Pai to Chiang Rai

Terminal Green is the one most people book. Its vans leave its office in the center of Pai at 07:00, 09:30 and 11:30, are scheduled at 6 hours 35 minutes, and cost about ฿650–700 depending on the seller. They're sold as direct, but several passengers between February and June this year wrote that they changed to a second, more crowded van in Chiang Mai, and one said the drop-off was a mall on the highway. Terminal Green also sells a longer run to the Chiang Khong border, about 8.5 hours, if Laos is next.

Pai Friendly Tour's VIP minivan leaves the Waykeeper office at 10:00 and is due at its Chiang Rai office at 15:30, for ฿720. It's the fastest on paper and rated a little higher on 12Go, but recent passengers say it stops in north Chiang Mai to pick people up and arrived about an hour late. Aya Service runs at 07:00 for about ฿700–870, and K Buddy at 07:00, 08:30 and 12:30 for about ฿1,190, about 8 hours. Ask about bags when you book, because one review this year describes a row over a luggage fee at the office.

This is the way I'd do it. It costs less, it takes about as long as the through vans once their delays are counted, and the second half is a full-size bus instead of a van. Take Prempracha's van from Pai's bus station on the main street, hourly from 07:00 for about ฿150 at the counter, to Chiang Mai's Arcade terminal, about 3.5 to 4 hours. The Green Bus to Chiang Rai leaves Terminal 3, the Green Bus building at the same Arcade terminal, 13 times a day until 18:00, for ฿260–290 in Express class and ฿360–400 in VIP.

The 07:00 van reaches Arcade at about 11:00, in time for the 12:15 VIP, in Chiang Rai at about 15:35. The 08:00 van reaches it at about 12:00, in time for the 13:00 VIP, in at about 16:20. The bus ends at Terminal 1 beside the Night Bazaar, walking distance from most hotels, which the through vans don't do. 12Go also sells the two as one ticket at 09:00, about 9 hours with an hour's wait in Chiang Mai, for about ฿510–520, though you still change on your own.

Where you land depends on what you booked. The Green Bus calls at Terminal 2, 7 km south of town on the superhighway, and ends at Terminal 1 downtown beside the Night Bazaar, so stay on. Terminal Green's vans end at Terminal 2 or the Central Chiangrai mall, both on the highway south of town, and Pai Friendly Tour at the Waykeeper office in Chiang Rai. From the highway, a Grab into the center is quick. Our Chiang Rai travel guide covers the temples and how many nights to give it.

Going the other way, the vans leave Chiang Rai earlier. Pai Friendly Tour has three departures from its Chiang Rai office from 06:30, about 6 hours, from about ฿1,090, and K Buddy picks up from Chiang Rai hotels at 05:00 and reaches Pai at 13:00 for about ฿1,190. The last departure of any kind to Pai is about 16:30.

The two-ticket way works in this direction too. Take a morning Green Bus from Terminal 1 to Chiang Mai, about 3.5 to 4 hours, then a Prempracha or Aya van from the Arcade terminal up to Pai. 12Go's version leaves Terminal 1 at 10:00 and reaches Pai at 19:50 for about ฿850, which puts the 762 curves at dusk, so I'd take an earlier bus and make my own connection. A private car is about ฿4,600–5,100. Our Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai and Chiang Mai to Pai guides have both legs in full.