Passengers of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT's) diesel-powered trains can now pay for their tickets by QR code, the authority's acting governor Voravuth Mala said.
The QR code service will be run under an agreement between the railway operator and Kasikorn Bank.
Mr Voravuth said 140 QR code-generating machines have been installed in 56 main train stations nationwide, including Bangkok's Hua Lamphong station, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Nong Khai, Hat Yai (in Songkhla) and Chumphon.
According to him, Hua Lamphong has been fitted with 14 machines, the most out of all stations.
Passengers who want to use the service must scan the codes using Kasikorn Bank's mobile application.
"It will take around two months to gauge whether passengers frequently pay by QR code," Mr Voravuth said. "If it turns out to be a popular payment method, we will consider installing them in smaller stations in the future.
"QR code payment remains popular within the younger community, while the SRT's main demographic generally comprises older people," he added.
The acting chief said the SRT is currently looking at introducing new promotions for the payment method.
"The QR code payment option will help the SRT reduce its expenses for counting cash, in addition to encouraging passengers to opt for using trains to travel," Mr Voravuth said. "If we can see an initial one million passengers use the method, it would be considered a success."
SRT reports say around 29 million passengers use its trains per year; however, only 11 million pay for tickets. The remaining users are welfare card-holders.
