Krabi to Chiang Mai

Thai AirAsia flies Krabi to Chiang Mai every day on an A320. FD3073 leaves at 10:25 and lands at 12:20, and FD3077 leaves at 15:25 and lands at 17:25. Its schedule also carries an evening flight, FD3075, at about 19:35, but it wasn't on sale for the mid-November date I checked, so I'd treat it as a bonus rather than a plan. No other airline flies north without a stop. Bangkok Airways' Chiang Mai to Krabi flight is one-way, so on Bangkok Airways the way back is through Suvarnabhumi.

The 10:25 is the one I'd book from Ao Nang, Krabi Town or Railay. You leave the hotel around 08:00, you're through security with time to spare, and you land in Chiang Mai in time for a khao soi lunch and an afternoon in the Old City. The 15:25 suits a last morning on the beach or a trip from Koh Lanta, and it lands at 17:25, in time for dinner in the Old City or the Sunday walking street.

From Ao Nang the airport is 28 km and 35 to 40 minutes by car. A fixed taxi is about ฿725 for a car or ฿790 for a van, and a car booked on 12Go is about ฿600–700 with a hotel pickup at the time you choose. The airport bus is ฿150 from Ao Nang and ฿90 from Krabi Town, hourly from about 06:00 to 20:00, but from Ao Nang it can take 90 minutes with its stops. Krabi Town is 12 km and about 20 minutes away. From Railay, take the longtail to Ao Nang first (฿100, 10 to 15 minutes), and add half an hour for the boat to fill.

From Koh Lanta, hotel-pickup vans run to the airport hourly from about 06:00 to 16:00 for about ฿380–540 and take 2 to 3 hours. For the 15:25 flight, book a morning van. For the 10:25, you'd need a private car (about ฿2,100–3,100, about two hours) at dawn, or a night in Krabi first, which is what I'd do. Our Koh Lanta to Krabi guide has every van and boat.

About 18 nonstop flights a day leave Krabi for Bangkok in 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 35, to Don Mueang on Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Nok Air, and to Suvarnabhumi on Thai VietJet, Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways. Flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai take about 70 to 80 minutes. Buy both legs on one ticket from one airline so a late first flight is the airline's problem, and expect five hours or more in total. If you'd like a night in Bangkok anyway, two separate one-way tickets on different days work fine.

Krabi has no railway, and the overland trip runs through Bangkok. Lignite Tour's night buses leave Krabi's Talat Kao terminal at 16:00 (฿779), 16:30 (฿796) and 17:00 for the VIP 24 (฿1,170), and Transport Co. runs from about ฿707. They reach Bangkok's Southern Terminal early the next morning, 12 to 14 hours later. Spend the day in Bangkok, then take the No. 9 sleeper from Krung Thep Aphiwat at 18:40, into Chiang Mai at about 07:15, at ฿941 for an upper second-class berth or ฿1,041 for a lower. That's about a day and a half and about ฿1,700–2,200 in fares, with two nights on the move.

12Go also sells one through ticket. Nitiphong Phai Boon Transport's van picks up in Ao Nang at 15:00, connects to its bus north, and reaches Chiang Mai's Bus Terminal 3 (Arcade) at 16:00 the next day, about 25 hours, for ฿1,938 with the booking fee. It had a single review when I checked, so I'd treat it as the fallback for someone set on the road, not a plan for a first trip.