The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will commence its inaugural train service between Bangkok and Vientiane next Friday. However, the online advance ticket booking system, which opened this morning, collapsed under high demand.
SRT reported that the online booking system became available at 9am, but many users encountered issues, forcing those eager to experience the new service to visit train stations for their bookings.
There are three classes of tickets available: 3rd class at 281 baht for a single trip, 2nd class (air-conditioned) at 574 baht, and sleeper class at 784 baht for the upper bunk and 874 baht for the lower bunk.
The train will depart from Bang Sue terminal at 9:25pm and arrive in Nong Khai province at 7:55am the following morning. It will stop for about 40 minutes for immigration procedures before continuing to Vientiane, arriving at 9:05am.
Passengers will undergo two sets of immigration checks, one at Nong Khai station and another at Vientiane Khamsavath station. Those wishing to board the Chinese high-speed train to Kunming will need to travel approximately 16km from Vientiane Khamsavath station to reach that train.
In Laos, travelers can now use the Bank of Ayudhya app for various payments instead of cash. By the fourth quarter, they will also be able to use the Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai, and Kasikorn bank applications.
Officials present during the announcement included the SRT director and representatives from the involved banks, emphasizing the collaborative effort to enhance travel and payment convenience for passengers.
