Bangkok

Overnight bus or train to Chiang Mai?

I do not already have a ticket. The seater-regret thread is a different problem. I need the booking fork: berth, VIP bus, or fly.

Pick the night, not the romance

If	Book	Watch
You can get a 2nd-class AC sleeper on D-Ticket / SRT	Train from Krung Thep Aphiwat	Sells out in high season; delays happen; ~12 hours is the story not a promise
Berths gone, you need to move tonight	VIP / VIP24 bus from Mo Chit 2 (not the BTS Mo Chit platform)	9–11 hours; icy AC; seat is not a bed
Ten-day trip and the morning in CM matters	Flight, often DMK	Terminal time vs a wrecked first day
You only found a fan seater	That is the other post on this feed	Do not “upgrade” folklore at the platform

Book the train on the railway’s own channel when you can. 12Go is a reseller. Range people still quote: sleeper roughly 800–1,500 THB, VIP bus 600–1,100 THB — confirm the date you travel.

Date and whether you need to sleep. A cheap seat is not a berth.

Getting around

11 comments

Yuki Mori

If you can still choose, get the berth or a VIP bus. The fan seater is loud. Book the night, not the romance. A cheap seat is not a bed.

21d

Mint Saelim

Krung Thep Aphiwat for the train. Mo Chit 2 for the bus. People mix Mo Chit BTS with the bus terminal and lose an hour.

21d

Kit Rattana

Lower berth if you can. Window side is a preference. I would not pick the bus to “save 200” if a sleeper is open.

21d

Lauren Peck

10 nights, hate buses. Flight is the boring answer. The train is if the night is the point.

21d

Ploy

D-Ticket when it works. 12Go if you are stuck. Know you paid a middleman.

20d

Lukas Weber

Delays on the train are real. Do not book a 09:00 walking-street tour off a 05:30 arrival that does not exist.

20d

Freya Holm

Arrive Arcade in Chiang Mai on the bus. Grab into Nimman. The terminal is not the old city.

20d

Helen Marsh

Family, two kids: I would fly or take a 1st-class cabin, not a VIP24 experiment. This is not a backpacker flex.

20d

Ian Crowe

I am the wrong coast. If you are already in the south, do not add this overnight just to say you did the train.

20d

James Collingwood

Songkran and New Year: assume full. That is the April thread plus this one stacked.

20d

Nora Blake

Coworking the next morning: do not. Sleep or a later start. The bus does not give you a desk.

19d

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