Most travellers are probably familiar with the warning appearing over and over again in guidebooks and travel websites that it is not advisable and not safe to take tourist buses in Thailand. Certainly it is always a very easy option to walk into the first travel agency on Khao San road and buy a ticket for the 6 p.m. coach to Chiang Mai - only to find out that the 9 to 10-hour journey takes 14 instead in a deep-frozen rickety bus, you are dumped well outside town and left at the mercy of vultures disguised as taxi drivers, and on arriving in your guesthouse, you find your backpack ransacked and some of your better clothes and valuables missing. Such stories still abound in travel blogs.

So, what is the alternative?

White and blue buses of government-approved transportation companies ply the routes of the Kingdom at all hours of day and night, transporting tens of thousands of people every day. Services are usually very reliable, prices are fixed, robberies are unheard of. Yes, there are news of accidents every month or so, buses overturning on mountain highways at night, people getting killed, the driver, if he survives, invariably running away. There are news of poor maintenance and long hours for drivers and drivers falling asleep. No, it is not perfect. But I think it is still the best you can get around here.

So, what is the catch if I think you are much better off taking government buses? - You need to know exactly what you are doing. It is easy once you get the hang of it.

First of all, you need to find the right kind of bus to your destination.

For longer trips over 8 hours or so, such as Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Krabi, Phuket, Nong Khai, Ubon, or the deep south, especially if you are travelling overnight, I recommend that you take VIP class or first class. VIPs are 24 or 32 seaters, and you can get a very comfortable night's sleep in the reclining, wide seats. First class has 40 seats and it is still adequate enough for a long trip or an overnight journey, seats are reclining and there are leg rests as well. It is a good alternative to flying or if sleeper trains are full. As an example, the ticket prices on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route (700 kms, 9 to 10 hours) are 805 and 605 baht respectively for VIP24 and VIP32, and 518 baht for first class. Most buses on long-distance routes will be first class, with one VIP departure in the morning and one in the evening only.

First class sleepers ready to leave for Southern Thailand



Both in VIP and first class, the ticket price usually includes a meal halfway through, often in the small hours of the morning. The food is invariably inedible - watery rice soup (jok), foul smelling eggs, pickles, dried sweet meat. But of course you don't need to eat it if you are not into it, or you can buy food for yourself. There are pillows and blankets in the bus, and an attendant who wakes you up at your stop, no need to worry you oversleep. For a couple of hours, you will be listening to either luk thung (folk-pop) karaoke CDs or violent action movies full of screams. Passengers are 95% Thai, usually very quiet, even if they have small children with them, they sleep through the night.

For shorter trips lasting less than 6 hours, such as Chiang Mai to Sukhothai, Bangkok to Trat, or Phuket to Khao Sok, a second class bus is the most widely available option. Leg room is limited but it is nevertheless comfortable, the buses are air-conditioned as well. Unless there are no first class buses, you are mazochistic, or super small size, don't try to survive a 10-hour ride in second class, you will regret it - it is very much like travelling in economy class in a cramped airplane, and you can only save 20% compared to first class. These buses usually stop halfway as well at roadside canteens or stalls where you can buy your own meal. The ticket price includes a coke or a water, sometimes a snack and a refreshing towel are handed out.

A second class bus in Udon Thani - far away from the tourist routes, all signs are in Thai only.



Third class buses are not air conditioned, open windows provide ventillation. Usually they run on shorter routes such as Krabi to Trang, Phuket to Khao Lak, or Chiang Mai to Pai. They are not necessarily white and blue in colour, red and grey or orange are two frequent colourings. These buses are perfect alternative to overpriced cramped minivans usually offered to tourists on short routes. You can get unexpected companions in the shape of a crate of chicken, there are food vendors pushing on the bus at every stop, and, generally speaking, lots of local culture. It is a fun way to spend an hour or two getting from one place to another. These buses usually take local roads and will pick up or drop off passengers anywhere, and of course pack the bus more than full if there are lots of passengers heading their way.

A third class bus at Phang Nga bus station.



Sounds good? Unfortunately, there is a catch. The biggest problem is that bus terminals are usually on the outskirts of towns and cities, and you need to rely on local public transport (songthaews or taxis) just to get there and find out about the schedule and get a ticket in advance.

How to travel by bus in Thailand 2.

Once you made a decision to be brave and break away from the perceived safety of a convenient tourist bus coming with pickup from your hotel or guesthouse, you will need to figure out how to get to the bus station and how to buy the right ticket.

The most important thing is that prices are fixed for all routes, so, no need to shop around the counters of different companies for a better deal, you merely need to find the right departure time and class for your needs. Cashiers and touts are usually quite good at pointing you at the right directions if you are confused, there is no need to be paranoid or feel cheated. If you are upcountry, it will be assumed you are heading for Bangkok. Counters usually only have signs in Thai, but on a large cardboard sign, they usually display their next departure time, so it is easy to make comparisons between fifteen competing companies. Cashiers speak enough English to sell you tickets for the class and time you ask for; however, if you are buying in advance, it is better to write down the required date and time just to make sure.

Ok, this is a tough one - bus schedule in Udon Thani



Bangkok is the most difficult. Absolutely no travel agencies would sell you tickets to government buses; they would even laugh at you and pressure you very hard to buy a ticket to a tourist bus. Then, new arrivals will be easy preys for scams like dropping people off in Surat Thani instead of Ko Samui or Krabi. Your best bet is just to turn up at the bus station. Buses leave at all hours to major long-distance destinations such as Phuket, Surat Thani and Chiang Mai. With other destinations, such as Krabi or Nong Khai, departures are early in the morning (6 to 8) and in the evening (6 to 9), with no or very few buses in between. For destinations that do not require a full day or full night or travel, such as Kanchanaburi or Trat, buses usually leave at regular intervals during the day (every 30, 60 or 90 minutes), but there are no overnight buses. Even if you check out the schedules online (e.g. at http://www.transport.co.th ) or call and ask ahead on the very same day, the actual departures are going to be different from what you were told. If there are lots of passengers, extra buses are added to the schedule. Unless it is a long weekend or a holidays, when seats are all sold out well in advance, you could simply go to the bus station and you will get a ticket for a bus leaving within two hours. It sounds slightly crazy to make the long way out to the bus station and merely hope you can get a ticket, but it has always worked for me in years of travelling thousands of kilometres.

In Bangkok, you need to know which of the three major bus stations to go to. The Northern bus station, or Mo Chit, serves Northern and Northeastern Thailand; it also has a number of buses to Trat and Pattaya on the Eastern seaboard. It is a HUGE bus station, with hundreds of counters and stands where buses leave from and arrive at all hours of the day and night. Unfortunately, it is not within walking distance of Mo Chit metro station, definitely not if you are carrying a lot of luggage or have no idea which way to head. You can get a taxi from the centre for about 120-140 baht, or take the metro to Mo Chit station and take a taxi from there. The taxi very conveniently drops you off right in front of the counters of bus companies going to Chiang Mai, the most important destination in the north. There is an air-conditioned waiting hall with restaurants, convenience stores, bookshop, left luggage service, shops. It is an overwhelming, confusing place to enter, with thousands of people, signs mostly in Thai: you might have the impulse to run away. However, there is an information counter where you can ask the counter number to your destination, and as there are very few foreigners in the crowd, cashiers easily spot them from a distance and show them which counter to go to.

Anything may happen at Mo Chit bus station! - Can you find out what class this bus is?



The Eastern or Ekamai bus station serves destinations on the Eastern seaboard, including Trat (for Ko Chang), Ban Phe (for Ko Samet), Rayong and Pattaya. Buses to Aranya Prathet, however, leave from the Northern bus station! This is a small, run-down bus station with only a handful of counters and stands. There are food shops and a 7-eleven, but no air-conditioned waiting area. The biggest advantage of this place is that it is right next to Ekamai skytrain station, almost in the centre of Bangkok (a 130-baht taxi ride from Khao San road though). Lots of tourists heading for the beaches in the east actually do make the effort to come here.

The Southern bus station, or Sai Tai, was relocated to a new spot in late 2007. Anyone who was familiar with the old location must agree that it was a nightmare, with potholes deep enough to swallow up double-deckers and traffic jams in the taxi queue even at 2 a.m. Its current location is on Borommaratchachonnani road, at the intersection with Phutthamonthon Sai1, far enough from central Bangkok not to be on any map. For Google Earth enthusiasts, here are the coordinates: 13°46'50.00"N, 100°25'35.01"E Now, this one is very difficult to get to, you definitely need a 200-baht taxi ride. This bus station serves the south, including Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi, Hat Yai, Hua Hin, as well as the popular destinations of Damnoen Saduak and Kanchanaburi in the west. The huge bus station complex contains a food court (8 a.m. to 9 p.m.), KFC, McDonald's, bag deposit service (5 a.m. to 9 p.m, 20 to 60 baht), internet cafe, bookshop, massage shop, and several shops selling all sorts of goods ranging from gold to fishing rods. It is easy to while away an hour or two waiting for your bus to leave.

In Chiang Mai, the bus station is a 30 or 40 baht taxi ride, or 10 minutes from the centre. Buses to Bangkok leave throughout the day, until 11 p.m. at night, with two peaks: there are literally dozens of buses leaving in the morning and in the evening, when cashiers will be competing to sell you a ticket (unless it is a holiday!) There are also buses to Chiang Rai, Pai, Sukhothai, Mae Hong Son and Lamphun at regular intervals. To Udon Thani, there are buses in the morning and in the evening only. I think in Chiang Mai, it is easy to opt for a government bus instead of a tourist bus. I have read and heard reports of tourist buses making the 9 to 10 hour journey in 14 hours because they included market detours! And I would not try to save 100 baht for the privilege of being stuffed into a 48-seater instead of the promised VIP bus.

In Surat Thani, all buses to Bangkok leave in the morning or in the evening. There is a peak between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., with about a dozen sleepers heading for Bangkok. The only problem is that they arrive before 5 a.m., or, rather, maybe it is not such a big problem because you can catch a taxi to your hotel in Bangkok before the morning traffic jam. The bus station is outside town, accessible by local taxi (songthaew). The tourist bus station is in the city centre, of course, making very strong competition: I have never seen any other foreigner at this bus station.

In Krabi, the bus station is 4 kms from the centre, a fixed-price 20 baht songthaew ride. All the night buses to Bangkok leave between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., the same time as tourist buses, with one big difference: you do not need to change buses in Surat Thani and wait around for hours. The only bus company running buses to Bangkok has an office in town, opposite the market. In addition, it is easy to get from Krabi to Phuket, Phang Nga, Surat Thani or Trang by second or third class buses, there are several departures a day.

Amazing view on the way from Krabi to Phang Nga - from the open door of the bus!



In Phuket, the bus station is in the centre of Phuket town. Local taxis mounted on large trucks instead of the small pickups get to the bus station from the beaches for 30 baht - instead of the crazy 400 baht or so quoted by the taxi drivers. As usually, most departures are in the morning and after sunset.

In some smaller towns such as Trat, Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, bus stations have been relocated outside town. There are always regular fixed price taxis to bus stations: ask at your guesthouse or hotel. When there are fewer tourists to hunt for, receptionists and agencies are more willing to tell you about government buses and sell you tickets as well. Small towns such as these are very easy to arrive at or get away from using government buses.

I think it is maybe too many details now :-) If you have questions, do ask at http://www.thailandqa.com/forum , somebody will surely be able to help you.

Generally speaking, I would advise you to go for it: when travelling around in Thailand, it usually looks more confusing than it turns out to be in the end. If the above photos do not absolutely scare you away, you can definitely do it.

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