孔敬府 到 廊開府

The seat I booked was in the second class sleeper with a/c carriage. My recollection is that there were around 20 bunk beds in the carriage, 10 to each side of the central passage way. The carriage was close to full from what I could tell. So there were about 40 passengers in 20 bunk beds crammed into the confined space of one carriage. Given that being physically so close to strangers while one is asleep would not be something most Western people would be comfortable with, most of the passengers were Thai - a country that is notable for its large human population relative to its small geographical size. So, in other words - Thais are more accustomed to being in close physical proximity to strangers - and as such, the idea of being asleep while physically close to 39 strangers in a confined space is not a problem. I noticed a few Western backpackers in the carriage who are similar in their attitude to the Thais. But their acceptance of the situation is due to financial constraints rather than cultural norms. I think I was the only middle class Westerner in the carriage. Apart from the Western backpackers, I don't think travelling long distance on a train carriage of this type of carriage would hold much appeal for the average Westerner. But for Thais and backpackers it is viewed as acceptable. As for me personally, I guess the experience was okay because I knew in advance that I had no intention of going to sleep. I was actually content to just use half my bunk as storage space for my luggage, and the other half of the bunk I transformed into as a make-shift chair was turned out to be actually quite comfortable after I spent a little time upon boarding arranging the pillow and blanket provided in a careful way on top of the quite reasonable quality mattress. In summary, the experience for me was fine. And I would happily do it again. But to reiterate, I think it is probably most suitable for Thais and Western backpackers.