Phuket to Chiang Mai

Two airlines fly Phuket (HKT) to Chiang Mai (CNX) without a stop. Thai VietJet usually goes at about 08:15 and 13:25, and Thai AirAsia at about 09:00, 10:40 and 18:55, each about 2 hours. On some days the times shift by up to an hour (a VietJet at 07:20 or 07:50, an AirAsia at 14:55 or 15:40 instead of the evening flight), and on a few days only two or three fly, so check the time on your ticket rather than a list. Bangkok Airways flies Chiang Mai to Phuket on some days but, in the dates I checked, not the other way. Thai Lion Air, Nok Air and Thai Airways sell the route with a change in Bangkok.

The 10:40 is the one I'd book. You can leave Patong at about 08:00 after breakfast, you land at 12:30, and you're checked in to an Old City guesthouse in time for an afternoon at the temples. The 08:15 needs a 05:45 start from Patong, earlier than the first Smart Bus from the beach, so it's a car or nothing. The 18:55 suits a last morning on the beach and lands at 20:55, in time for a late dinner on Nimman.

A nonstop usually costs about ฿1,800–3,600 one way booked a few weeks out, before bags. They fill first around New Year, in January and over Songkran, which is when the cheaper fares with a change in Bangkok start to show. The quickest of those take about 4 hours and many take 6 to 15, so I'd only book one if the nonstops are gone, and only on one ticket through a single Bangkok airport.

Phuket has no railway, and the nearest station, Surat Thani's Phun Phin, is about six hours away by bus. If you want to ride the train north, the easy way is to fly from Phuket to Don Mueang in 1h20–1h35 on Thai AirAsia, Nok Air or Thai Lion Air, which fly there all day, and catch the sleeper to Chiang Mai the same evening. Special Express No. 9 leaves Krung Thep Aphiwat at 18:40 on the newest carriages on the line and reaches Chiang Mai at about 07:15. Northbound trains also call at Don Mueang station, which a covered walkway links to the airport, so you can board there; check the Don Mueang time on your ticket.

A second-class berth on No. 9 is ฿941 upper or ฿1,041 lower, and the lowers sell out first, so book as soon as your date is fixed (bookings open 90 days ahead). I'd take a flight that lands at Don Mueang by mid-afternoon, which leaves room for a delay. If No. 9 is full, No. 13 leaves at 20:05 and arrives at about 08:45 for ฿771–841. Chiang Mai's station is 3.7 km east of the Old City, ฿100–150 by Grab. The Bangkok to Chiang Mai guide has all five trains and how to pick a berth.

Going all the way on the ground means an evening bus from Phuket Bus Terminal 2 to Bangkok (12–13 hours, ฿715–1,200, into Bangkok around dawn), a day in the city, and No. 9 that night, 38 to 40 hours in all. The Phuket to Bangkok guide has every bus north and where each one stops in Bangkok.

One bus runs the whole way. GreenBus leaves Phuket Bus Terminal 2, north of Phuket Town, at 13:00 and reaches Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 3, the Arcade terminal 3 km east of the Old City, at about 13:35 the next afternoon. 12Go sells it for about ฿3,650, and redBus lists the same 13:00 departure from about ฿2,000, so it's worth comparing before you book. 12Go also sells two through tickets that change in Bangkok, Lignite at 15:30 and Phuket Travel at 17:40 with Sritawong Tour on to Chiang Mai, both arriving at Arcade at 18:45 the next day for about ฿2,340–2,410.

That's a full day and night on a coach for about what a nonstop flight costs. I'd take it only if you can't fly. From Patong or Kata, allow 30 to 60 minutes by taxi or Grab to Terminal 2, and from Arcade it's about ฿100–150 by Grab to the Old City.