While travel in Thailand has been partially shut down since early 2020 by the pandemic, the State Railways of Thailand has taken the opportunity to revolutionise its ticketing systems, with a new style of train ticket now in use across the Thai railway network and new technology deployed to train staff.
About the new style of Thailand Train Ticket
Those of you who have travelled on trains in Thailand before the pandemic struck in February 2020 will remember the old style of railway ticket in Thailand, which was printed on special paper embossed with the logo of the State Railway of Thailand. Since the autumn of 2021 the State Railway of Thailand has been trailing a new style of ticket, and that trail is complete with the new style of ticket now rolled out across the network for use on all train services.
New style of Train Ticket in ThailandThe new style of ticket contains much the same information as the old style of ticket including: name of the passenger (redacted by the white box in the image above), the origin and destination of travel, the time of travel, the date of travel, the carriage number and the seat number, the seat type and the price of the ticket in the bottom left hand corner.
What is new, and this is the revolutionary part of the change in the ticketing system, is the QR code in the bottom right hand side of the ticket.
Advantages of the new style of Thailand Train Ticket
Before late 2021 if you wanted to travel on a train in Thailand you needed a train ticket printed on special paper. This meant that if you ordered a ticket online or via the telephone you needed to pick up a printed ticket before you travelled. This is no longer the case. Train tickets in Thailand can now be issued electronically, as well as in the traditional paper ticket format.
If you receive an e-mail with the ticket attached you now don’t even need to print it out. Train staff in Thailand will accept screen shots on a mobile phone, or a tablet or laptop, to travel on Thailand trains. What has made this possible is the introduction of the use of QR codes. Train conductors in Thailand now carry a hand held scanner which they use to read the QR code and verify the authenticity of the ticket.
Buy Thailand Train Tickets Online
Use the Search Box below to buy your Thailand train tickets online. After purchase the ticket will be sent to you by e-mail which you can either print out yourself or simply show to the train staff on your mobile phone.
For other journeys change the origin and destination of the journey in the Search Box. Tickets for bus and ferry services are also available to book through the Search Box above as are tickets for travel in wide range of other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and India.