New State Railway of Thailand (SRT) D-Ticket System
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has launched a new ticketing and reservation platform called the D-Ticket System on Wednesday, 18 December 2020. The new SRT D-Ticket System replaces the old STARS-2 (Seat Ticketing and Reservation System Stage 2) system throughout the network, both online and at physical counters, bringing an end to the dot matrix printers and green paper tickets of the old STARS-2 system.
I had a friend in Thailand who kindly helped me buy the old STARS-2 (Seat Ticketing and Reservation System Stage 2) dot matrix ticket on the last day of operations, and the new D-Ticket on the first day of operations, and then mailed it to Singapore. So I now have some SRT tickets to compare physically, even though it’s been a long while since I took a Thai train.
Old STARS-2 (Seat Ticketing and Reservation System Stage 2) Dot Matrix Ticket
The Old STARS-2 (Seat Ticketing and Reservation System Stage 2) Dot Matrix Ticket went into history at 11.59pm on Tuesday, 17 December 2020. This was the familiar ticket most travellers would use, aside from those who booked online directly with SRT where a computer print-out of the similar-format ticket on A4 paper was required instead.
This ticket was possible to keep for a long time since it’s actual ink on paper, and purchasing tickets 90 days before travel didn’t get me worried about the data running out like thermal paper. Which is a worry now thanks to the change to the…
New SRT D-Ticket System (Digital Ticket System) Thermal Ticket
When I first saw the SRT D-Ticket online in October or November, the first thing that came to my mind was the data on the ticket fading away, just like KTM tickets. However, when holding it in my hand, the paper is of a higher, waxy quality. The size of the D-Ticket is somewhat reminiscent of Japan Railways (JR) tickets but thinner.
Long story short, this isn’t a receipt-like paper that KTM uses, and the print still very visible after a month from purchase date to receiving it in Singapore.
To further prevent data loss, a QR code is printed on the ticket which you can scan and immediately view the D-Ticket online digitally.
On the back side of the ticket, the ticket conditions are printed on. Similar to the old STARS-2 system, there is a separate hardcopy ticket number from the journey ticket number.
Which train ticket do you prefer? The old STARS-2 ticket or the new D-Ticket?
for short journeys the paper for the ticket will cost SRT more money than the actual ticket price will return back to them
As of September 2022 it seems that not all (local) trains are visible on the d-Ticket system. I have noticed many more trains operating based on the departures/arrivals boards on the train station. It seems the local/ordinary trains are missing. Is anyone aware of a way to find reliable timetables for these trains online?
Local train tickets can only be purchased on the spot at ticket counters. Some trains also have not been reactivated yet since they were suspended due to COVID-19.
currently d-ticket unable to operate like normal. whatever i search the trips and book ticket always prompted out message ” data not found”
What ticket are you searching for?
Use https://railtravelstation.12go.asia/en as backup if you are encountering issues.