Royal Railway Cambodia review?

hanno · Post by **hanno** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 7:45 am

Like others have said: I enjoyed the experience. Scenic ride, case of beer, great weather. Nothing else needed.

Bluenose · Post by **Bluenose** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 9:12 am

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 7:41 am not in the to far future, u will be able to take the train PP all the way to Bangkok,
https://www.thaitrainguide.com/internat ... o-bangkok/
transfer to another train and travel all the way to Laos and into China
or already down to Singapore
I love train travel

did it once across America when i was a teenager 2 days /3 nights DC- Yellowstone, Wyoming
once Amsterdam- Athens in my 20's
many places in Thailand
Many places in Burma by train that seldom get faster than 30 kms /hour

Phnom Penh to Bangkok will need to speed up a bit to make it viable, at the moment it would be something over 14 hours. The first time I met the guy who runs the railway here was maybe 6 or 7 years ago, the agreement for through trains was "not in the too far future" back then!

Also a train fan, crossed the USA 3 times, different route each time. The circular train that left the main station in Yangon and arrived back about 3 hours later was excellent value, about $0.20
Did the train from Ban Klong Luk (on the border) to Bangkok a fortnight ago in two stages, pleasant trip.

Spigzy · Post by **Spigzy** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:23 pm

I'm sure I put on every rail thread here already, but anyway ..

A high speed link from Bangkok to Siem Reap to Phnom Penh to HCMC, all on some ASEAN visa a la Schengen/wave your passport job, would be glorious for regional tourism, it should be a priority for Cambodia to at least make the Bangkok to SR link. Nobody can really fly here long haul to see Angkor Wat, especially now the airport takes longer to get to Siem Reap than if you hired a donkey to walk from Hanoi. Siem Reap really depends on either short haul tourism from ASEAN (good luck with the dollar), or leftovers from Bangkok. It is not getting a lot of either since COVID & the daft airport location a real turn off even for tourists landing in Phnom Penh.

If the Chinese overlords could put in one of those maglev trains the trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap could be 20 minutes. Another 20 minutes and you're in Phnom Penh. Ho Chi Minh in 15 mins. It is a tiny distance for a train, so long as it isn't from the 1950s. Although frankly even the Mallard or the Flying Scotsman could do it in an hour and a half with good old fashioned steam power which might suit the railway here more? Lob a cow-catcher on the front, job done.

And as the Khmer guy who got hit by a train said ... ឈឺ ឈឺ .. (choo choo!)

khmerhamster · Post by **khmerhamster** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:50 pm

Spigzy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:23 pm And as the Khmer guy who got hit by a train said ... ឈឺ ឈឺ .. (choo choo!)

Don't get it.

Spigzy · Post by **Spigzy** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 10:46 pm

khmerhamster wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:50 pm
Spigzy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:23 pm And as the Khmer guy who got hit by a train said ... ឈឺ ឈឺ .. (choo choo!)
Don't get it.

In English we say trains go "choo choo!" - i.e. the sound the whistle makes on an old steam train. Which sounds a lot like when Cambodians say 'choo' to mean they hurt themselves / are sick, etc. Now I know modern day folks say trains go 'brrrrrrr' or whatever like electric trains, but choo choo is damned funny. I will die on this hill!!!

khmerhamster · Post by **khmerhamster** » Wed Jul 31, 2024 6:01 am

Spigzy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 10:46 pm
khmerhamster wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:50 pm
Spigzy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:23 pm And as the Khmer guy who got hit by a train said ... ឈឺ ឈឺ .. (choo choo!)
Don't get it.
In English we say trains go "choo choo!" - i.e. the sound the whistle makes on an old steam train. Which sounds a lot like when Cambodians say 'choo' to mean they hurt themselves / are sick, etc. Now I know modern day folks say trains go 'brrrrrrr' or whatever like electric trains, but choo choo is damned funny. I will die on this hill!!!

Doc67 · Post by **Doc67** » Wed Jul 31, 2024 9:10 am

Spigzy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:23 pm I'm sure I put on every rail thread here already, but anyway ..

A high speed link from Bangkok to Siem Reap to Phnom Penh to HCMC, all on some ASEAN visa a la Schengen/wave your passport job, would be glorious for regional tourism, it should be a priority for Cambodia to at least make the Bangkok to SR link. Nobody can really fly here long haul to see Angkor Wat, especially now the airport takes longer to get to Siem Reap than if you hired a donkey to walk from Hanoi. Siem Reap really depends on either short haul tourism from ASEAN (good luck with the dollar), or leftovers from Bangkok. It is not getting a lot of either since COVID & the daft airport location a real turn off even for tourists landing in Phnom Penh.

If the Chinese overlords could put in one of those maglev trains the trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap could be 20 minutes. Another 20 minutes and you're in Phnom Penh. Ho Chi Minh in 15 mins. It is a tiny distance for a train, so long as it isn't from the 1950s. Although frankly even the Mallard or the Flying Scotsman could do it in an hour and a half with good old fashioned steam power which might suit the railway here more? Lob a cow-catcher on the front, job done.

And as the Khmer guy who got hit by a train said ... ឈឺ ឈឺ .. (choo choo!)

A high speed link from Bangkok to Siem Reap to Phnom Penh to HCMC, all on some ASEAN visa a la Schengen/wave your passport job, would be glorious for regional tourism, it should be a priority for Cambodia to at least make the Bangkok to SR link.

I know I am being cynical, but if such a train service existed it would be so damaging for the airlines that currently serve SR. SR is lucky to have more than a couple a day from Bangkok. There are 5 arriving today. If you take away half their passengers, the other half will have to follow them onto the trains. No airline can tolerate a 50% load factor. Unless you are transiting from a long-haul flight then why would you put yourself through the BKK/DMK sausage factories just to end up in the boonies at SAI?

Look at Sihanoukville airport and see there are no services from PP because the fast road has made them redundant. Once you have an alternative such as a high-speed train, the air services will go.

Once you have no option but the train you've created a monopoly and that will lead to inflated fares and crowded trains, because they will milk it for all it's worth.

The project has the headwind of the airlines and the owners of the $1Billion SAI airport to contend with.

Kammekor · Post by **Kammekor** » Wed Jul 31, 2024 9:17 am

Doc67 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2024 9:10 am
Spigzy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:23 pm I'm sure I put on every rail thread here already, but anyway ..

A high speed link from Bangkok to Siem Reap to Phnom Penh to HCMC, all on some ASEAN visa a la Schengen/wave your passport job, would be glorious for regional tourism, it should be a priority for Cambodia to at least make the Bangkok to SR link. Nobody can really fly here long haul to see Angkor Wat, especially now the airport takes longer to get to Siem Reap than if you hired a donkey to walk from Hanoi. Siem Reap really depends on either short haul tourism from ASEAN (good luck with the dollar), or leftovers from Bangkok. It is not getting a lot of either since COVID & the daft airport location a real turn off even for tourists landing in Phnom Penh.

If the Chinese overlords could put in one of those maglev trains the trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap could be 20 minutes. Another 20 minutes and you're in Phnom Penh. Ho Chi Minh in 15 mins. It is a tiny distance for a train, so long as it isn't from the 1950s. Although frankly even the Mallard or the Flying Scotsman could do it in an hour and a half with good old fashioned steam power which might suit the railway here more? Lob a cow-catcher on the front, job done.

And as the Khmer guy who got hit by a train said ... ឈឺ ឈឺ .. (choo choo!)

A high speed link from Bangkok to Siem Reap to Phnom Penh to HCMC, all on some ASEAN visa a la Schengen/wave your passport job, would be glorious for regional tourism, it should be a priority for Cambodia to at least make the Bangkok to SR link.

I know I am being cynical, but if such a train service existed it would be so damaging for the airlines that currently serve SR. SR is lucky to have more than a couple a day from Bangkok. There are 5 arriving today. If you take away half their passengers, the other half will have to follow them onto the trains. No airline can tolerate a 50% load factor. Unless you are transiting from a long-haul flight then why would you put yourself through the BKK/DMK sausage factories just to end up in the boonies at SAI?

Look at Sihanoukville airport and see there are no services from PP because the fast road has made them redundant. Once you have an alternative such as a high-speed train, the air services will go.

Once you have no option but the train you've created a monopoly and that will lead to inflated fares and crowded trains, because they will milk it for all it's worth.

The project has the headwind of the airlines and the owners of the $1Billion SAI airport to contend with.

About fifteen years ago there were rumours Bangkok Airways (at the time having a monopoly on the Bangkok - Siem Reap route) spent large sums to delay the construction of the new road from Siem Reap to the Thai border and profited for years.

Royal Railway Cambodia review?

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