Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen

By bus the journey Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen is scheduled to take from 11 hours 15 minutes to 12 hours 30 minutes depending upon which service you take.

Bus Times from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen

There are currently 6 services a day from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen available to book online.

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Chiang Mai Bus Station

Phet Prasert bus services from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen depart from Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 3.

Khon Kaen Bus Station

Phet Prasert bus services from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen terminate at Khon Kaen Bus Terminal 3.

About Travel to Khon Kaen

Travelling via the shortest route it’s a 645 km journey from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen. The route involves travelling south east through the Wiang Kosai National Park as far as Phitsanulok, then veering eastward through Lomsak and the Nam Nao National Park before finally arriving in Khon Kaen. The scenery on route is in interesting and the trip is worth doing during the daytime so you can enjoy the view.

Arrival in Khon Kaen

Khon Kaen Bus Terminal 3 is the city’s long distance bus station and the arrival point for services from Chiang Mai. Khon Kaen bus Terminal 3 is located over 7 km from the city centre. There are shared taxi services operating from Khon Kaen Bus Terminal 3 to Khon Kaen city centre. There are also meter taxi services available and the journey into the city by meter taxi will cost around 100 THB depending on your destination.

Staying in Khon Kaen

Khon Kaen is a large city with over 100,000 people living in the city centre. In addition to the city’s permanent residents there is also a large community of students enrolled in Khon Kaen University, and other nearby educational facilities, and a steady stream of people coming to the city for work related reasons. Khon Kaen does not, however, attract many tourists.

The most popular part of the city for tourists is the area around the Pullman Khon Kaen Hotel. On all four sides of the Pullman Khon Kaen Hotel there are shops, bars and restaurants which get busy in the evenings and weekends. Close to the Kosa Hotel, on the north east corner of the Pullman Khon Kaen, is a small cluster of bars and restaurants which cater specifically to foreign visitors.

Places to Visit in Khon Kaen

Khon Kaen City itself has no major tourist attractions, although the city is a transit point for visiting some of Thailand’s major natural attractions such as the Ubolratana Dam, Phu Wiang National Park and Phu Kradueng National Park.

In terms of places to visit in the city, the city has 5 main minor tourist attractions, all of which you could easily visit in a single day:

• Wat Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon: This city centre temple features an ornate 9 storey pagoda which, along with the Pullman Khon Kaen Hotel, is one of Khon Kaen’s most iconic buildings.
• Khon Kaen National Museum: An above average provincial museum displaying archaeological finds from the local area and across the north eastern region of Thailand.
• Wat Chai Si: A smaller older temple with a series of notable wall murals and a small local history museum.
• Bueng Kaen Nakhon: Khon Kaen’s city centre park and lake.
• Chao Por Lak Muang: The Chao Por Lak Muang is Khon Kaen’s city pillar shrine. Many cities in Thailand have a city pillar shrine and the one is Khon Kaen is a particularly good example of this type of building.