Asian Train Guide

Bangkok to Padang Besar

Special Express No. 45 is an international train that runs between Bangkok and Padang Besar in Malaysia. This leaves Krung Thep Aphiwat at 3:35 p.m. and arrives in Padang Besar at 9:50 a.m. the next morning (10:50 a.m. Malaysian time). The return journey by  Special Express No. 46 is at 6:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. Thai time) and arrives back in Bangkok at 10:10 p.m. the next morning. There are only two 2nd Class sleeper carriages. Lower berth is 960 Baht and Upper Berth is 870 Baht. However, two 3rd Class carriages with seats are added at Hat Yai Junction for the final stretch to Padang Besar. These seats are 50 Baht. Once you get off the train at Padang Besar, you will need to line up for Thai immigration. After this you go through Malaysian Immigration and then customs. From here you go upstairs where you will find the ticket office, food court and waiting area.

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The Padang Besar train uses two 2nd Class Day and Night carriages built by Daewoo in Seoul, Korea in 1996. During the day there are seats facing each other. One seat is for the person in the lower berth and the other seat for the person in the upper berth. As you can see in this photo, the seats are quite wide even though it is meant for one person. This also means the lower berth once made up is also wide. Certainly wider than the newer CNR carriages.

In the evening, the carriage attendant will come round to make up the beds with clean sheets. As you can see, the top berth doesn’t have a window which is why the bottom berth is both more popular and more expensive. The top berth also sways more, is nearer to the lights which are on all night, and also colder as the air-conditioning units are in the ceiling. There aren’t any plug sockets for in each berth, but there are four sockets high up between seats 18 (lower berth) and 21 (upper berth). People usually bring extension cords for these sockets as they are not conveniently placed.

Each carriage has two toilets. One is Asian squat style and one is Western seat style. Both have washbasins but there are also two washbasins outside. The squat toilet also has a cold water shower. A good tip when booking your berth is not to have one the toilet end! This is because people don’t always shut the doors and so that end can get a bit smelly.

There is no dining car on this train, but as there are 3rd Class carriages with doors that are open all the time, you will find that food vendors will be getting off and on all the time. They sell hot and cold drinks as well as food and snacks. Nakhon Pathom and Ratchaburi are good foodie stops. I got the dry noodles for 10 Baht at Ratchaburi. Don’t miss the fried chicken with sticky rice in Hat Yai.

There is some confusion about this train. This is because for the first stretch between Bangkok and Hat Yai Junction it is joined together with Special Express No. 37. They are separated at Hat Yai Junction. So, make sure you are in the right carriages when this happens! No. 37 then takes the main line to Su-Ngai Kolok and No. 45, after two 3rd Class carriages are added, goes down the branch line to Padang Besar. For the return journey, they are again joined together at Hat Yai Junction.