How to travel from Thailand to China by train in less than 24 hours?

In addition to the common air routes, traveling between China and Thailand also offers a relatively niche option: traveling entirely by rail. Currently, the most mainstream route is via Laos into China: first, take a train from the Thailand side to the Khamsavath station in Vientiane, Laos, then use local transport to the Laos-China Railway Vientiane station, and then take an international EMU train to China.

Vientiane's Khamsavath station is operated by SRT and is currently not yet connected with the Laos-China Railway. Khamsavath station only has two pairs of trains to and from Thailand each day: Train 133/4 (Bangkok Aphiwat - Vientiane Khamsavath) and Train 147/8 (Nong Khai - Vientiane Khamsavath). Train 133/4 is the most commonly used for this journey, departing from Bangkok Aphiwat at 21:25 and arriving in Vientiane Khamsavath at 09:05 the next day.

In the previous timetable of the Laos-China Railway, the only pair of international through trains, D88/7, departed from Vientiane station at 8:00 in the morning. Therefore, after arriving at Vientiane Khamsavath on SRT Train 133, one had to spend a night in Laos before continuing to China by train. But recently, after adjusting the Laos-China Railway schedule, a new pair of international through trains D83/6 and D84/5 were added.

Train D84/5 departs Vientiane station at 11:25 local time (12:25 Beijing time). Passengers arriving at Vientiane Khamsavath on SRT Train 133 can theoretically catch this train. For those wanting to travel from Thailand to China, this means you no longer need to stay overnight in Laos. Considering the entire journey time, the train trip from Bangkok to Kunming has been reduced to less than 24 hours, which is indeed worth experiencing for travel enthusiasts.