On the Mahachai - Maeklong railway line
Last Sunday I went to the old Wongwian Yai train station in Thonburi thanks to a suggestion from my old friend Frans.
'Why don't we take the train to Maeklong again, I haven't done it in years!'
Why not indeed? My last visit - done by train at least - was also some time pre-covid...
Interesting to see how popular folding bicycles are becoming, there's even a Thai Dahon group (*) now!
One hour later passing lots of tiny ramshackle stations, communities, and countryside, we arrived at Mahachai (or Samut Sakhon).
Here the train rides through a local market as well, but the stands are not that close to the tracks, so no folding umbrellas!
Massive facelift of this place, S Pier 1964 (**), complete with a nice mural and an excellent coffee shop next to it.
View from the (closed!) rooftop bar over the harbor, Tha Chalom is just across.
The old fish market.
In order to catch the next train at Ban Laem one needs to cross the river...
This is your captain speaking...
No lack of local bicycle taxis in Tha Chalom!
In 2022 Tha Chalom got a cool facelift with street art and illustrated drain covers, these are just a few!
Bad luck though as I completely missed this event, wasn't even aware of it last year...
There's even a small, but interesting, museum: Baan Thachalom Visitor Centre
Ban Laem station got spruced up a bit too.
On the train again!
Interesting warning sign: Keep Limbs Inside The Train
After 45 minutes or so we stopped at a small station where several minivans were parked...
And suddenly we got company from a few tour groups, both Western and Chinese...
Arrival at Maeklong (or Samut Songkhram), we didn't even bother with the market as it was way too crowded...
Instead, we grabbed the same train back!
The driver's cabin isn't very luxurious, to put it mildly...
We had lunch in Tha Chalom, crossed the river, and walked back to Mahachai Station.
However, the tomatoes express wasn't ready for departure yet...
10 baht train tickets!
Despite the huge amount of tourists in Maeklong, we had a fun time with 4 train rides, good food, and more.
After arriving at Wongwian Yai Station we just walked back to Ong Ang walking street (Chinatown) for some Indian food, a great way to end the day!
In front of S Pier 1964, there are some fun photo ops:
Not sure what the connection between The Old Man and The Sea and Mahachai is supposed to be!
Spoiler alert: That's not Hemingway who's sitting there...
Another blatant example of fake news, I haven't caught a single fish in my whole life!
