HUA LAMPHONG: The Last Days of a Railway Legend. What next?

Hua Lamphong will finally see its last train on 23rd December. After 105yrs of service, Bangkok's legendary rail terminus will be no more. Many are opposed to it and the developers are planning a 'commercial business premises'. I took a last look around.
00:00 Start & History of the station
02:09 Hua Lamphong at work
03:11 Future Proposals, speculation & possibilities
04:55 The missing link to Bang Sue
06:01 Train ride into Hua Lamphong
07:05 Latest gosip
07:30 Local history: The old bomb shelter, Paknam Railway, the floods of 1942,.
09:31 Pracha Cheun Cycling Club
09:45 Rong Muang Road Hotel relics
10:20 Trok Salak Hin Neighbourhood
11:19 Brutalist design: Bangkok Mail Centre
12:14 Toilet tribute & Rajdhani Hotel
13:26 Bonus video info & outro

Contact details:and for walking trips around urban Bangkok:

The number one and only teaching website in Thailand
Thailand lLife, an award winning blog:

[-ZigZag-]

No one above - no one beside. No. 1. Thanks much for video Pat.

[mvnorsel]

Will miss the old station. I've never had a bad trip on the Thai railways.

[jjamdekkers]

I always love the atmosphere in Hua Lamphong, I hope it stays open and if it closes that it will be the way Don Mueang airport closed in 2016

[EddieManning]

Arrived at Hua Lamphong on my first ever visit to Thailand (and Asia) in 1996. Got off the plane at Don Mueang and took the train there. Just 5 Baht and great first impressions and memories. Another time did the overnight sleeper from Nakhon Si Thammarat in 2002 arriving at 06:00am. Thank goodness there are now numerous daily flights!
Was in the area again with my Mum in 2014 and walked through the station for a look again. Spotted the Eastern & Orient Express on the far platform waiting to depart. We walked the whole length of the train peering into the cabins and dining carriages. Very opulent and luxurious with crystal glasses and chandeliers. We sat and waited for it to depart to Singapore at 6pm. The passengers congregated on the rear viewing platform waving goodbyes. Way to travel! Last time out of Hua Lamphong was 2 years ago in August 2020 on my first ever trip to Pattaya at 06:55am. A delayed and slow journey of 4 hours held up by the many inbound commuter trains. Total cost 31 Baht! Bargain. Will miss Hua Lamphong.

[stephenjordan]

Great video Pat I have just started using the express Bangkok to Hua Hin line.. 1 million times better than the bus and so muhc more comfortable. Please please no more malls in Bangkok... There are way too many as it is. Steve

[stevepickles]

Great video Pat. I really hope they keep Hua Lamphong open, holds memories for a lot of people. Also the post office, picking up the Post Restante mail was a trip from Khao San Road to the post office using the canal boats back in 96/97, good fun.

[IdeaStudioBKK]

Banger video, Pat. I am working on an edit right now that includes Hua Lamphong. I am a massive fan of this stations design and construction. I have always enjoyed taking trains from here on various trips. Thanks for filling in a lot of the history behind it. Personally I think moving train traffic to the new Bang Sue terminal is a smart move, but I would hate to see this structor be demolished. I hope the city planners find a way to preserve it and incorporate it into a new structure so it's beauty can be enjoyed by future generations.

I've always thought that the US and Eurpoe spend far too much energy trying to preserve every historic building that it hampers progress, I fear that Thailand is on the opposite end of that spectrum and will demolish anything in the name of progress. I cried when Scala was slated for demo, but at least I got my two favorite seats from there, perhaps I can get an old passenger car from the station. LoL

[onlyfoolsbuffalothailand]

Splendid effort Pat looks a great old building i hope they keep it.Plenty Gai Chon in training at 11.20 it looks like my kind of plaice bit rough round the edges but full of character i bet the local people are interesting.

[laurafergs]

I visited Thailand for the first time in October last year (2022) and had the wonderful experience of taking a night train from Hua Lamphong to Chiang Mai. It thought it was excellent and I'm really saddened to hear that I probably won't be able to enjoy taking a trip from this station again.

[liro_mngbt]

I remember this is the first video I watched from your channel and I discovered it because of my curiosity regarding Hua Lamphong and thank you for indulging my comments because I was afraid it would close before I had a chance to see it and take the trains before it closes. Safe to say it’s better to go sooner rather than later. Thanks for another peek and I don’t mind a Hua Lamphong video every so often 😎

Toilet couture is something I never thought I would experience but here we are! Haha good one mate!

[bkkfarang]

Real good 🙂 I enjoyed this one and learned some more history.

[david-reason]

Thanks Pat, another educational video for the BKK Appreciation Society . . .

[chuckhohenstein]

Fascinating video. Spent many a time there. I remember they actually had showers there. We would get off an overnight train, shower, then grab a cab to the airport as we usually had a 10:30 Am flight to Seoul

[chrish]

A satisfying video that achieves its objective : a wave of sad nostalgia is now washing over me. Cheers, Pat. Well done.

[Chai_Travel]

Cheers mate! Good to know the toilets are free to use after a 12 hour journey next week ;) See you soon champ!

[Geoffreyboucher]

Really cool video again Pat really enjoyed seeing the old photos, be nice to keep the place and turn it into a museum, and definitely let the homeless in, be a waist of a building otherwise,

[amazinggermany]

Very interesting. I'm looking forward to the bonus video Hua Lamphong at night.

[stevessoutheastasia]

As a non public transport user here in oz, i thoroughly enjoyed my trip from Hua Hin to Bkk (hua lonamphong ) in third class and ended up wishing i could do a return trip just for the fun of it, it did take longer but sight seeing it was all about, and after the train arrived i just walked across the road to the MRT station easy peasy, but it doesn't look that way at Bang sua station, but i can say i did a trip to Hua Lamphong station, thanks for another great vid .. Catchya...😎

[gerd]

Thank you Pat for this update from Hua Lamphong. Yet another masterpiece with your special charm to dare the balancing act between the past, present and future. It would be a (probably not only for me) nightmare if the latest architectural plans were implemented. In Germany (Frankfurt's main train station) such a traditional building would probably be placed under monument protection. When I look at the planned project plans, I see similarities to buildings in Beijing or Hong Kong. I hope that the greed of investments to expand the Silk Road project can be resisted here, but unfortunately it's just a hope ...
Brilliant piece of contemporary history in which you took me with you again, thank you very much again for that - Greetings from Sattahip - Gerd 🌈🍀💖🌴🌈

[MisterPhat]

Random thoughts: Station Hotel looks like one of the darkest, scariest hotels I've ever seen in my life. Guessing it doesn't have a pool. (good place to go looking for a map to The Beach -- was Robert Carlyle once a guest?) Why do train stations usually have a big curved roof? Oh gee, an in-depth on the toilets just for moi. ;-) Wow some big upgrades in there. Opening drone shot of the station was pretty spectacular. Well done. :-)