By bus it takes 23 hours 30 minutes to travel 1,518 km from Phuket to Chiang Mai.
Bus Timetable from Phuket to Chiang Mai
- Click on the Phuket – Chiang Mai link in the timetable below for more information and to buy tickets.
Phuket - Chiang Mai ฿ 1,361–2,729 1h 55m – 1d 1h 10m | |
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Phuket - Chiang Mai ฿ 2,108 1d 35m | |
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Phuket - Chiang Mai ฿ 17,197–31,779 21h – 22h | |
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Where to get the Bus in Phuket
Bus services to Chiang Mai depart from Phuket Bus Terminal 2 at Thanon Thepkrasattri, Tambon Ratsada, Amphoe Mueang Phuket, Chang Wat Phuket 83000, Thailand.
Arrival in Chiang Mai
Bus services from Phuket terminate at Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 3, Wat Ket, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50000.
Travel in Chiang Mai
Unlike Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, Chiang Mai does not have modern efficient rapid public transport. If you want to take public transport around Chiang Mai your options are shared taxi, bus, tuk-tuk or fixed fare (not meter) taxis. For this reason many visitors to Chiang Mai rent a scooter or motorbike to travel around. A word of warning on renting motorbikes in Chiang Mai: foreigners don’t tend to have as many accidents in Chiang Mai as they do in Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, Phuket or Pattaya, but a fairly high percentage of people who do hire bikes have some kind of accident. For travel around the city centre, particularly the four lane wide city ring road, you are best off using public transport. If you do have an accident it is unlikely that your insurance company won’t cover the costs.

From the bus station the cheapest way to travel into the city is on the bus. Both the B1 and B2 routes go to the Tha Phae Gate on a route which goes past the turning to the popular Chan Klang Road. You can also take a shared songthaew taxi for between 20 and 60 baht a journey depending on how far you are travelling. These shared taxis run different fixed routes and the best option is to flag one down and ask if they are going to your destinations. You sit in the back of the vehicle with other passengers and press the buzzer when you approach your stop. Pay the driver as you leave the shared taxi. Tuk-tuks and taxis charge around the same prices: 100 to 150 THB per journey depending upon where you are going. Tuk-tuks are everywhere, taxis are more difficult to find except at the airport, and if you want to use a taxi you tend to need to use your phone to order one. Uber and Grab operate in Chiang Mai although things change daily in Thailand as these newer types of taxi service face opposition from traditional taxi operators who periodically lobby the local authorities to suspend Uber and Grab services.