Bangkok to Chiang Mai: 5 Best Ways to Travel

Bangkok to Chiang Mai is 693 km north, with five practical ways to travel: a direct flight, overnight sleeper train, VIP bus, day train or rental car.

For most trips, flying is the best option. The flight takes about 70 to 80 minutes and usually works out to four or five hours door to door. If you are visiting Chiang Mai for only a few days, the time saved matters more than the small price difference.

Take Special Express No. 9 if you want the journey to be part of the trip. It runs overnight, saves a hotel night and gives you the most memorable experience on this route. Choose a VIP bus mainly when keeping the price down matters most.

Every option compared

Fares and journey times change often. Confirm with the operator before you travel.

1. Flight, the sensible default

If you’re asking me what I’d actually book for most trips, it’s the flight.

The flight itself takes about 70 to 80 minutes, and there are frequent departures from both Don Mueang (DMK) and Suvarnabhumi (BKK). Allow 4 to 5 hours door-to-door once you include getting to the airport, check-in, the flight, and the transfer into Chiang Mai.

That’s still a big difference from spending 12 or 13 hours on a train. And unlike the old idea that flying is the expensive option, fares can be very competitive with the sleeper when you book ahead.

The other advantage is flexibility. You can leave Bangkok in the morning and still have most of the afternoon in Chiang Mai. For a four- or five-day trip, that matters.

The downside is obvious: you miss the experience. The sleeper is more memorable, and it saves you a hotel night. If you have plenty of time and actually enjoy train travel, take it. But I wouldn’t pretend the train is the logical choice simply because it’s more romantic.

2. Sleeper train, if you want the journey

All northern line services leave from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, about 7 km north of downtown Bangkok. This is the station most people still call Bang Sue. Hua Lamphong no longer handles these departures, and a lot of guides have not caught up.

Here is what the timetable actually looks like, and why the number on your ticket decides your night:

Book No. 9. It is the newest train on the line: clean berths, reading lights, power at every bunk, a wheelchair-accessible carriage with lifts, and one carriage reserved for women and children travelling alone. Second class air-conditioned is 941 THB for an upper berth and 1,041 THB for a lower. First class runs 1,453 to 1,653 THB, or 2,453 THB for a private cabin to yourself.

Train 13 is the sensible fallback. Same idea, older carriages, a non air-conditioned restaurant car that is a much better place to watch the countryside go past, and fares a couple of hundred baht lower. Train 51 uses ex-Japanese stock with single berth compartments, which some people love. Train 109 takes 16 hours 45 minutes and puts you on a platform at five past four in the morning, and there is no version of your trip that this improves.

Take a lower berth if you are tall. Lowers are noticeably wider and have a window. Uppers are cheaper and fine for anyone under about 6 ft 2. The saving is 100 THB, which is not a lot of money to trade for a good night.

Book as far ahead as you can. Berths on No. 9 go weeks in advance in high season, and around Songkran and New Year they go a month or more out. If it is sold out, take 13 before you give up on the train.

One honest caveat. The northern line runs late. An hour is unremarkable, two is not unheard of, and the published arrival is best treated as an estimate rather than a promise. Do not book a morning tour or a connecting flight against it.

3. VIP bus, the cheapest bed on the route

Coaches leave Mo Chit, the Northern Terminal, roughly hourly through the day, with the overnight VIP services going between 20:00 and 21:30. The run takes 9 to 11 hours and costs 500 to 900 THB depending on class. Sombat Tour and the state operator Transport Co. are the two to look for.

VIP here means a 1-2 seat layout, deep recline, a blanket and usually a snack. It is a genuinely comfortable coach and it is the cheapest way to cross the country without paying for a room. It is also faster than the train on paper, though the train wins on the part that matters, which is whether you actually sleep.

Buses arrive at Arcade terminal, 3 km east of the old city, which is a 150 to 200 THB ride in.

4. Day train, for the part of Thailand you would otherwise sleep through

The overnight services cover the best scenery in the dark. The climb north of Lampang through the hills, the viaducts, the tunnel at Khun Tan: all of it happens while you are asleep on train 9.

Day services take 11 hours or more in second class seats, which is a long time to sit. But it is a cheap ticket, the carriages have windows that open on some services, and the last three hours are the most interesting rail journey in Thailand. If you have the day to spend and you like trains, this is the one nobody recommends and some people remember.

5. Driving, worth it only if you stop

It is 693 km on Highway 1 and 11, and 8 to 9 hours of actual driving. As a single push it is a wasted day for a journey the train does while you sleep and the plane does in 80 minutes.

As a two or three day drive it is a different proposition entirely. Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Lampang all sit on or near the route, and Sukhothai in particular is worth a night rather than a photo stop. If that is the trip, rent the car and budget for the one-way drop-off fee on top of the daily rate.

If you just want wheels in Chiang Mai, rent them in Chiang Mai. It is cheaper and you skip the fee.

Arriving in Chiang Mai

This is the part that quietly makes the cheap options here genuinely cheap, and it is the opposite of somewhere like Phuket. The airport, the railway station and Arcade bus terminal all sit within about 15 minutes of the old city and Nimman. A Grab from the airport is 150 to 250 THB, and a little less from the station.

So unlike most long-haul routes, there is no second journey hiding behind the first one. Whatever you paid to get here is roughly what the trip costs. Budget 200 THB and stop thinking about it.

Practical notes

Think about when, not just how. Chiang Mai has a burning season, roughly February through April, when agricultural burning across the north pushes air quality to some of the worst readings in the world. It is the single most useful thing to know about visiting, and no one selling you a ticket will mention it. If your dates are flexible, come between November and January.

Check your station. Northern departures are at Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, not Hua Lamphong. Allow time to get there, it is 7 km north of the centre.

Check your airport. DMK and BKK are on opposite sides of the city and 60 to 90 minutes apart in traffic.

Bring a layer on the sleeper. The air conditioning in second class is set somewhere between brisk and hostile, and the blanket provided is thin.

Eat before you board, or eat on board deliberately. The dining car on train 9 is decent and the trolley service is fine, but the platform options at Krung Thep Aphiwat are limited and expensive.

Best day tours in Chiang Mai

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AnaMarija Mishachkovska

AnaMaria is a dedicated SEO specialist and content strategist with profound expertise in Transport in Costa Rica, Transportation in Mexico, Transport in Guatemala, Transport in Peru, and Transport in Thailand.