Chiang Mai to Huay Xai

By bus the journey from Chiang Mai to Huay Xai in Laos is scheduled to take from 5 hours 30 minutes to 8 hours depending upon which service you take.

Bus Times from Chiang Mai to Huay Xai

There are currently 6 services a day from Chiang Mai to Huay Xai available to book online.

• Yortdoy Travel and LaoLuang Travel services include a hotel transfer on arrival in Huay Xai.
• Naluang, Aya Service, and Terminal Green Pai services terminate at a bus station in Huay Xai Town.

Buy Tickets from Chiang Mai to Huay Xai

Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Chiang Mai to Huay Xai.

Chiang Rai Bus Stop

Yortdoy Travel and Mekong Transfer services from Chiang Rai to Huay Xai commence with a pick up from the Thae Pae Gate in Chiang Mai. Terminal Green Pai services commence with a pick up from any hotel in Chiang Mai City. Naluang services to Huay Xai depart from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 3.

Huay Xai Bus Stop

Naluang services from Chiang Mai to Huay Xai terminate at Phetaloun Bus Station in Huay Xai.

About Travel to Huay Xai

Huay Xai is the tiny provincial capital of a remote and sparsely populated part of Northern Laos, and it is close to one of the major border crossings between Northern Laos and Thailand. The closest town on the Thai side of the border is Chiang Khong.

Boat services to Luang Prabang

Huay Xai is the place where you board the boat for one of the classic journeys on the South East Asia backpacker trail: the infamous ‘slow boat’ to Luang Prabang.

Before the opening of Luang Prabang Airport (2013) and the completion of sealed roads to Luang Prabang, not much before that, travelling by boat was one of the best ways to travel to Luang Prabang. Things have now changed even more now with the construction of a high-speed railway line, and taking a boat to Luang Prabang is the slowest and least comfortable way to travel unless you pay a lot extra for a seat on a more luxurious tour boat.

Standard boat to Luang Prabang

A local boat service from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang costs around $25 USD a person and takes 2 days to reach a ferry pier close to Luang Prabang. At the end of the first day, passengers disembark from their boat and spend the night in Pak Beng. Passengers then board the boat again in the morning for a late afternoon arrival in Luang Prabang.

The boats are basic, without glass in the windows, basic seating, a toilet and a limited range of drinks and snacks for sale on most boats.

• Book slow boat services from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang

Staying Overnight in Huay Xai

All the bus services from Chiang Mai to Huay Xai arrive in the afternoon so if you are planning to take a boat to Luang Prabang then you need to stay overnight in Huay Xai. Boat services to Luang Prabang generally depart at 09:00, although some services leave later up until around 11:30.

Huay Xai has around a dozen small hotels or guesthouses which cater to foreign visitors in so far the rooms at these places are more than simply bare walled boxes with a fan and a not particularly comfortable bed. They also have some signage and menus in English and can at least speak a little of languages other than Lao. These ‘foreigner friendly’ hotels and guesthouses are to be found on the main riverside road which runs north to south through Huay Xai.

On the same road as the foreigner friendly hotels and guesthouses are a cluster of foreigner friendly restaurants. The majority of the restaurants serve local food with a small number of ‘international’ dishes on the menu. The main exception to this is Terrasse Restaurant, which serves better than average French food.