Initially, my plan was limited to staying solely in Bangkok during my trip to Thailand. However, as I did research on places to go in Thailand, I couldn’t help but be drawn to Chiang Mai. So I scrapped my original plans and decided to stay one week in Chiang Mai and one week in Bangkok. And I am so happy that I decided to do so as I was able to see so many beautiful places in Thailand and do so many things.
After many mishaps in Korea, I finally arrived in Thailand. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I quickly realized how hot and humid it was. The first thing I did after going through immigration and security was finding a bathroom and changing to shorts and a t-shirt. I felt so much better after changing. Then I bought a sim card from AIS and I was on my way.
I took the airport link to Bangkok. If you ever travel to Thailand, I really recommend downloading the following apps: Bolt, Grab, and Bangkok MRT & BTS Metro Guide (from here on referred to the MRT & BTS app). Bolt and Grab are great apps for getting rides or ordering food online (I prefer Grab as it was convenient and I could pay with cash). And the MRT & BTS app saved me so many times while in Bangkok. It’s like the Naver Map or Kakao Map of Korea. Essentially, it just showed you which subway/train lines to get on, where to transfer, and get off.
The first place I decided to go to was Platinum Mall. It’s one of the most famous affordable fashion malls in Thailand. I really needed a swimming suit and wasn’t able to find one in Korea so I wanted to buy it in Bangkok before I headed to Chiang Mai. I followed the directions from this blog in order to reach Platinum Mall (click here for the directions.) I really enjoyed the walk from Chit Lom Station. I had to walk through Gaysorn Village and walked through some skywalks! It really allowed me to be outside, people watch, and see Bangkok!
The Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) was right around the corner so there were many places in Bangkok and Chiang Mai that was set up for the celebrate! It was cool to see red and lanterns everywhere! I really wanted to try some street food here and leisurely walk around but I was still carrying all of my luggage and bags and it was hot so I ended up just doing a quick walk through then headed to Hua Lamphong (Bangkok) Station.
Hua Lamphong Station, also known as Bangkok Station, has a special place in my heart. It’s such a beautiful place with a long history. I was honored to be one of the last people to be able to take the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Two days after I took the train, they officially stopped doing long distance trains from this station. The main station was officially switched over to Bang Sue Grand Station (renamed as Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal), a little further north in Bangkok. It is a newly built station and the largest station in SE Asia. This station was built with the objective to connect Laos, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam.
To be honest, I was more than sad when I heard that the main station was going to be changed. It felt like I took a step back in history when I was at Hua Lamphong Station. It was so large, grand, old, and many things about the station surprised me! There were birds flying around. The Buddhist monks were separated from the people. Cops guarded the entrance and only allowed people to enter one way and leave through a different way.
I also made a lot of good memories here! I bought my first street food here. I tried my first Thai coconut ice cream here. I met a really kind Thai woman who was talking to me. I watched elder people walk by carrying large bags, families traveling together, birds flying around the station… There was so much to see and so much going on everywhere around me. I really enjoyed that I was able to just really experience the flow and way of life in Thailand. It was a good way to just relax and adjust to being in a new country. Also, everyone was sooo nice! It really made me feel so much love for Thailand.
Right before darkness hit, I decided to go to the 7-Eleven across the street from the train station to buy some snacks and water for the long ride to Chiang Mai. It was the scariest place to cross as there was a lot of cars and no lights for pedestrians to safely cross the street. So I just ran across to the medium, waited until the coast was clear and crossed the street. Have you ever crossed the streets in Southeast Asia? It’s a scary thing to do. haha. Anyways, if you ever plan to take the overnight train (sleeper train) in Thailand, don’t forget to buy snacks and drinks! They don’t serve water, snacks, and food all the time! So you may end up starving or super dehydrated!
There was just one thing that I didn’t like about Hua Lamphong Station. It was that there was soooo many mosquitos inside! I was eaten alive at the station haha. Once it got dark outside, I didn’t feel comfortable sitting outside anymore and went inside. There were a lot of mosquitoes indoors so I ended up being bitten a lot. It seemed like I was the only one getting bitten so they must have really liked me. I really wished I had brought some mosquito spray with me. After this experience, I ended up buying some lemongrass spray (a natural mosquito repellant) in Chiang Mai. Sadly, I never had experiences with mosquitoes in Thailand again after this night so I never had to use it. But I told my mom later and she laughed at me. She had been to Thailand many times before and she never got mosquito bitten. A lot of people I met in Thailand didn’t have any troubles with mosquitoes either so it must have been just me haha. I must have been special. 🙈🙈
The next part might be what people are the most curious about. The sleeper trains (or overnight trains) in Thailand! I knew I was super excited to ride them before I went to Thailand. If you want to take the sleeper train to somewhere else in Thailand, be sure to book early! The 1st and 2nd class seats sell out fast! I booked 3 weeks in advance. When I went back on the check, every seat was sold out! The website has English on it and you can pay with a card that allows overseas transactions.
You can book the sleep train online here:
https://www.dticket.railway.co.th/DTicketPublicWeb/home/Home
I rarely saw any Thai people riding the long distance sleeper trains. The majority of the people who rode them were foreign travelers. (Is that polite to say? I think I may have lived in Korea too long). So I mistakenly thought that normal Thai people didn’t take them. But then I went into the middle compartment and found all the Thai people. I learned that the sleeper compartments are super expensive for normal people in Thailand and that most of the Thai people were actually in the general admission area and sat on a bench and had to sleep sitting upright. I was so shocked! There were a few native Thai people in the 2nd class train where I was, too, but not nearly as much as the western tourists.
Since I took the last train from Bangkok Station to Chiang Mai, the beds were already being set up before we depart. So we were all pretty much just sleeping throughout the majority of the ride. Sleeping on the train was a bit hard, I won’t lie. I kept waking up in the middle of the night whenever the train made turns or when we went through big bumps. But, as an American, I really had a lot of fun! It’s not something that we can really experience in the US. The trains also had bathrooms and running water. But I didn’t feel comfortable using the train water so I just used bottle water when I had to wash my face, brush my teeth, and wash my hands.
I was so happy on the train the next morning when they sold mangos! I love green mangoes with the dried chilis! It’s my youth! I grew up eating it in my household. Living in Korea, mangoes were so expensive! And they usually had the super fruity ones from Mexico so I was so happy to see green Thai Mangoes! I really love this snack/treat. If you ever have the chance, I really recommend it! It may be a little spicy but it’s so yummy and addictive!
And finally, after a 14 hour ride, I arrived at Chiang Mai Station.
That was my first day in Thailand! I hope you all enjoy this post! Please like this post if it helped you or you got something from it! Also feel free to comment below if you have any questions. I will be more than happy to help if I can.
Have a great day!
Jessica's Travelogue 
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