Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1

Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 is located in the centre of Chiang Rai town a short walk away from the Night Bazaar and the busy Phaholyothin Road where most of the town’s hotels, guesthouses and restaurants are located.  

A limited number of long distance bus and minivan services depart from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1, for a wider range of services passengers need to go to Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 2, which is located 6.4 km by toad to the south of Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1.

About Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1

Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 is an old bus station with services to and from a variety of destinations in Chiang Rai Province as well as destinations in neighbouring provinces. The only modern long distance bus service which operate to and from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 is the Green Bus service to Chiang Mai (see below for departure times) and Mae Sai.

Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 does, however, have a number of other minivan services, local services and bus services using both newer and older types of bus to destinations of interest to foreign travellers to Thailand:

• There is a regular local service to the White Temple (see below for more details).
• There is a frequent modern bus service to Chiang Rai Airport (every 30 minutes from 06:00 to 23:20)
• Minivan service to Nan departing at 09:30.
• Bus service to the Friendship Bridge at Chiang Khong for the border crossing to Laos (see below for more details).
• Bus service to Mae Sai departing every 30 minutes from 06:30 to 17:00.

Location of Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1

Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 is located 3.5 km km by road from Wat Rong Seur Ten.

Facilities at Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1

Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 has a large shop and small cafe inside the terminal building, toilets and seating near the bus platform. There is no left luggage service at Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1.

For a wider range of shops and restaurants we recommend that you walk westward for less than 200 metres to the Phaholyothin Road which has lots of shops and restaurants.

For local transport go to the north side of Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 where lot of tuk-tuks and local blue taxi vans wait for passengers. There are no fixed fares so you need to negotiate a price for your journey before you set off. When we visited in August 2019 we found that the initial price offered to foreign travellers was typically more than double the ‘going rate’ particularly to out of town destinations such as the Blue Temple or Wat Huay Pla Kang.

Buy Tickets at the Bus Station

For many of the services departing from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 you either pay on the bus or for minivan services at a desk set up on the platform from which the minivan is departing. For these services you normally cannot buy a ticket in advance.

The major exception is bus services operated by the Green Bus Company. The Green Bus Company has a ticket office which is inside the bus station near the toilets and the shop. For travel to Chiang Mai and Mae Sai with the Green Bus Company you need to buy your ticket at the ticket office. Alternatively, you can book the Green Bus service from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 to Chiang Mai using the Search Box below ,saving yourself a trip to the bus station or a potentially long wait for the next available free seats if you don’t book in advance.

Buy Tickets Online

Use the Search Box below to buy travel tickets to and from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1.

Change the start and finish points in the Search Box to buy tickets for other services across South East Asia including train tickets, ferries and flights.

Bus to Chiang Mai

There are 13 daily bus services from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 to Chiang Mai which you can book online.

• Timetable of Bus services from Phrae to Chiang Mai:
  

• Journey Time: The journey by bus is scheduled to take from 3 hours 10 to 3 hours 35 minutes.
• Tickets: Buy tickets for bus services from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai.

Bus to the White Temple

There are 19 daily bus services from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 to the White Temple. The fare is 20 THB which you pay on the bus.

• Departure Times: 06:15, 07:10, 08:10, 09:10, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, 13:00, 13:30, 14:00, 14:35, 15:10, 15:45, 16:20, 17:00 & 17:50.

Bus to Chiang Khong (Friendship Bridge)

There are 12 daily bus services from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 to the Friendship Bridge in Chiang Khong for the border crossing to Laos (Houay Xai). The fare is 65 THB which you pay on the bus and the journey takes around 2 hours.

• Departure Times: 06:00, 07:00, 08:00, 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00 & 17:00.