Hua Hin to Bangkok

Going north, the train only really works at one time of day. Special Express No. 40 is the return working of the morning railcar: it leaves Hua Hin at 14:36, runs non-stop-ish up the double track and pulls into Krung Thep Aphiwat at 18:05, in cold air-conditioning with reclining seats, drop-down trays and curtains, for about ฿330 at the counter. Hua Hin is roughly a third of its Surat Thani to Bangkok route, so seats open 30 days ahead on D-Ticket, and on a Sunday in high season they go. Book it online (the site accepts foreign cards once you register with a passport number), or buy at Hua Hin station's counter any day before you travel. The 14:36 also happens to be a civilized time: a last morning on the beach, lunch, a Grab to the station, and you're at a Bangkok hotel by 19:00.

The alternative daytime train is Rapid No. 170 at 06:40, fan-cooled second class (฿150) or third (฿94) into Krung Thep Aphiwat at 10:50, which suits an early flight out of Don Mueang (the MRT under the station connects to the Dark Red Line for Don Mueang in about 40 minutes). The night sleepers from the deep south call at Hua Hin between 00:14 and 05:17; they are fine if you are already on one from Surat Thani or Hat Yai, and a poor idea to board at 3 a.m. for a three-hour hop. The ordinary trains are the budget romance of this route in either direction: No. 252 at 06:25 and No. 254 at 12:44 run to Thon Buri, and No. 262 at 14:56 runs to Hua Lamphong, the old station in Chinatown, arriving 19:20. Third class only, plastic seats, open windows, ฿44, tickets at the counter on the day up to an hour before departure. If you are not in a hurry, the 14:56 into Hua Lamphong is a lovely way to arrive in Bangkok, straight onto the MRT Blue Line at Hua Lamphong for Silom or Sukhumvit.

Hua Hin's departure points are strung along Phetkasem Road, the highway that doubles as the town's main street, and they are not all in the same place. Nor Neane's minibuses to Ekkamai leave from the stand beside Bluport mall at the south end of town, roughly every hour from 05:00 to 19:00; the counter fare is ฿240 in cash, the booking sites charge ฿220–296 with their fee, the ride is three and a half to four hours with a fuel stop, and luggage is hand-luggage only in a four-across minibus. It ends at the Ekkamai (Eastern) terminal, which is next to BTS Ekkamai on Sukhumvit, so from the moment you step off you are on the Skytrain. That is why it is the default for anyone staying anywhere from Siam to On Nut.

JKP's vans to Mo Chit 2 leave from Market Village, the mall 1.5 km south of the clock tower, at 08:10, 10:00, 12:00 and 16:00 for ฿220. Mo Chit 2 is the van terminal beside the Northern Bus Terminal and it is not the BTS station of the same name: budget a ฿60–100 taxi or a bus to BTS Mo Chit or MRT Chatuchak Park. The Sombat Tour coach fixes that problem. It is the only full-size bus between Hua Hin and central Bangkok: VIP seats three across, a toilet at the back, USB-A charging, water handed out, suitcases in the hold, ฿291, departing 09:30 and 13:30 from Sombat's own station a three-minute walk from Bluport's main entrance (turn left). It stops at the Southern Terminal after about three hours, where some people get off, and continues another 30 minutes to BTS Mo Chit. You must show your passport, original only, to board; tickets are sold online on Sombat's Thai-language site or at the Hua Hin office.

If you are flying out of Suvarnabhumi, do not go via the city. Roong Reuang's airport coaches leave the RRC bus station on Phetkasem Road beside Hua Hin Airport, about 7 km north of the clock tower, eleven times a day from 06:00 to 18:00, and take four hours in a 24-seat coach with a toilet and one comfort stop, arriving on the airport's Level 1. The fare is ฿361 at the desk (12Go sells it for ฿425, and at least one listings site quotes ฿499); allow 15 minutes and about ฿100 by Grab from the town center to the station. Take the 10:00 for a mid-afternoon departure and the 14:00 for an evening one, and add the airport's own three-hour check-in advice on top. For Don Mueang, the Transport Company runs a public bus to the airport from Hua Hin's main bus station, but the schedule is thin and sold locally; the Suvarnabhumi coach plus the free inter-airport shuttle, or a fixed-fare transfer, is the reliable plan.

A fixed-fare transfer through Kiwitaxi is $77 to $86 (about ฿2,500 to ฿2,800) for a four-seat car from a Hua Hin hotel to a Bangkok address, similar to Suvarnabhumi, and $130 for a ten-seat minibus, with the price agreed at booking and a driver waiting at reception. Hua Hin's taxi drivers will negotiate ฿1,500 to ฿2,500 for the same run, more on a holiday Sunday, and your hotel can usually arrange one for a fixed price. With four people and suitcases the car costs about the same per head as the coach and saves the Bluport walk, the Southern Terminal stop and the Skytrain with bags. On a Sunday afternoon it sits in the same traffic as everyone else, which is the moment No. 40 at 14:36 earns its ticket.

Krung Thep Aphiwat (Bang Sue Grand) is the northern rail hub, 8 km north of Siam, with MRT Bang Sue on the Blue Line directly underneath: Sukhumvit is about 25 minutes, Silom 20, Chinatown 15, and the Dark Red Line upstairs runs to Don Mueang Airport. Taxis queue at the ground-floor rank. The Ekkamai terminal is the easiest landing of all, with BTS Ekkamai on the Sukhumvit Line at the door, five stops to Asok and ten to Siam. Sombat's coach drops first at the Southern Terminal in Taling Chan, which has no rail link (a taxi to Khao San or the riverside is 20–30 minutes), then at BTS Mo Chit next to Chatuchak Park, where the Skytrain and MRT meet. The JKP van's Mo Chit 2 terminal is a short taxi from those same stations. The airport coach arrives on Level 1 at Suvarnabhumi, one floor below departures on Level 4; if you are not flying, the Airport Rail Link from the basement reaches Phaya Thai in 26 minutes.