Chiang Mai to Bangkok

Five trains leave Chiang Mai for Bangkok every day, and they split cleanly into two daytime trains and three sleepers. Special Express No. 10 is the one to book. It's the southbound working of the same CNR set as No. 9 going north, with a power socket and reading light at every berth, a dining car, a wheelchair-accessible carriage and a carriage for women and young children. It leaves at 18:20, which gives you a full last day in Chiang Mai, and arrives at Krung Thep Aphiwat at 06:30.

Special Express No. 14 leaves at 17:05 on the older sleeper stock and gets in at 05:55. It's ฿170–200 cheaper per berth than No. 10, still has first class and a restaurant car, and it's the backup when No. 10 is full. In a June 2026 ride it left exactly on time and the attendant woke the carriage at 05:15. Express No. 52 is the early sleeper, 15:30 to 05:10, with second-class air-con berths at ฿728–798 and fan seats. It arrives at an hour when nothing in Bangkok is open, and that cancels out the saving.

The day trains are No. 8, the air-conditioned diesel railcar at 07:30 that arrives at 17:40 (second-class reclining seats only, ฿558), and Rapid No. 102 at 06:25, fan-cooled seats with open windows, into Bangkok at 20:05 for ฿388 in second class or ฿230 in third. My rule is No. 10, lower berth, booked as soon as your dates are firm. If it's sold out, take No. 14 rather than No. 52. Take a day train only if the scenery is the point, which on this line it can be.

Second-class air-con is the sweet spot going south too. Pairs of facing seats convert into curtained upper and lower berths, the attendant makes them up with fresh sheets an hour or two after departure, and on No. 10 every berth has its own socket and light. The lower is wider, has the window and costs ฿100 more, and it's worth it; the upper sits under the air-con vent and runs cold. Lights stay on all night in second class, so pack an eye mask and earplugs. First class is a lockable two-berth cabin with a washbasin and access to a hot shower at the end of the carriage. Cabins are booked by gender unless you pay for the whole compartment (฿2,453 on No. 10, ฿1,953 on No. 14), so a couple or a solo traveler who wants privacy should book it whole.

The first hours are the best part of the trip south. No. 10 climbs out of Chiang Mai through the hills toward Lampang in the last of the light, and the dining car does a hot Thai dinner (around ฿190 on No. 14 in June 2026) if you didn't bring food from the 7-Eleven at the station. Nothing is included in the fare. Overnight the train crosses the central plains, and the wake-up comes early. Attendants fold the berths away 30–45 minutes before Bangkok, so on No. 14 you're sitting up with your bag packed by 05:15 whether you like it or not.

Book on SRT's D-Ticket site, at the station window, or through 12Go, which adds a fee in exchange for an easy checkout and instant e-tickets. Every train on this list runs the whole route from Chiang Mai, so all five open 90 days ahead (the State Railway cut the old 180-day window on 30 April 2026). For November to February, festival weeks and Sunday nights, book two to four weeks out.

The sleeper sees the best stretch of the Northern Line in the dark going north, and partly in daylight going south. The day trains show you all of it. The first three hours out of Chiang Mai are the reason to take one. The line climbs through forest to the Khun Tan tunnel, then drops through Lampang and the teak country toward Uttaradit before the land flattens into rice fields for the long run to Ayutthaya.

No. 8 is the comfortable way to see it. It's a 1990s Daewoo railcar with reclining second-class seats and air-conditioning, 07:30 from Chiang Mai to Krung Thep Aphiwat at 17:40 for ฿558. Rapid No. 102 at 06:25 is the slow, cheap and more photogenic option, with fan-cooled carriages and windows that open, for ฿388 in second class or ฿230 in third, arriving at 20:05. Bring food and water on No. 102.

Chiang Mai's airport, CNX, sits 10–15 minutes from the Old City and Nimman, ฿150–250 by Grab, which makes this one of the easiest flights in the country. Thai AirAsia, Nok Air and Thai Lion Air fly to Don Mueang (DMK), and Thai Airways, Thai VietJet and Bangkok Airways fly to Suvarnabhumi (BKK), with departures from about 06:30 until late evening. Flight time is 65–85 minutes. Booked two to four weeks out, fares run about ฿1,000–1,500 ($30–45) before bags; last-minute seats and the Songkran, Yi Peng and New Year weeks can double or triple that.

The rule that matters going south is to fly into the airport you're leaving from. If your international flight home leaves from Suvarnabhumi, book Thai Airways, VietJet or Bangkok Airways and skip the 45–90 minute cross-town transfer from Don Mueang. Leave three to four hours between landing and an international departure, and more if you do have to change airports. With carry-on only, the flight is often as cheap as a first-class berth and frees the evening, which is why most people take the train up and fly back.

Every Bangkok bus leaves from the Arcade terminal on Chiang Mai's northeast side and ends at Mo Chit, the Northern Bus Terminal. Day departures start at 07:30, and the overnight coaches that most people want leave between 16:30 and 21:30. Sombat Tour and Nakhonchai Air run the premium VIP and Gold Class coaches with 20–32 reclining seats, a blanket and a snack box, and the government's Transport Co. and several private firms run the express tier below them. 12Go prices the whole range at about ฿650–1,050 with its fee included, and the trip takes 9–12 hours.

The overnight bus is usually an hour or two faster than the sleeper, and it's less comfortable, because seats recline partway rather than flat and the air-con runs cold. It earns its place on the nights when No. 10 and No. 14 are sold out. Mo Chit isn't on the Skytrain. Budget ฿60–100 for a taxi to BTS Mo Chit or MRT Chatuchak Park, or a Grab straight to your hotel.

Every train from Chiang Mai ends at Krung Thep Aphiwat, the big Bang Sue terminal 8 km north of Siam that replaced Hua Lamphong for long-distance trains. The MRT Blue Line is directly underneath and starts running at about 06:00, so No. 10's 06:30 arrival puts you on it before the morning rush, about 25 minutes to Sukhumvit and 20 to Silom. On No. 14 (05:55) you'll wait a few minutes; on No. 52 (05:10) take a taxi from the ground-floor rank or have a coffee. The SRT Dark Red Line upstairs runs from 05:00.

If you're flying out of Don Mueang, don't ride to the terminus. Every train stops at Don Mueang station 17 minutes earlier (No. 10 at 06:13, No. 14 at 05:38, No. 52 at 04:53), and the station is linked to the airport terminal by a covered walkway. That turns the sleeper into a hotel night and an airport transfer in one ticket, provided your flight is late morning or later.

Everyone else has the check-in problem. Bangkok hotels rarely let you into a room before 14:00, so either book the previous night (some hotels sell an early check-in, and a few call it a day-use rate), or leave your bags at reception and spend the morning somewhere close to the MRT. Chatuchak Weekend Market is one stop from the station and opens at 09:00 on Saturdays and Sundays; Lumphini Park is the classic dawn walk; and Wat Pho opens at 08:00.

The day trains make the Northern Line a slow route south with a stop every few hours. One booking wrinkle first. SRT sells a partial journey 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 60% or more gets the full 90 days. From Chiang Mai that makes Lampang a walk-up ticket, Phitsanulok a 30-day one, and Ayutthaya a 90-day one.

The northbound sleepers are No. 9 at 18:40 (the CNR set, the one to book), No. 13 at 20:05 and No. 51 at 22:30, all from Krung Thep Aphiwat, with the No. 7 day train at 07:30 and the cheap Rapid No. 109 at 14:15. Fares match the southbound trains class for class, and they book on the same 90-day window. The Bangkok to Chiang Mai guide has every northbound train, the berth-by-berth details and the stopovers in the other direction.