Cha-am railway station is a small wooden station on the Southern Line, just a few minutes by motorbike taxi from the beach. It is not grand — a single platform, a simple waiting room, a few fruit sellers — but the building has a certain weathered charm, and arriving by train feels more considered than pulling in by bus.
Services run several times daily in both directions: north to Phetchaburi and Bangkok's Hua Lamphong, and south to Hua Hin and beyond. The slow ordinary trains are cheap and give you a window seat to watch the Gulf coast countryside slide past; the faster express services are more comfortable but stop less frequently. Check the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) website for current timetables.