 3rd class is a great place to interact and communicate with others as the seating provided is very limited! Only 12 pairs of seats make up their entire furniture for passengers and the seats are of the upholstered folding variety. Consumption is an obligation here, coffee is 15 Baht and softdrinks are 20 Baht. Alcohol is being served as per their menue, but the prices are reasonable too.
Dining carts in trains that carry only 1st and 2nd class aren't worth your while unless you like a "windows locked shut" and "caged in" sort of feeling, the are airconditioned and strictly non-smoking!

SRT - Thailands State Railway - 2nd class seater

© Frank P. Schneidewind

The 2nd class seating arrangements are availlable on selected trains only. Older coaches with wooden planking, a linoleum flooring and "barbershop" chairs, which appear to be at least of 60's vintage and hence celebrated their half century jubilee already in silence. The chairs are stationary and mounted on oversized heavy steel consoles. SRT carries usually only one of these waggons in trains without 1st class. These antique waggons hold a maximum of 48 passengers. They are chronically overbooked, even in half empty trains, but just recently have been tested by our reporting team in November 2009 from Hat Yai back to Bangkok (sleeper 2nd class was fully booked for days ahead!).

They have a reclining feature (if functioning) and some thick vinyl (sweaty!) as a cover for a rather thin upholstery. Ashtrays in the armrests are covered shut with a stupid piece of metal, sharp edges on this oversized piece and the usage of non-flush mounted screws will care for some roughing up of your wrist areas and the delicate skin of your lower arms.

Footrests on each seat are solid pieces of steel, welded stiff on the seat pedestal in front of you. These are dimensioned strictly for Asian sized people, so if you can pass without ducking under a bar in 1,60 m height - these are for you :)

If, on the other hand your bodylength has western dimensions (the author hits the male average for westerners with just over 1,80 m), I will feel with you and hope the pain ceases within a couple of days. It took me 2 full days to be backpainfree again.

The setup is easy and uniform in this class, two seats each are numbered side by side throughout the waggon. The seatwidth reminds of the sardine-can-setup, cheap airlines do offer in their low budget coachclasses. This seat, however, is yours for a full 18 hours, not just a one or two hour flight somewhere! :) All windows are open and care for a good wind troughout the journey. Except for the plenty of stops, where mosquitoes and other flying attractions of the appropriate area in the jungles or agricultural zones will swarm the brightly illuminated cart. It's a welcomed "sitting ducks" situation for the bloodsuckers with wings. Those who believe in protection by just a T-shirt for example, will be tought an itching lesson! :)

Exposed skin should be treated with a good insect repellent in any environment with mosquitoes present in Thailand anywhere at any time. The waggon itself is merciless brightly lit at nighttime, strong overhead fluorescent lamps will make you crave for an eyeshade if you really want to nap.

Overhead luggage storage space seems to be proportioned well for the relative small group of travellers in here, space for roomier or bulky items is behind the seats 1 through 4 (suitcases etc.)

Just in case you wear shorts on your non-aircon trips, be advised that there are plenty of sharp metal screws and rusty spots in each legroom, make sure your tetanus vaccination is still valid!

The overaged linoleum flooring material appears to have been laid maybe on the current kings 40th or 50th birthday, but has not seen any replacement since. Large cracks and worn out walkways show this clearly. The material there has not only given up it's top green layer, but also the complete grey zone. The black on display is the color of the hard rubber baselayer, this wear and tear must have accumulated over decades as Thai passengers weigh not too much in average and hardly change their soft flip-flops for abraisive boots or heavy shoes.

Each seat has a "shadow area" of dirt underneath, thats where the cleaning gear doesn't reach in a quick wipe. The floor in it's accessible areas will be mopped several times during the trip, That probably is supposed to put a curb to the insect's activity. The 8-legged roamers do outsmart the mop by retreating to their hiding places then and reappear from all cracks and holes (especially in those pedestals). Everything else appears rather clean, but wait for the hours after midnight when activity in the waggon dies down and everybody tries to grab a nap. I have relocated all of our small luggage items and Melona's famous snack-bag to the overhead area to keep them out of the critter's reach. :)

Earplags may help to reduce the noiselevel throughout the ride, the cost for these luxurious seats equals about the double of the base price (3rd class seat). The sheer age of these waggons prohibits any tachnical upgrades, I guess. Jammed windows aren't uncommon and the louvred sun-blinds can reduce the wind drag a bit if pulled or pushed into position. Hordes of salespeople with all kinds of foods flock the train at every bigger station, most carry their wares in wire baskets through the aisle, loudly presenting their specialities. Be assured to secure your arm and shoulder, when you end up in an aisle-seat. The vendors bang into people constantly, their metal baskets command most of the room in the aisles.

This type of waggon features a room clad in stainless, where a sorry looking showerhead protrudes from the ceiling. It is supposedly used for anybody wishing to clean up or refresh, but besides the showerhead there is a miniature sink for public use. Be careful with your feet when using this feature, as the wastewater from there drains through a vertical piece of pipe onto your footwear, before gravity lets it exit through a hole in the floor onto the visible gravel below the train. A 2nd class seat will never again be booked by myself, but I wanted that experience myself in order to be able to cover realisticly all classes and types of service in our reports. Melona slept well on our trip back to Bangkok in this type of seat, but as an Asian girl she is also not within western or caucasian brackets in terms of her body's sizes :). Much more desirable at a slightly higher price is the 2nd class sleeper, which will be featured here as well later.

SRT - Thailands State Railway - 1st class private sleeper cabin

© Frank P. Schneidewind

Only some trains carry 1st class sleeper carts, the are the pride of the rail system and about 0,5 % of all passengers choose them. Lockable compartments with a small sink (water not for human consumption recommended), a comfy sofa, a miniature foldup-table and a lockable sliding-door to the gangway outside. 1st class is surely kept clean and no irritating smells or odeurs will spoil your journey. The upper wall half contains the upper bed, it is folded flat against the wall in day use. Cheap linoleum flooring, a non-adjustable airconditioning and locked down windows still limit the fun quite a bit. Lightning is basically provided by an overhead lamp with a switch. The fact that windows can't be opened, not even for ventilation, is a really bothering factor for us! It also excludes you efficiently from all goodies and dealers in the various stations, which sell drinks, hot coffee or snacks and ice cream through the open windows in 3rd class. They run up and down the platform, but will skip you as they are also not allowed inside to hawk their wares.

The nightly set-up will be executed by the steward at bedtime or if you wish, fresh linnens and pillows will be provided. Each micro-cabin has a special connecting door to the adjacent cabin, so 2 micro-cabins for 2 passengers each can be combined to a 4 person layout. The lower bed appears slightly larger, but persons sleeping here would have to have Asian dimensions to really sleep comfortable. The mattresses cannot accomodate 2 people (for those with romantic ideas). A reading light at each berth plus a small net for phones or such is installed. Not installed is any form of electrical outlet, laptops or phones can eventually be charged by the steward in his quarters. Toilets are on either end of the cart, but their basic design and lack of any modern features are not exactly fitting a first class western standard. Smoking is prohibited in the entire cart, the steward points to a noisy and unstable area between carts near the locked doors upon request. Noise levels throughout 1st class are subdued, but lightyears away from what one may expect after having experienced similar rides in the USA or Europe.

Friendly railroad staff delivers a lukewarm assortment of shrinkwrapped Thai dishes to your door from time to time. Cost is marginal but higher than in the dining cart 2nd class, which usually accompanies 1st class train setups.

The cabins all stretch along one long hallway, that is too narrow to let two people pass each other. Access to the cabins only directly from this hallway.

Note: No stowaway for suitcases or travel bags, all need to fit inside your micro-cabin!
This may be a real problem to the tourist with suitcases or large bags, as the room under the bench is occupied by the ladder and other fittings for the nightly setup to a large percentage!

Littered with advertising, the washing facility at the cart's ends feature no or too little room for a much needed mirror. Soap and papertowels are provided here.

Some carts have a public phone installed, but it operates on greatly overpriced prepaid cards only, the stewart sells these. The prices charged for this type of transport make train travel no option for modern people. Long haul domestic flights are often cheaper and require a lot less time. 1st class passengers are screened from the life in stations and enroute as well, the stationary window may or may not be clean enough to allow for photographs. We have experienced both nice and milky/dirty ones.The fare is for example 1.379 Baht to Surat Thani (Samui) or 1.594 Baht to Hat Yai Station per person for this class. To Surat Thani the travel time is approximately 10 hours, to Hat Yai 18 hours are realistic.

Make sure to pick the right train for your destination, some do arrive at hours ranging from ungodly hours in the middle of the night and involve further hours of idle time waiting until the towns wake up! Depending on your group size, 1st class rail travel may be an option for those uninterested in contact with others and no interest in the areas they pass through. Watch, where you buy your tickets - only SRT outlets or rail stations charge you fair, all so called "Joint tickets" that the agents try to hawk to camouflage hefty markups are actually rip-offs of a mild kind :)

Train useage makes more sense, the further you travel up or down one line. Chiang Mai, Nong Khai and Hat Yai make more sense than Pattaya, Hua Hin or Chumporn. Always compare to online offers of low budget airlines, 1st class rail may equal a big waste of time and money!

Reservations can be made at any railway station for any class of service nationwide, be aware that popular trains with nice schedules are sold out fast in high season or before the big Thai holidays. We will continue this with actual reports from lower classes of service and have quite some surprises waiting for our concerned readers. Thank you for your interest in our report.

SRT - Thailands State Railway in distress

© Frank P. Schneidewind

Thailand's over a century old rail system is narrow gauge and mostly single track. This doesn't allow for 21st century speeds, but it's still being operated and hauls quite a number of passengers in 3 different classes of service. Tourists, which have to catch planes at any nationwide airport should refrain from rail services, their useage of timetables and schedules does not operate on western standards!

Equipment is being called "time-bombs" by leading local media and recent fatalities through derailments did cast a further bad shadow on the tracks. We have, however used long distance rail services in the past frequently and have just returned from Hat Yai in the far South. Other main lines lead North to Chiang Mai or East to Aranyaprathet, a Northeastern spur to Nong Khai has the lousiest waggons involved (wooden benches without any upholstery!) and was boycotted by us for orthopedic reasons in the past. Spurs to Trang, Sungai Kolok or Padang Bezar in the South and Kanchanaburi in the West do cater for residents there or tourists heading for destinations in those vicinities. A once daily service to and from Pattaya and Suphanburi is badly timed and often half empty. Efficiency doesn't seem to play any factor on the rails.

The engines have a bad reputation with barely enough on hand for the daily service. Strikes hemmed efficiency and reliability bad in the recent past. It is said, that a large percentage of Thailand's 212 engines is seriously damaged ("fubar", in new English) and currently being cannibalized for spare parts to keep enough rolling stock on the rails. Copied parts are a major cause for failures and accidents, nobody gets his wrist slapped in Thailand for operating equipment with faulty brakes or security relevant parts made cheaply off-standard locally or in China. A person's life doesn't count for much here and the self-applauding governments from all the different parties, that ruled this country during the past decades, nobody dared to pay any attention!


Read this article from the Bangkok Post:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRIVE THIS? Why our trains are falling apart

The sleepers have outlasted their lifespan often 30 years ago, and rail securing technology from the 40's is still being visible in many sections. Concrete sleepers with real gravel between them, a standard anywhere else, is being implied at a typical snail pace and may last a few more decades. SRT is not spending enough money to keep their train's security switches and brakes active (reason for the recent deadly derailment), what do they worry about something so low as a sleeper for the rails.

The loud horns always work fine, no engineer would take on a journey without them! Countless unsecured railway crossings in the nation rack up a number of traffic fatalities per year, headline for a day only.

Engines are painted in a gright yellow, but paint is cheap and rust is plenty! Rusty parts overpainted last a little while longer, so their philosopy. So don't get taken away by the colorful paintjobs on engines, that's just a disguise for people believing in postcards and their motives!

Check the waggons and couplings for structural damages, oil leaks and hissing pressure hose connections - but well, people use these rolling pieces of trash daily, because a bus would cost them triple the fare. There is no alternative to SRT's best-selling 3rd class fare, nowhere in the country!

Attacks with semi auto fire from muslim insurgents and bombings of railtargets have halted the services south of Hat Yai quite often. Armed patrols accompany every train now and they are army rangers, well trained!

But we will concentrate on the service provided, not on the technical rapping the SRT is permanently getting from it's own workers, engineers and the print media.

Train travel does have indeed positive sides, those will be featured in the follow-ons here for you on SIAMPEDIA.ORG


Stay tuned for our essences from 15.000+ KM of train travel over the last couple of years here, we used all available classes of service - some of those never ever again :). We start with the 1st class sleepercabin tomorrow, cozy and not too bad - but pricier than a budget airline ticket!