"Floating Train" Pasak Chonrasit Dam Train

Actually, I'm currently attending a Thai language class, and a friend there taught me about it.

Naka: “There is a sightseeing train that runs through the dam only in winter.Would you like to join us?”

Ma: “A train running through the dam!? I’m curious!”

I did some research and found out that there is a sightseeing train that only runs for three months starting from November 5th, Thailand's dry season, which is Japan's winter. It is said to be the only train in Thailand that runs over a dam lake, and is very popular locally.

Source: National Railways of Thailand

↑ Click here for the image.
Wow, it's so spacious!

! It might be bigger than Lake Biwa in Japan. When you think of a train running on water, don't you think of a scene from the movie "Spirited Away"?
It would be great if I could enjoy a ride in Singha while looking out the train window while being blown by the Thai wind. .

After consulting with my family, they kindly agreed to visit Thailand. Thank you so much to my wife and baby.

What is the floating train “Pasak Chonrasit Dam Tourist Train”?

Overview of the Pasak Chonrasit Dam train

First, let me explain what this sightseeing train is like.

The huge Pa Sak Jolasid Dam, which straddles Lopburi and Saraburi provinces, is the only place in Thailand where a railway runs over the dam.

Every year after the rainy season (May to October), when the water level at the dam reaches its highest level, the National Railways of Thailand begins operating a special train that runs over the dam for a limited time.

It operates only on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from mid-November to late January every year. It is very popular among train fans, locals, and tourists because you can experience the unique experience of seeing a train stop on top of the dam. The schedule for this special train is that it departs from Hua Lamphong Station in Bangkok at 06:00 in the morning and makes a brief stop at Ayutthaya Station.

At Ayutthaya Station, local people will come and sell food on board the train, so you can enjoy local food. After that, we moved to Pasak Chonrasit Dam station. The train not only passes through the middle of the dam, but also stops halfway across the dam on a long bridge, allowing you to enjoy taking photos of the dam on the tracks for about 30 minutes. This sight gives you a mysterious feeling as if you are riding a train over a dam (lake), and it is also a scenic spot that you must experience at least once. Afterwards, we stopped at the market at Khok Salung Station and arrived at Pasak Chonrasit Dam Station around 10:30.

During your approximately 5 hours of free time, you can enjoy the photogenic scenery of a field of sunflowers in full bloom. On the return trip to Bangkok at around 3:30 pm, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the dam bathed in the setting sun.

Quote: Amazing Thailand

As mentioned in the explanation above, the dam is not the only highlight of this train.
You can also enjoy
the ``photogenic scenery of a field of sunflowers in full bloom.'' This is what it means to be twice as delicious with one grain.

It is also known as the "Sunflower Train".

Source: Amazing Thailand

It would be truly spectacular to see a view like this. I think it could be used as a photo for a calendar.

By the way, this "Pasak Chonrasit Dam" is written on the back of the old 1000 baht bill.

Is true!
I did not know! Now you're smarter again. Unfortunately I don't have the old bills. . It would make a good conversation topic at Barbia. .

time table

The train itinerary departs from Bangkok at 6:00am and returns to Bangkok at 7:00pm. Just a whole day.

Outward journey

6:00 AM Departing from Hua Lamphong ⇒ AM: 06:50 Don Mueang Station ⇒ AM: 07:30 Ayutthaya Station ⇒ AM: 8:30 Saraburi Station ⇒ AM: 09:30-09:50 Stop at the Dam Lake Viewpoint ⇒ AM: 10:00 Arrive at Koksaln Station

Return trip

AM:10:20 Departing from Koksalung Station ⇒ ★AM:10:30~AM:15:30 Pasak Chonrasit Dam Station ⇒ AM:18:50 Arriving at Bangkok

For the ★ part, you will stay at Pasak Chonrasit Dam Station for about 5 hours. During this time, you will have free time, but you can take a tour of cafes and sunflower fields by taking a paid shuttle.

basic information

name	Pasak Chonrasit Dam Tourist Train (also known as Sunflower Train)
Fee	With air conditioner: 560 baht Without air conditioner: 330 baht
Time required	06:00～19:00
Website	https://www.railway.co.th/

Ride on the Parsak Chonrasit Dam train

From Hua Lamphong Station to Pasak Chonrasit Dam

The train departs at 6:00 am.

I arrived at Hua Lamphong Station at 5:30, rubbing my sleepy eyes and wondering why it was so early. There were already many people inside the station waiting to board the train. Well, I'm really glad I chose the hotel next to Hua Lamphong Station.

We will be riding in car number 12.

It will be a 3rd class car without air conditioning (330 baht). The train departed on time at 6 o'clock. It's still early morning, but it's already a little hot and humid. We head north in the pre-dawn darkness.

On-board vendors often come by to sell drinks and sweets. First, I ordered hot coffee. 40B. The cup with the train symbol is cute.

Just past Ayutthaya Station, roti saimai was sold on the train.
It's too nostalgic.

Come to think of it, it's been about 10 years since we last met in Ayutthaya when we first came to Thailand. The wrapper and cotton candy will be given to you separately, so you can wrap it however you like.

What is roti saimai?

A train journey while watching the changing windows.
It's really soothing. Feelings from the car window of the world.

Mr. Ishimaru's narration plays in your mind. Even though it's December, it's really hot in Thailand.

There was no air conditioning as it was a 3rd class train, but I didn't expect it to be this hot. Be careful not to get heatstroke by drinking enough water.

Around 9 o'clock, as I was doing this, an announcement inside the train said, "You'll soon see the dam."
Oh, I see it now.
The Parsak Chonrasit Dam you are looking for! Everyone looks in the same direction and starts taking pictures.

Arriving at Pasak Chonrasit Dam

AM:9:30 We arrived at the dam viewpoint on time. The train will stop here for about 20 minutes and take a commemorative photo.

A dam lake spreads out below. The weather is nice and the wind blowing through is very pleasant.

A smiling staff member held up a sign for a commemorative photo.

I wanted to get to the front of the line, but we, car No. 12, were in the back.

The lead vehicle can be seen far ahead. It looks very tilted in the photo, but it was actually tilted. But my penrai. Everyone gets off to the shoulder of the road and it's time to take photos, but the road is quite narrow so it's difficult to get through.
The other side of the car was empty, so I went around to the other side and headed for the lead car.

View from the front.
Is it still tilted? But my penrai. Unfortunately, I don't have time to linger as I have to get back to the rear in 20 minutes.

Now, let's go back to our seats! Passengers returned to their seats and departed again. Next, head to Koksaln Station, the last stop.

Arrive at the final stop, Koksaln Station

AM:10:00 We arrived at Koksalun Station, the last stop.

This time, the bus will stop here for about 30 minutes and return after shopping time. When you arrive at the station, there are many food stalls in the station building. Japanese stations are nothing more than a station and a kiosk, so this is what I like about Thailand and other parts of Asia. I'm a little hungry, so let's buy something to eat.

The station is crowded with many people.
There's a nice smell of charcoal in the air. hungry!

There are food stalls that are familiar to Thailand, such as skewers, fried food, sweets, and juice shops. I'm hungry so everything looks delicious. . . Here, you can get the Thai-style fish cake "Totman Pla" and a cold pineapple. Both are 20B.

This tote man puller was super alloy. I deeply regret that I should have bought another one. .

Arrive at Pasak Chonrasit Dam Station

AM:10:30 Arrived at Pasak Chonrasit Dam Station.

It looks like the train will leave this place for a while and return around 3pm. You will be seated in the same seat on your way back, so you can leave your baggage with you. From here you will have approximately 5 hours of free time.

There are three main ways to spend your time here at Pasak Chonrasit Dam Station.

• ① Take a tour bus and take a short sightseeing tour
  Take a tour bus (Rottu) and visit nearby cafes and sunflower fields.
  
  It takes about 2 hours.
• ② Take a tour along the dam on the Caterpillar Train
  A bus called the Caterpillar Train leaves from this station.
  
  Ride it and take a tour along the dam. Required time: 1 hour.
• ③ Spend time around the station sightseeing
  around the station. There is a food court. Apparently there is also an aquarium and museum.

All the passengers who were released looked confused and wondered what they were going to do next.

Now, what should we do?

For now, let's take a little walk around.

Lunch at the outdoor food court

There was an outdoor food court area about a 5 minute walk away.
There are restrooms, souvenir shops, and shops.

Shall we relax here for a little while?

I found a gayan shop. Thai gaiyan is really delicious.

I got half a chicken wing, gapao rice, and Thai fried rice.

It's a little early lunch. I'd like to drink Singha, but drinking it during the day gives me a headache, so I'm careful.

After taking a break at the food court for about an hour, we will depart for the short excursion described in ① to see the sunflower fields.

Short tour around the dam lake

A shared tour van (Rottu) will be waiting right after you get off the train.

The fare is 60 baht per person. Wow, that's cool. Now that I think about it, trains don't have air conditioning either, so this shared van may have been the only one that had air conditioning. We will depart as soon as the capacity is reached and head to the first cafe.

① Bang Kruai & Kai Cafe (บ้านกล้วย & ไข่ คาเฟ่)

You will arrive at your first destination, Bang Kruai & Kai Cafe, about 10 minutes after departure.

We had already eaten at the food court, so we headed to the botanical garden attached to this cafe. There are carts that go around the park, so you can use them. Free for Dam Train users.

There was a sunflower field along the way.

The most important sunflower is facing downwards. Was it because of the heat? Pashary while riding the cart. I think it depends on the driver, but if you don't call out to them, they will keep moving forward, so if you see a spot you want to take a photo, ask them to stop. I was hoping that there would be more sunflower spots near the end, but there were only sunflower fields at the beginning. Ah, I regret a little that I should have forced myself to get off.

My friend W. He smiles like a boy.

In addition to the sunflower field, there are several photo spots such as the sunflower tower, the stairway to heaven, and the swing in the extreme heat, so take a commemorative photo.

As I've said many times before, it's really hot. Several times I wanted to throw my photos and other things and run to a cafe. This cart tour only takes about 20 minutes. Return to the cafe entrance.

Bang Kruai & Kai Cafe MAP

② Raisap Prayun Garden (ไร่ทรัพย์ประยูร)

Source: Official Facebook

After walking around the first Bang Kruai & Kai Cafe, we boarded the shared van. It seems that any tour van will be fine instead of the van that came this time.

Next, we were taken to a place like a botanical garden where we could come into contact with various plants and animals, called Raisap Prayung Garden. The ceiling is covered with large fern leaves.

There is a free-range spot for animals such as goats and rabbits, and you can experience feeding them.

There is also a restaurant space.

Having finished our meal first, we didn't have anything to do and decided to look around and head to the next spot.

MAP of Raisap Prayung Garden

Well, I thought that I would be taken to the next spot with a spectacular view of sunflowers, but when I left Lai Sap Prayung Garden, I returned to the first dam station.

Apparently, there are only two places to visit: Bang Kluai & Kai Cafe and Lai Sap Prayung Garden.

I can't help but feel a little disappointed, but this is the end of the round-trip bus tour.

It seems that the only place where you can see sunflowers is the sunflower field at Bang Kluai & Kai Cafe. At this point it was a little after 1pm.

There's about two hours left. Let's take a short walk within walking distance.

Get a local T-shirt

As I was walking around, I saw a T-shirt shop across from the Caterpillar Train.

There are also cute T-shirts that would make great souvenirs.

I've always liked buying T-shirts as souvenirs, and I can't help but buy them.

I bought a blue T-shirt (220 baht) with a cute illustration of Pasak Dam.
It's still winter in Japan, so I guess it'll be closed until spring.

T-shirt shop MAP

As I left the T-shirt shop and approached the dam, I saw several large objects along the water's edge. Elephant, Naga.

By the way, this is Lopburi province. When you think of Lopburi, you think of monkeys. Let's take a commemorative photo in front of the monkeys.

In addition, there were souvenir stalls, an aquarium, and the Pasak River Museum in this area.
Please take a look if you have time.

Take a tour along the dam on the caterpillar train

Well, I took a walk around.
It's now a little before 2pm.

While we were talking about what to do with the remaining time, we received information that the caterpillar train was leaving at exactly 2:00 p.m. It seems like I can get back in about an hour, so I'll have plenty of time to catch the 3:30pm train. Okay, let's enjoy it until the very last minute. จัดไปเลย!!

A caterpillar train is a vehicle that connects several cargoes like this.

It will be towed by a tractor-like vehicle, so it won't be very fast. It takes about 20 minutes one way to reach White Buddha on the opposite bank along the dam.

Once you arrive at White Buddha, you will be stopped for about 15 minutes.

There are several souvenir shops. Come to think of it, every souvenir shop sells honey?

There were many things like this lined up. Lopburi is famous for not only monkeys but also honey. Well, after about an hour of traveling on the caterpillar train, I returned to the dam station.

Photos were taken while riding the caterpillar train, and goods with faces on them were also on sale.
This time it's a normal photo, but there was also a plate with a face on it lol

I'm always impressed by the speed at which they turn it into merchandise in such a short time.

If it were my own child, I would buy it.

Farewell to Dam Station. Let's go to Bangkok

It was past 3pm, and after a lot of work, it was time to say goodbye to Dam Station.
At first I was worried about how long it would last, but my fears were unfounded.

I was able to enjoy it for 5 hours without getting bored. The train departed for Bangkok on time at 15:30.

It was so hot on the train home that I almost suffered from heat stroke, so I took refuge in the dining car in search of a cold drink.

The dining car is perfectly air conditioned.

The moment you walk in, you feel like you're in heaven, but the air conditioning in Thailand is like hell. If you stay there for a long time, you will definitely catch a cold. There are two extremes, but My Penrai includes them.

Whether it's hot or cold, your autonomic nerves will be tested. I ordered an iced coffee (60B) while cooling down my flushed body in the dining car.

Aside from the fact that even though I said it was less sweet, it turned out to be super-flavored coffee, this bear-shaped cup and bamboo handle are cute.

It took 3 and a half hours to go back.
We arrived at Hua Lamphong Station about 30 minutes later than scheduled. A long journey of 13 hours in total.

This is the end. thank you for your hard work. (Thank you to Mr. ย, Mr. ว, and Mr. ม for accompanying us.)

summary

When I looked into it later, I found that early December is not yet the best season for sunflowers, and it seems that things will pick up from here as we head into January.

I see, it's not like I lost my energy due to the heat. By the way, I mentioned that it was hot inside the car, but I saw another blogger's article that said, ``The air-conditioned car was too cold, so next time I'll definitely not have air-conditioning!''

The grass next door is green. If you come to Thailand, be sure to take a ride on the ``Floating Train on Water'' which is available only in winter.