Maeklong train schedule 2026

What time does the train pass through Maeklong Railway Market?

Eight times a day: four trains in (08:30, 11:10, 14:30, 17:40) and four out (06:20, 09:00, 11:30, 15:30). The times are for Mae Klong station, where the market lines the last stretch of track.

An arriving train crosses the market in the last minutes before it stops, so you want to be in place a little ahead of the time in the table. A departing train does the opposite: it rolls out through the stalls right after it leaves. Each run between Ban Laem and Mae Klong takes about an hour.

Look at the pairs. The 09:00 leaves 30 minutes after the 08:30 comes in, and the 11:30 just twenty minutes after the 11:10. Those are the two windows for seeing the train both ways without a long wait, and the second one is where most tour groups end up. The afternoon is looser, with an hour between the 14:30 arrival and the 15:30 departure. The 06:20 leaves too early for any day tour from Bangkok, and the 17:40 arrives near dusk.

Did the Maeklong train schedule change in 2025 or 2026?

No. The SRT timetable shows the same eight times, and we found no reported suspension of the Ban Laem - Mae Klong line in 2025 or 2026. The flood closures that made the news were on other lines.

Floods in the south of the country closed parts of the Southern line in late 2025, and SRT restored full service there on 12 December 2025 (Bangkok Biz News). In late September 2026 heavy rain covered the track in several places on the Eastern line, and SRT closed sections and cancelled trains (Thansettakij, Khaosod English). Neither reached the Maeklong line, and Thai and English news searches turned up nothing for it this year.

The last long gaps here were older. In 2015 SRT closed the Ban Laem - Mae Klong half for about six months to replace rails and sleepers and raise the track bed, running shuttle vehicles on the same departure times while the market stayed open without trains (Sanook). In December 2020 the line stopped during the COVID-19 outbreak in Samut Sakhon, and full service came back in March 2021, followed by a month on half the trains (Thai PBS). Since then it has run its four trains each way.

SRT still prints the same line at the bottom of every timetable page: check the times with the station before you travel. The hotline, 1690, answers 24 hours.

Is the Red Line extension to Mahachai affecting the Maeklong trains?

Not yet. The Dark Red Line from Wongwian Yai to Mahachai is still at the design and study stage, and Daily News reported a construction start around late 2028 at the earliest.

In 2025 SRT hired a consortium, on a contract of about THB 135 million, to review the old feasibility study, redo the detailed design, prepare the environmental impact report and draft the tender (Daily News). The closing public hearing for that work took place on 7 August 2026 (Siam Rath). The plan is an elevated railway with 17 stations, almost all of it on existing railway land. Daily News put the rest of the timeline at about a year for Cabinet approval, eight months to pick a contractor, then about four years of building, with a target opening around late 2032.

For this season nothing changes at Wongwian Yai or Mahachai. The 17 daily trains each way still run the Bangkok half, and the ferry still links the two halves at the Tha Chin River. When work does start, it is the Wongwian Yai - Mahachai half that will feel it, not the short line through the market. We will update this post when SRT publishes work dates.

Which train does each tour use?

The ride-in tours board at a country halt a few stops before Mae Klong, and most aim at a morning arrival. The listings rarely name the train, but their start and drive times line up with the SRT timetable.

Here is how the tours we cover fit the timetable. The middle columns come straight from each listing; the last column is our reading of their times against the SRT table, so treat it as a guide rather than a promise.

Can you time a DIY trip around the Maeklong train?

Yes, with an early start. For the 10:10 from Ban Laem, which reaches Mae Klong at 11:10, take the 07:40 from Wongwian Yai (into Mahachai at 08:39). Coming back, the 11:30 from Mae Klong reaches Ban Laem at 12:30, and the 13:15 from Mahachai is the realistic train home.

Between the two halves you walk from Mahachai station to the pier, cross the Tha Chin River by ferry and walk on to Ban Laem station. The travel site train36.com puts that at about 15 to 20 minutes on foot plus a short crossing, and the train fares at about THB 20 end to end. Those figures are third-party; the times below are SRT's.

The 07:30 from Ban Laem is possible too, but only from the 05:30 at Wongwian Yai. Afternoon trains work in the other direction: the 13:30 from Ban Laem gets you in at 14:30, and the 15:30 back to Ban Laem (in at 16:30) leaves time for the 17:35 from Mahachai, into Wongwian Yai at 18:26. The full walk-through, with the pier and the stations, is in our guide to getting there.

What should you check on the day of your trip?

Check the time with the station or on 1690, be at the track 10 to 15 minutes before your train, and step behind the stall line when the awnings start to fold.

The vendors know the timetable better than anyone. One listing puts it plainly: move fast when the warning bell goes, because the train is a few minutes away. Stand where the stall owners point you, keep bags in front of you and do not crouch on the rails for a photo.

One guest on the private car booked the half day with a 06:30 pickup, and the driver dropped them at a country halt so they could ride in. It matches the SRT table, where the 07:30 from Ban Laem calls at Bang Si Khot at 07:43:

★★★★★

He suggested to drop us off at Bang Si Khot station (10 stops from the market). [...] It arrived at 8:30am, then we walked through the markets for 30mins and then found a spot along the tracks to watch the train leave.

Our train times guide goes deeper on where to stand and which pass to pick.

Your own driver for up to three: pick the 08:30 or the 11:10, ride in from a country halt if you like, and stay two hours.

★ 4.9 · 6 hours · from $83

Explore the private car → Tour details

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