Bangkok to Chiang Mai

Five trains run the Northern Line from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal (the Bang Sue station that took over long-distance departures from Hua Lamphong) to Chiang Mai every day, and two of them are the answer for almost everyone. Special Express No. 9 leaves at 18:40 and arrives around 07:15 on the newest carriages on the network, Chinese-built CNR sleepers with a power socket and reading light at every berth, a dining car, a wheelchair-accessible carriage, and one carriage reserved for women and young children. Special Express No. 13 leaves at 20:05 and arrives around 08:45 on the older sleeper stock. It's ฿170–200 cheaper per berth, it still has a restaurant car and first class, and it's the one to take when No. 9 is full.

Express No. 51 is the last sleeper of the night, 22:30 to 11:40, with second-class air-con berths and fan seats. Rapid No. 109 (14:15 to 04:05) has the cheapest berths on the line at ฿688–758 but drops you in Chiang Mai before dawn, a poor trade for ฿250. Special Express No. 7 is the day train, a 1990s Daewoo diesel railcar with reclining second-class seats only, 07:30 to 17:50 for ฿558. It exists for the scenery, and it's the vehicle for breaking the journey at Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok or Lampang (below).

My rule is No. 9, lower berth, booked the day your dates firm up. If it's sold out, No. 13 rather than No. 51, because it arrives at a civilized hour and you keep the extra ฿200. Take No. 7 only if you actively want to watch the country go by; on any other basis the sleeper wins, because it costs about the same and gives you the night back.

Second-class air-con is the sweet spot. Pairs of facing seats convert into curtained upper and lower berths, an attendant comes through around 20:00 to make the beds with fresh sheets, and on No. 9 every berth has its own socket and reading light. The lower berth is wider, has the window, and is easier to get into; the upper is narrower, has no window, and sits closer to the air-con vent, so it runs cold. The ฿100 premium for a lower is the best ฿100 you'll spend on the route. Lights stay on all night in second class as a security measure, so pack an eye mask along with the earplugs.

First class on No. 9 and No. 13 is a lockable two-berth cabin with a washbasin, its own sockets and lights you control, and access to a shower room with hot water at the end of the carriage, which second class doesn't get. Two rules trip people up. Shared cabins are booked by gender, so a couple needs an empty compartment, and a solo traveler is paired with a stranger of the same sex unless they pay for the whole cabin (฿2,453 on No. 9, ฿1,953 on No. 13). Adjoining cabins have connecting doors, which is the family option.

Every carriage has three toilets, one of them a urinal, with a vacancy indicator on the information screen. The dining car sells hot Thai dinners and breakfast, and on No. 9 staff take orders before departure and bring the food to your berth; nothing is included in the fare and the menu is basic, so regulars board with snacks from the station's 7-Eleven. Big bags go under the lower seat, small ones in the overhead rack. The train is not silent. Rail joints, the air-con and station stops all wake light sleepers. In exchange you save a hotel night, skip two airport transfers, and roll into Chiang Mai rested at breakfast time, with the hill country outside the window from about 05:30.

Booking opens 90 days before departure. That's new, because in April 2026 the State Railway cut the old 180-day window to curb no-shows (SRT's announcement on Facebook), so a page still promising six months is stale. Tickets are sold at station windows, on SRT's own D-Ticket site (which has an English version and takes foreign cards), and through agencies like 12Go, which add a booking fee in exchange for a normal checkout and instant e-tickets. Book two to four weeks ahead for November through February and for any Friday or Sunday; lower berths on No. 9 are some of the first travel inventory in Thailand to sell out.

Buses leave Bangkok's Mo Chit (Northern) terminal through the day, but the overnight departures between 18:30 and 21:30 are the ones worth taking. Sombat Tour and Nakhonchai Air run the premium product, 20–32 reclining seats, a blanket, a snack box and a hostess, sold as VIP, First Class or Gold Class at roughly ฿850–1,050, with Nakhonchai Air leaving from its own terminal beside Mo Chit. The government's Transport Co. and the standard express services fill the tier below, ฿530–850 for a 40-seat coach that stops more often. All of them reach Chiang Mai's Arcade terminal around dawn after 9–11 hours, which is usually faster than the train.

The experience is functional rather than romantic. Seats recline to around 45 degrees, not flat. The air-con runs arctic, so bring a layer. And toilet stops replace the train's stroll-to-the-dining-car freedom. Arcade terminal sits 3 km east of the Old City, and a ฿100–150 Grab or a shared songthaew finishes the job.

Book a day or two ahead at the terminal or online through 12Go. Buses hold seats after the trains and cheap flights are gone, which is exactly when you'll be glad they exist. One tip. Skip the cheapest non-VIP night buses sold around Khao San Road. The terminal operators are more comfortable and, better still, more punctual.

The sleeper's whole appeal is that you skip the middle of the country. If you have the days, the middle is worth it. The line threads three former capitals and the best-preserved old town in the north, and the day train (No. 7) plus a couple of local buses turn a 13-hour night into a slow route with a stop every few hours. One booking wrinkle first. SRT sells partial journeys on a shorter window than the full route. Less than 25% of a train's route opens one day ahead, 25–59% opens 30 days ahead, and only 60% or more gets the full 90 days. From Bangkok that makes Ayutthaya a walk-up ticket, Phitsanulok a 30-day one, and Lampang a 90-day one. Richard Barrow's workaround for an Ayutthaya or Lopburi leg on a long-distance train is to book to Nakhon Sawan and get off early.

The return works the same way and books on the same 90-day window. Special Express No. 10 is the CNR train back, 18:20 from Chiang Mai to Krung Thep Aphiwat at 06:30, at exactly the fares of No. 9 (฿941–1,041 second class, ฿1,453–1,653 first). No. 14 is the older sleeper, 17:05 to 05:55, at No. 13's fares (฿771–841 and ฿1,253–1,453). Express No. 52 leaves earliest, 15:30 to 05:10, with second-class berths and fan seats. The day trains are No. 8 (07:30 to 17:40, the same railcar as No. 7) and the slow Rapid No. 102, 06:25 to 20:05. The Chiang Mai to Bangkok guide has every southbound train with its fares and what to do with a dawn arrival.

Most people take the train up and fly back, which is the right way round, because you arrive in Chiang Mai rested for the temples, and the flight home connects to an evening international departure from Bangkok without a 06:30 arrival at Bang Sue and a day to kill. Chiang Mai's station is 3.7 km east of the Old City, ฿100–150 by Grab; the airport is 10–15 minutes and ฿150–250. If you do take the sleeper south, No. 10's 06:30 arrival at Krung Thep Aphiwat puts you on the MRT Blue Line before the morning rush.