Bangkok to Chiang Mai: Train or Flight for a Two-Week Trip?

Bangkok to Chiang Mai is about 700 km, and on a two-week trip you will do it once, northbound, somewhere around Day 3 or 4. The flight takes about 1 h 20 and leaves from both Bangkok airports through the day. The train takes 10 to 14 hours, leaves from one station on the north side of the city, and the two overnight sleepers are the only trains most visitors should consider. Neither option is wrong. They cost you different things: the flight costs half a day of airports, the train costs a hotel night and a fixed evening, and the sleeper has to be booked the day sales open if you are travelling in December.

The short answer: fly if you value the Bangkok afternoon and a hotel bed, and take Special Express No. 9 (18:40 to 07:15) if the train is part of why you came. Do not take a daytime train on a two-week trip, and do not take the bus. Below are the operator-checked times and fares, what each option does to your days, and how to book.

The two options side by side

The trains, checked with the operator

These are the northbound departures shown by the State Railway of Thailand's own booking site for 15 December 2026, from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal to Chiang Mai. Times can shift by a few minutes between timetable periods; the pattern is stable.

No. 9 is the newer train with first-class two-berth compartments and second-class open-plan berths, all air-conditioned; on the date checked, a second-class lower berth was 1,038 baht and an upper 938 baht, a first-class berth 1,446 or 1,646 baht, and a whole first-class compartment 2,446 baht. No. 13 is the older stock: first class 1,246 to 1,446 baht (already on a waiting list at the 90-day mark), second-class air-con berths 768 to 838 baht, and fan-cooled seats from 310 baht that no one should book for 12 hours. Lower berths are wider and let you sit by the window; pay the extra 70 to 100 baht.

The flights

Non-stop flights take about 1 h 20 and run from around 06:00 to after 21:00. Thai AirAsia, Nok Air and Thai Lion Air fly from Don Mueang; Thai Airways and Thai Vietjet fly from Suvarnabhumi; Bangkok Airways appears on both airports' lists, so read your booking. The two airports are on opposite sides of the city, roughly an hour apart by road, and the mistake of going to the wrong one is common enough to plan against: note the airport code on the ticket before you book the hotel, and choose a hotel on the right side of town for your departure morning.

For a two-week itinerary, a departure between 08:00 and 10:30 is the sweet spot: you leave the hotel around 06:30, land before noon, and Chiang Mai's airport is a short taxi ride from the old city, so the afternoon is yours. Later flights are fine if you would rather have a full Bangkok morning and accept a lost Chiang Mai afternoon.

What each option does to a 14-day plan

In the 14-day itinerary, Bangkok has three nights and the flight north is on the morning of Day 4. Swapping in the sleeper changes only the third night: you check out on Day 3, leave your bags at the hotel, spend the day in the city, and board at 18:40. Day 4 begins at 07:15 at Chiang Mai station instead of at an airport, which usually means an earlier temple morning and a hotel that will let you drop bags before check-in. The number of nights in Chiang Mai and on the coast does not change.

The costs of the train are subtler than the fare. You lose the evening of Day 3 in Bangkok, which is the best Chinatown evening of the trip. You arrive without a shower unless your Chiang Mai hotel is generous. And you commit to a fixed departure 90 days out: the flight can be moved, the berth cannot without a cancellation.

The costs of the flight are the airport hours and, in December, the price. Fares on the carriers' own calendars start around 1,000 baht outside the peak fortnight and rise sharply around Christmas and New Year; a family of four on the train may find the sleeper cheaper than four peak-season seats plus a Bangkok hotel night.

How to book the sleeper

• Sales open 90 days before departure on the State Railway of Thailand's D-Ticket site; the calendar on the site will not let you select a later date. Book on day one for December travel; on 15 December 2026, first class on No. 13 was already on a waiting list when sales opened.
• Choose the departure station as Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal (สถานีกลางกรุงเทพอภิวัฒน์). Bangkok's old Hua Lamphong station is a separate entry in the station list and is not where the Chiang Mai sleepers leave from.
• Second-class air-con lower berth is the value choice. First class buys a lockable two-berth compartment with a washbasin; booking the whole compartment for one person costs about 2,446 baht on No. 9.
• Reach the terminal by the MRT Blue Line or by taxi, and be there 40 minutes before departure. There are shops and food inside; the train sells simple meals and drinks, but bringing your own dinner is normal.
• Agencies and booking platforms resell the same seats with a margin and an English-language interface; that can be worth it if the SRT site defeats you, and the operator fares above tell you what the margin is.

Why not the bus, or the daytime train

Overnight buses exist and are cheaper still, but they save nothing over the sleeper train, arrive at a bus terminal outside the old city, and give you a reclining seat instead of a bed. The daytime railcar, No. 7, is a fine ride through the central plains and the hills above Lampang if you have a spare day; on a 14-day trip you do not. Driving is not worth considering for one long leg on a route that then flies to the coast.

If you are still choosing the month, the Thailand in December guide covers the season this leg fits into; if you are choosing your coastal base after Chiang Mai, the Phuket or Krabi comparison is the next decision.

Photo credits

Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0 (cover; resized for web display). SRT passenger car at Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal by Suikotei, CC BY-SA 4.0. Both via Wikimedia Commons.