My Trip to Pattaya – Part 1: Friday Morning at Hua Lamphong

Hello everyone!!! Finally…last week I got to the Pattaya International Fireworks Festival 2013 to take photos of the fireworks as I promised, and also took the ferry across to Koh Larn whose beauty can easily match that of other popular seaside in the South of Thailand. It was a really enjoyable trip and I took a lot of pictures of sceneries and fireworks, got into adventures, got lost (hahaha :p). If you want to see my meandering, you may take a look at my Instagram (@Cyberlambkin). However, if you are not skilled in the use of Instagram, that’s still okay as I will be putting the pictures in this blog also. ^^

I began my trip to Pattaya early Friday morning via Hua Lamphong Railway Station…
Hua Lamphong Railway Station, officially called Bangkok Station, is situated in the middle of Bangkok and therefore quite convenient to reach. But if I were to choose, I think the most practical public transport to get to Hua Lamphong Railway Station is the underground train (MRT), though as my house is not on the route of the MRT, I chose to go to Hua Lamphong Railway Station by taking a bus which would go straight over there.

In actual fact, however, after jumping up on a bus and traveling for a while, I calculated the travel time and felt that on that early weekday morning with a limited travel time, I would surely miss the departure of the train (as I said in my earlier blog, the train departed only 1 time per day and if you missed it, you had either to find transportation to intercept it at one of the next stations or you had to think of other modes of transportation). Indeed, my alternate plan was that if I missed this train I would take the MRT to Asoke Station, then the BTS Skytrain to the Ekamai Bus Terminal and get on a bus from there to go to Pattaya instead. As it happened, when my computation showed that I would definitely be late, my inner longing to travel by train surfaced and I hurriedly jumped down from the bus and got on a taxi, and just by paying a bit more for the expressway fee, I was dropped right in front of the Hua Lamphong Railway Station within 15 minutes. (A bus ride from my house in the morning even with no traffic would take up to 45 minutes.) Now, I was there and still had nearly half an hour to look for supplies to take on the train as my breakfast ;) but before looking for provisions, I’d better go and get the train ticket.

I had not used the service at Hua Lamphong Railway Station for quite a while, so I was a bit confused, not that there was any change in the floor plan, but it was purely me as I could no longer remember the layout ^^” When I went further in, however, I discovered that it was not difficult at all to find the ticket counter as it is situated right at the end of the large hall. At that time, nobody was queuing up to buy tickets, but perhaps this was due to the early hour. After checking with the train personnel to see whether the information I had collected was correct, I walked away with a ticket and a determination to get myself some breakfast^^.
*The train from Bangkok to Pattaya is the No. 283 Eastern Line, running from Bangkok Station (BKK) to Ban Phlu Ta Luang Station (BTG). It is a third-class carriage with fan ventilation. Thai people may use the service free of charge; foreigners have to pay 31 baht to get to Pattaya. You may check the Timetable here.

After walking to and fro and taking pictures of the views in front of the Hua Lamphong Railway Station, I managed to get some barbecued pork, sticky rice, water, and some candies from a nearby convenience store for my breakfast. And now…I am ready to set out on my adventure ^^ How the trip along the way turned out, I will relate to you in my next blog.