Sukhothai to Chiang Mai: bus options (2026)

3 ways to make this trip, from ฿250 one way, and 5h–6h on the quickest, direct. Below: what each costs, who runs it, how often it goes and the pier or station it actually leaves from.

Fares checked 7 September 2026 and quoted as one-way bands per adult. They move with season, fuel and demand — the flight bands move fastest of all.

Our pick for time

Bus

5h–6h · ฿250–฿450 · Win Tour, Green Bus

Our pick for budget

Bus

฿250–฿450 · 5h–6h · Win Tour, Green Bus

Same option twice: on this pair the quickest way is also the cheapest, which is rarer than it sounds — it usually means one operator has the route to itself.

All options

Sukhothai to Chiang Mai: every option with mode, time, fare, operators and frequency
Option	Time	Fare	Operators	How often	Change
Bus	5h–6h	฿250–฿450	Win Tour, Green Bus	Several departures a day, concentrated in the morning	Direct
Bus + Flight	8h45–13h20	฿1,400–฿4,400	Win Tour, Khao San Tara Tour, Tour with Thai, Thai AirAsia, Thai Vietjet, Nok Air, Thai Airways, Thai Lion Air	Departures roughly 07:00–19:00 from Mo Chit · Roughly 25–30 departures a day split between Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi	via Bangkok
Bus + Bus	17h15–24h30	฿850–฿1,800	Win Tour, Khao San Tara Tour, Tour with Thai, Sombat Tour, Nakhonchai Air, Sritawong Tour	Departures roughly 07:00–19:00 from Mo Chit · Departures through the day and evening from Mo Chit (Northern Terminal)	via Bangkok

Booking notes

Bus · 5h–6h · ฿250–฿450

This is the leg that makes Sukhothai worth a stop rather than a detour: it breaks the Bangkok–Chiang Mai run in half instead of adding to it.

Bus + Flight · 8h45–13h20 · ฿1,400–฿4,400

Sukhothai → Bangkok: 369km. The ruins sit 12km outside the modern town, so budget a songthaew or a rented bicycle at the far end before calling the journey done.

Bangkok → Chiang Mai: The flight is 75 minutes and the airport transfers either side are longer than that, so the real saving over the sleeper is about half a day, not eleven hours. Bands move sharply around Songkran and Loy Krathong.

Bus + Bus · 17h15–24h30 · ฿850–฿1,800

Sukhothai → Bangkok: 369km. The ruins sit 12km outside the modern town, so budget a songthaew or a rented bicycle at the far end before calling the journey done.

Bangkok → Chiang Mai: VIP 24-seat coaches sit at the top of the band, 32- and 40-seat services at the bottom. The overnight bus arrives earlier than the train but sleeps worse.

Both ends of the trip

Sukhothai

The 13th-century capital's ruins, quieter and more spread out than Ayutthaya's.

Airport THS: Privately run and served by Bangkok Airways only, which is why the bus carries most visitors.

Chiang Mai

The northern hub: temples, cooking schools and the road to Pai and the hills.

Airport CNX: 10 minutes from the old city; the busiest domestic route in the country runs here from Bangkok.

Chiang Mai is driest Nov–Apr and wettest May–Oct on its own monthly rain-day normals.

Chiang Mai weather Chiang Mai guide

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get from Sukhothai to Chiang Mai?

5h–6h on the quickest option we hold — bus with Win Tour. The slowest of the 3 options here takes 17h15–24h30, so the spread between them is about 15h23. Times are for the scheduled leg and exclude the transfer at either end.

How much is Sukhothai to Chiang Mai?

From ฿250–฿450 one way by bus, checked 7 September 2026 — and on this pair that is also the quickest way, so there is nothing to trade off. The dearest of the 3 options here runs to ฿1,400–฿4,400. That band comes from a dated route listing rather than a published tariff, so treat it as indicative.

What else runs between Sukhothai and Chiang Mai?

2 other options. The next one after bus with Win Tour is bus + flight with Win Tour at ฿1,400–฿4,400 and 8h45–13h20, changing at Bangkok — dearer and slower. All of them are in the table above with their operators and frequency.

Where does the Sukhothai to Chiang Mai service leave from, and how often does it run?

This is the leg that makes Sukhothai worth a stop rather than a detour: it breaks the Bangkok–Chiang Mai run in half instead of adding to it. Several departures a day, concentrated in the morning.

Going the other way, or further

The return trip is on the Chiang Mai to Sukhothai page — fares are the same in both directions on almost every leg here, but the timetables are not. To string this hop into a longer trip with a pace check, use the route planner, and see the island comparison for which coast is dry in the month you are travelling.

Elephant tourism concentrates at this end of the country, and a riding camp with a new name looks the same in a listing as a genuine one. Ethical elephant sanctuaries checks 16 sourced venues against what actually happens on the visit.

Sources

12go.asia route listings (band from what was on sale, not a tariff) — aggregator listings, not a published tariff.
Bookaway Bangkok–Sukhothai route listings — aggregator listings, not a published tariff.
Bookaway Bangkok–Chiang Mai route listings — aggregator listings, not a published tariff.

Checked 7 September 2026. Every figure on this page is a range, because every one of them moves.

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