Phrae

Getting there and away

Train

There are two stops on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai railway in the province of Phrae, the closest being in the city of Den Chai. Transport between Phrae and Den Chai is fairly easy to come by, and can be found in various parts of the city. If you go to the bus station and mention Den Chai, several drivers shall be more than happy to lead you to their songthaew; rates will depend on the number of other passengers, but a seat on a full one should cost you about 50 baht.

We were also told that there is a stop on Yantrakit Koson about 400-500 metres south of the intersection with Charoen Mueang, with similar costs, but we were unable to confirm this.

Coming from Den Chai, similar transport can be arranged. There is also a minibus that leaves from the Den Chai bus station every 40 minutes and passes through Phrae enroute to Chiang Rai.

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Bus

Phrae lies on several different well-travelled routes through northern Thailand and beyond. As such, transport is fairly cheap, accessible and frequent from the city’s bus station located in the northeast part of town. Nearly all the signs in the bus station are written in Thai, but as long as you know where you want to go, getting there will be relatively easy and convenient.

Chiang Mai (route includes Lampang and Lamphun): Departs 06:00, 08:00, 09:00, 09:20, 09:55, 10:40, 11:10, 12:25, 14:20, 16:40, 17:00, 17:50, 18:40, 00:00, takes about 4 hours and costs 176 baht.

Bangkok: Departs 09:30, 10:00, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 18:30, 20:30, 20:45, 21:45, takes about 8 hours and costs 320-650 baht.

Chiang Rai (route includes Phayao and sometimes Mae Sai): Departs 10.00, 11:20, 12:45, 13:45, 14:30, 15:30

Minibus to Chiang Rai/Phayao: Departs every 40 minutes from 06:00 to 18:40 and takes about 4 hours.

Nan: Departs every hour (mostly on the half-hour) from 10:30 to 21:30, and 1:30 and takes about 3 hours.

Sukhothai: Departs 11:20, 13:20, 14:20 and takes about 3 hours.

Phitsanulok: Departs 06:00, 08:00, 09:30, 09:45, 11:45, 12:30, 13:00, 14:30, 15:30, 15:45, 18:00, 19:15 and takes about 4 hours (can also be reached on most routes to Bangkok).