Train Ride From Bangkok to Chiang Mai: Oh, What A Night!

As we were lined up to board the night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai,

Music  came over the crackling speakers in the train station.  The Thai passengers, workers and police stopped in their tracks, stood very straight with their hands by their sides and sang along. This song was the National Anthem of Thailand. It plays over all radio stations and in public places every day at 8:00am and 6:00pm.  People can actually be arrested in Thailand if they do not stop and show respect for their country at these times of day. Speaking of respect, people can also be arrested if they are overheard saying anything unkind about the King of Thailand.

We then boarded the train. Plastic seats, beetles, cloudy windows, formica tables, drop down bunks and a hole in the floor... We traveled back in time to... Perhaps 1950?  It was very nice that all 24 of the educators in our group rolled with the punches and found humor in this 10 hour, overnight train. Each compartment, for four people, had two plastic cushioned seats facing each other on either side of the aisle. In my cabin was the Assistant Superintendent of Hopkinton, the STEM Director of Middleboro, a second grade teacher from Natick and myself. At dinner time the workers put up an aluminum edged Formica table between each seat. This table hooked into the wall with one center leg that supported it to the floor. Within 2 minutes the table slammed down onto my lap! Dinner? The menus were delivered and I chose the two granola bars in my backpack, instead! The windows were cloudy on the outside, which hampered the view. We also had a family of small beetle-type bugs who frequently came to visit our cabin, one at a time! Later in the night the crew came in, had us get up so they could pull down the top bunks, slide the two lower chairs together on either side of the aisle, and put sheets and a white (grayish) blanket and pillow on each bed. It was way too early to go to bed, so several of us walked cabin to cabin, car to car, in search of the restaurant car. When we got there, we found a jammed car full of people from at least 7 nations talking, dancing and laughing. We stayed until closing and had a wonderful time! With music, dancing and laughter, there are no barriers. This was a night to remember for a long time to come. We made our own fun and overcame the "conditions"! 

Oh! The hole in the floor directly to the train tracks? That was in the bathroom. Need I say more?!