When planning for  a train ride in Thailand, Traveller2000 does indeed comes in handy. The travel agency not only is reliable, they are efficient as well. Besides some minor hiccups (entirely my own fault), booking a train ticket through this particular agent had been a breeze.

It took us 4 days for the whole process, from inquiring, making payment and also confirmation but that’s only because i emailed to the office during the New Year which so happens to be a public holidays. Duh, i’m such a klutz! Also, there was some delay because we couldn’t figure out how to verify our visa card for payment. Else, it would have taken just 1 single day. Yes. 1. One. Uno day. Because they are really that efficient. My received reply from them almost instantly!

So, here are the booking and payment tips/guidelines to save you the hassle.

Step 1: Check the Thailand Railway Schedule

- Schedule -

There are separate schedules for trains to different parts of Thailand. If you are Traveling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai then click on  the Northern Line schedule. Depending on your preference of departure and arrival time, do take note of the train no. of your choice. (You will need the train no. for step 2).

Step 2: Inquire Tickets

Go back to the schedule page as in Step 1 and scroll down till you see a search engine. Search for the train tickets information according to destination. You will be taken to another page with the train no. , departure time, train class and price. Click on inquiry/booking icon next to the train of your choice.

- Inquiry -

Fill in the form and submit or alternatively, if the form does not work, just email all the details to trainbooking@traveller2000.com.

Now all you have to do is to wait for their reply which will be in no time.

Step 3: Make Payment via Credit Card

Traveller2000 offers 2 payment method, both via credit card.

a) The first is by Fax Authorization Form whereby they will email to you a form and you would have to print it out fill in the blanks including your credit card information and fax it to their office.

b) Second method is by KBANK Payment Gateway which i find pleasantly convenient and which i recommend. And since it is verified Visa and MasterCard, it means that i could sleep soundly at night knowing that the transaction is perfectly safe and secured.

For the KBank method, Traveller2000 will provide you a unique ID and password to login. Fill in the blanks and after verification, submit. You will be directed to the gateway to complete your credit card info. At the end of the transaction, an email report of the transaction will be sent to you. It’s that simple.

But wait! There is something important that you need to know. Before you use the KBank Gateway, you should know that the service is only applicable for  and  .

To get you card verified by visa, go to Visa website. (if you are residing in Asia, go to Visa Asia website). For Malaysia, there are 3 banks that offers such services:

- Public Bank
- Alliance Bank
- HSBC

Do call the finance company to check on the procedure.

Ps:// If you are using HSBC, login to their online banking website and chose the SecurePay panel. You can get it done in a few minutes.