The short version: fly if the hours matter (about 1 hour 15 minutes in the air, commonly ฿1,000-2,000 booked a few weeks out). Take overnight train No. 9 or No. 13 if you want the journey to be part of the trip and a hotel night back (2nd-class sleeper ฿771-1,041). Take the VIP bus only when the train is sold out or the fare gap decides it (฿600-1,150, 9-11 hours). The one thing that catches people out in 2026: SRT cut its advance booking window from 180 to 90 days in April, so any guide telling you to book train tickets six months out is stale.
The three realistic options, side by side
| Mode | Time | One-way cost (2026) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight (Don Mueang or Suvarnabhumi → CNX) | 1h10-1h20 in the air; 4-5 hours door to door | ฿650-3,000; typical ฿1,000-2,000 booked 2-4 weeks out | Speed; often the cheapest with carry-on only |
| Overnight sleeper train (No. 9 or No. 13) | 12h15m-12h40m | 2nd class ฿771-1,041; 1st class ฿1,253-1,653 | The experience; replaces a hotel night |
| VIP / first-class bus (Mo Chit → Arcade) | 9-11 hours | ฿600-1,150 | Sold-out trains; tight budgets |
Distances for context: roughly 693 km by road, 751 km by rail. A high-speed line is still unfunded as of 2026, so these are the speeds you get.
The train: two departures worth planning around
All long-distance trains now leave from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, not Hua Lamphong. Five trains a day run the Northern Line; these two matter:
- No. 9 Special Express, 18:40 → ~07:15. The newest Chinese-built CNR carriages: power socket and reading light at every berth, dining car, one carriage reserved for women and young children. 2nd class ฿941 upper / ฿1,041 lower; 1st class ฿1,453 / ฿1,653, or ฿2,453 for a whole two-berth cabin solo.
- No. 13 Special Express, 20:05 → ~08:45. Older carriages, same bed, ฿170-200 cheaper: 2nd class ฿771 / ฿841; 1st class ฿1,253 / ฿1,453. The one to take when No. 9 is full.
Fares are official State Railway of Thailand prices (December 2025 timetable, checked against October 2026 sources); booking platforms add a small service fee. Expect 30-60 minutes of arrival slippage on overnight services.
The 2026 change to plan around: in April 2026 SRT cut the advance booking window from 180 days to 90 days, released daily at 08:30 Bangkok time on the official D-Ticket site (English version, foreign cards accepted). Lower berths on No. 9 are some of the first travel inventory in Thailand to sell out for November-February, Fridays, Sundays and festival dates - book the day the window opens for those. For most other dates, two to four weeks ahead is enough. Agencies like 12Go add a fee but make checkout far easier.
Also on the line: No. 51 (22:30 → ~11:40, the last sleeper of the night), No. 109 (14:15 → ~04:05, cheapest berths at ฿688-758 but a pre-dawn arrival), and day train No. 7 (07:30 → 17:50, seats only at ฿558) which exists for the Khun Tan hill scenery and for breaking the journey at Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok or Lampang.
The flight: fastest, and often cheapest
Six carriers work the route - Thai AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air, Thai Vietjet, Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways - with well over a hundred flights a week split between Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi. Booked two to four weeks out, budget fares commonly run ฿1,000-1,600 one-way, dropping to ฿600-900 in promotions; last-minute or festival dates (Yi Peng in November especially) can hit ฿2,500-4,000. Full-service Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways from Suvarnabhumi start around ฿2,500 with a bag included. Budget fares exclude checked bags - add ฿300-700 per sector and the fare comparison with the train narrows fast.
The bus: better than its reputation
Overnight and day buses leave from Mo Chit (Chatuchak) terminal and arrive at Chiang Mai's Arcade terminal in 9-11 hours. Nakhonchai Air runs the fastest service (about 9 hours); Sombat Tour departs roughly hourly. Fares run ฿600-1,150 depending on tier - top-tier "First Class" or "Supreme" coaches have 20-30 wide recliners, a snack box and an onboard toilet. The bus is the right call when the train is sold out for your dates, when you are starting closer to Mo Chit than either airport, or when the fare gap genuinely matters.
Combinations that actually make sense
- Fly up, train back (or the reverse). You get the speed one way and the classic rail journey the other, and a one-way sleeper still replaces a hotel night.
- Day train No. 7 with a stop. Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok (for Sukhothai) or Lampang break the journey into two easy days.
- Train out, bus back as a fallback. If No. 9 and No. 13 are both full, the VIP bus at half the flight price is a decent plan B - not a punishment.
- What to skip: minivans (nine people, no legroom, 9-11 hours) and self-driving unless you specifically want the road trip (about ฿1,000-1,500/day hire plus ฿1,800-2,200 fuel and tolls).
Which should you book?
Time-poor, bags light, booked a few weeks ahead: fly. One-way journey with a night to spare, or you want the trip itself to count for something: train No. 9, lower berth, booked the day your 90-day window opens. Train sold out or every rupee/baht counts: the VIP bus. Whatever you pick, anchor the plan to the fixed points - trains from Krung Thep Aphiwat, buses from Mo Chit, flights from two different airports - because they sit on three different sides of Bangkok.
A Miranda House graduate and lawyer who traded courtrooms for slow travel. Cheshta travels with the batches we host ourselves, with a soft spot for travelling alongside elders.
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