How to go to Chiang mai

As Thailand’s second city, Chiang Mai has a full range of transport connections to Bangkok, Phuket and internationally. The airport has direct flights to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei as well as both Bangkok and smaller Thai cities. By rail the city has direct connections to Bangkok, and by road its an easy, but long journey, by Route 1.

By Air:
Airlines providing direct routes to Chaing Mai:
- Thai International: Bangkok, Phuket, Mae Hong Son, Kunming
- Thai Air Asia: Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur
- Nok Air: Bangkok, Udon Thani, Pai and Chiang Rai
- Bangkok Airways: Koh Samui, Seam Reap ( Angkor Wat)
- Lao Aviation: Luang Phrabang
- China Airlines: Taipei
- Singapore Airlines/Silk Air: Singapore
- SGA: Chiang Rai, Pai
- One2Go: Bangkok
- Korean: Soeul (Incheon)
- Air Mandalay: Mandalay (Myanmar)

On average there are between 25 and 30 flights a day between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, so there is plenty of choice from the capital. Fares have become very competitive with the average one way fare from Bangkok at around 1,800 - 2,200 Baht.

By Train:
The National State Railways of Thailand operate the service from Bangkok, with overnight schedules as well as one daily service. The 8,30am morning train arrives Chiang Mai at 8.30pm, a 12 hour journey. The evening 10pm departure arrives Chiang Mai at 12.45pm. Air conditioned sleeper carriages provide comfortable travel, and the fare from Bangkok is 1,330 Baht. www.railway.co.th

For a very luxurious trip to Chiang Mai from Bangkok there is the Orient Express train which takes two days and cost $1,300. The departures are few and far between with just one per month from September to December 2008 and another 5 in 2009. www.orient-express.com

By Bus:
There is a good choice of buses leaving from the Northern Bus Terminall in Bangkok, at Mo Chit. The bus station is quite close (10 minutes by taxi) from the Mo Chit Skytrain station. VIP buses cost 449 Baht and these have plenty of legroom, are air conditioned with fully reclining seats. The journey time is approximately 10 hours. There are also First Class air con buses and then ordinary buses. Most of the VIP buses run overnight, with one daytime departure of 9am. The blue and white air con buses leave regularly up to 10am, and then from about 7pm onward for overnight trips.

Within the region, there are good bus services for Chiang Mai to and from Mae Hong Son, to the east, Chiang Rai, further north, and Lampang, south west of Chiang Mai.

By Road/Car:
It’s a long drive to Chiang Mai from Bangkok, but the roads are good and once clear of the capital, can be relatively free of heavy traffic. Many goods vehicles and buses make the journey overnight, so given the choice it is possibly better to allow a daytime journey, with the advantage of driving in daylight. Night driving in Thailand can be tricky with drivers not always using the same safety regulations as the west (use of headlights being the main one).

The distance is some 800 Kilometers, so if travel by road is something being considered it may be a good idea to stop en route.