Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai

By bus the journey from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai is scheduled to take from 11 hours 20 minutes to 11 hours 30 minutes depending upon which service you take.

Bus Times from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai

There are currently 9 bus services a day from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai available to book online.

Buy Tickets from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai

Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai.

There are two main ways to travel by public transport from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai: by train to Chiang Mai and then a connecting bus to Chiang Rai, or by direct bus service from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai. Travelling by direct bus service is normally the faster option.

Departure from Ayutthaya

Tour with Thai services from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai commence with a pick up from any hotel in Ayutthaya.

Arrival in Chiang Rai

All the listed services from Ayutthaya to Chiang Rai terminate at Chaing Rai Bus Terminal 2.

About Travel to Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai is a small city located about 200 km by road to the north of Chiang Mai, close to both Laos and Myanmar. Chiang Rai Province is one of the more remote and least developed parts of Thailand, notable for the hill tribe ethnic groups believed to account for around 12% of the province’s total population.

Chiang Rai City

Chiang Rai has a compact city centre that’s much smaller than Chiang Mai. The facilities for tourists in Chiang Rai are fairly good compared to many other towns of similar size in Thailand. Hotels, restaurants and bars catering to foreign visitors are clustered together on the Phaholyothin Road which runs north to south through the city centre.

Chiang Rai is also very old, and has some interesting historic temples which you can easily walk to if you are staying in the city centre:

• According to legend the Emerald Buddha was discovered inside a chedi tower Wat Phra Kaew which was split open by lightning in 1434. The Emerald Buddha is Thailand’s most famous statue of the Lord Buddha and is now kept at the temple adjacent to the Royal Palace in Bangkok.
• Wat Phra Sing is a 14th century temple which is famous for once hosting another important statue of the Lord Buddha, the Phra Singh Buddha. The Phra Singh Buddha is believed to be an exact replica of a statue created of the Lord Buddha in Bodh Gaya in India where the Lord Buddha resided.
• Wat Mung Muang is a smaller temple notable for its magnificent wooden shrine hall. The shrine hall is an excellent example of traditional Lanna Kingdom style architecture and contains an eclectic range of painting and statues.

White Temple

Chiang Rai’s most famous tourist attraction is the White Temple. The White Temple is a new temple complex which was first opened in 1997 and is still under construction. The temple is a project by a renowned Thai artist who uses plaster mixed with glass to create unusually shaped temple buildings, all in white. Visitors enter the main temple via a specific entry point and then walk through different sections each of which represents different stages in the Buddhist cycle of life and death.

The White temple is located 13 km by road from Chiang Rai City. The cheapest way to travel there is by local bus from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1.

Wat Huay Pla Kang

Wat Huay Pla Kang is another new temple, construction of which began in 2001 and is also still ongoing. What’s special about Wat Huay Pla Kang is that it’s a Chinese style Buddhist temple on a grand scale reminiscent of the massive Buddhist temples of Vietnam. The three main attractions at the temple are it’s 26 storey tall statue of Guan Yin (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), it’s 9 storey pagoda, and an enormous prayer hall.

Wat Huay Pla Kang is located 8 km to the north of Chiang Rai City. To get there you need to hire a tuk-tuk or rent your own vehicle.