New timetable for Hua Lamphong-Bangkok's famous railway station to become a museum

FOR more than a century, Hua Lamphong has been Bangkok's grand railway station, transporting untold millions of Thais and foreign tourists to the far corners of the country. 

Designed by Italian maestros Mario Tamagno and Annibale Rigotti, the station actually opened in 1916 on the express suggestion of King Rama V, who had been impressed with Frankfurt Train Station while on a trip to Germany in 1907.
​
Now a Bangkok landmark thanks to its handsome Italian Neo-Renaissance design, especially the iconic front entrance and vast column-free interior, Hua Lamphong is a much-loved and admired city feature, the inspiration for countless travellers’ tales and source of incredibly poignant stories of everyday life in Thailand.

Sadly, it will hand over responsibility as the kingdom’s central rail hub to the massive Bang Sue station and complex now being built on the northern edge of the city sometime in 2019.
 
When that happens, Hua Lamphong will undergo a four-year renovation by the State Railway of Thailand to become a railway museum that recreates the old-time atmosphere of the station in its heyday.
 
For the following spread, two BigChilli photographers recently spent a day at Hua Lamphong to capture the unique features of this historic station, and some of the people and passengers who make it such an essential part of Bangkok.