I live in Hua Hin, and near Soi 96, on the main road which runs through town, there is a small bus station. I have noticed there is often a large coach, which has written down the side of the bus : Chiang Mai - Hua Hin.

 

I have driven from Chiang Rai to Hua Hin - reasonably good roads most all of the way. To avoid driving at night, I broke the journey and did a sleep over in Nakhon Sawan. The most direct route from Chiang Rai to Hua Hin is almost a straight line, and there is no need to go any where near the potentially confusing spaghetti of ring roads and overpasses around Bangkok.

 

Done HH to Khon Kaen many times so I can vouch for the good roads on that section. Can't vouch for the bampots who drive on them though!!

 

Time it so you miss the rush hour(s) in Bangkok if you can.

 

Edited June 8, 20188 yr by a10ams

Short answer is the roads are excellent. At least they are down as far as Bangkok, and since Hua Hin is such a popular destination I would presume the road from Bangkok to Hua Hin are, too.

This is an interesting thread.

 

I haven't done this run for many years but intend to soon. How are the speed limits/police traps these days?

22 hours ago, pontious said:

Kan Air do not fly anywhere.

555 kan air do not fly anymore. 

 

Check out the dust at their defunct booth at CNX. 

 

I did the route in Oct last year by somchat? Tour bus from arcade last year. 

 

I learnt it was slightly more expensive than the other companies,  but the quality of driving was good. 

Overnight bus around 7pm I think,  break around midnight for a full fledged buffet. Well worth the money. 

I have done the Hua Hin to Chiang Mai once. Spent the night in Kanchanaburi then spent another night then on up to CM. Really in a car it is no problem at all, I have made the trip to Kanchanaburi from CM half a dozen times in the car and on a motorbike. From Kanchanaburi it is only about 3 to 4 hours to Cha Am the roads are not bad. From CM to Kanachanaburi the roads are great most of the work on the Number 1 highway is complete only a few areas of construction and that was in Feb.. I would recommend a nice normal road map of Thailand there are a few to be had, you get a better understanding of where you are going instead of a small view of the road. Drive it not a bad drive I did the Kanchanaburi to CM trip last time in a about 8 and a half hours. But I had the pedal to the metal. I take highway one to the Chai Nat cut off then pick up the 1140 to SuphanBuri then go west to Kanchanaburi. Just get a good road map and you can figure it out. Out side of Kan. is the turn off to Cha Am and you avoid some of the 4 highway. It is not a bad drive the roads are a 8 majority of time.

4 hours ago, tompelli said:

I recently drove HH to Nakhon Sawan (using Here app). Straight to Ratchaburi, miss Bangkok all together 3238, 3526, 321 all quieter roads mostly running alongside a canal beware of unobserved crossroads. Heading towards Chai Nat, joins on to AH1 the main highway north. That would be enough for one days driving, many motels/resorts on the way so overnight & take it from there....around 6.5 hours to Nakhon Sawan, good luck.

Yes that is spot on I do not understand people talking about Bangkok when you do not even have to get close to the city to make this trip

1 hour ago, Acharn said:

Short answer is the roads are excellent. At least they are down as far as Bangkok, and since Hua Hin is such a popular destination I would presume the road from Bangkok to Hua Hin are, too.

no need to go to Bangkok to get to Cha Am from CM

22 hours ago, pontious said:

I agree - if you are not time restricted just head south and when tired or bored just stop at a hotel. Sticking to times etc is not a good idea. Do you have GPS?

Agree. I did CM to Surat Thani last November. Avoided Bkk by going past Chainat and Nakorn Prathom. That puts you on Hwy 4 far west of Bkk. After about ten hours of driving,  we stopped at a little "resort" among some rice fields in Rajburi. Dogs barked all night. Slow going through Nakorn P for about 20 minutes, because the highways going through there are city streets. I don't relish the idea of being on Hwy 4 and its tributaries in the dark with idiots doing 100+ kph and iffy lights.

58 minutes ago, Antonymous said:

This is an interesting thread.

 

I haven't done this run for many years but intend to soon. How are the speed limits/police traps these days?

They have a lot of highway cameras set up now along the highway, they do warn you and if they are working youwill get a ticket in the mail. Between CM and and Kan. there is probably about 4 road blocks and of course you will have the temporary ones set up. Driven and road the bike many times from CM to Kan. and to Bangkok never really a problem. 

On 6/7/2018 at 6:20 PM, Dazinoz said:

Sheet!!. Looks like I am in trouble.

 

Get my trusted iPad navigation aid out I guess.

I have made the drive a few times as I like taking my time, visiting Bangkok on the way to and fro. But I am retired in Chiang Mai and so make break the trip up. First drive Nakon Sawan, then Bangkok to shop/eye hospital/ the sites. I have my iPhone on GPS around Bangkok. Find the roads very fine except where they are resurfacing and so one lane detours for a few miles. I enjoy driving so not an issue.

On 6/7/2018 at 6:20 PM, Dazinoz said:

Sheet!!. Looks like I am in trouble.

 

Get my trusted iPad navigation aid out I guess.

I have made the drive a few times as I like taking my time, visiting Bangkok on the way to and fro. But I am retired in Chiang Mai and so make break the trip up. First drive Nakon Sawan, then Bangkok to shop/eye hospital/ the sites. I have my iPhone on GPS around Bangkok. Find the roads very fine except where they are resurfacing and so one lane detours for a few miles. I enjoy driving so not an issue.

When someone asks about driving a route it’s generally because that’s what they want to do. So why do people say “why not fly” or “why not go by bus”!

5 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

When someone asks about driving a route it’s generally because that’s what they want to do. So why do people say “why not fly” or “why not go by bus”!

Agree

 

Ok, I did the trip over the last week.  I went from Chiang Mai to Chai Nat the first day just over 500k. Actually good drive and people were well behaved. Just a few lead foots mainly in pickups.

 

Second day drove to Hua Hin via Suphan Buri and Ratchaburi. Not a bad road but a lot more lead foots approaching Bangkok area. There were a lot of police check points, about 10 in all but only 2 manned and only 1 wanted to see drivers license.

 

I came back via route 4 then 9 to Ang Thong. Next day to Chiang Mai. Reasonable amount roadworks going on but not too much delay.

 

I was impressed at the general good behaviour of the drivers. No speeding/weaving mini buses, trucks good and most cars good too, just the lead footed pickup drivers.

 

The worst incident I saw in solved me. I was in the middle lane of a 3 lane highway. A hotted up pickup was following a few meters behind. There was no one in the right fast lane and could have easily overtaken if he had wanted but stayed behind me. I came up behind some slow moving traffic so indicated and went into the fast right lane. That must have triggered something in him. Instantly he sped up, into the right lane and sat literally inches from my bumper. When i past the slower traffic I moved back into the middle lane. He shot past me then immediately shot across the three lanes and in front of me to get into a servo he obviously nearly missed. Nearly flipped the pickup in the process.

 

Al in all was a good trip.