Best Vip Bus To Bangkok

[ricklev]

Are there any any VIP buses to Bangkok similar to the Mai Sai bus that has one seat on one side and two on the other?

What is the best bus company? I guess I could buy two seats if I need to. I just don't feel like spending 10 hours with a stranger's head resting on my shoulder and the train is all booked.

Any recent experiences buying bus tickets?

Gotta get to Bangkok next week.

Thanks for your help!

[Drew Aitch]

Are there any any VIP buses to Bangkok similar to the Mai Sai bus that has one seat on one side and two on the other?

What is the best bus company? I guess I could buy two seats if I need to. I just don't feel like spending 10 hours with a stranger's head resting on my shoulder and the train is all booked.

Any recent experiences buying bus tickets?

Gotta get to Bangkok next week.

Thanks for your help!

Hi ricklev

A mate of mine who got his flights cancelled last week had to take the bus back to Bkk. I can’t remember the name of the company he booked with as there are a few. If in doubt, just ask for the First Class coach which has TV’s in the seats. They don’t have the row of single seats yet found on the left side of the Mae Sai buses (coming soon), but it’s said to be a very good ride, and at 650 Baht for one-way, it can’t get much better than that.

There will of course be other options that I’m sure members will post about, but if I were to make the trip, the TV in the seat complete with headset, would win it for me

Aitch

[StevieH]

ricklev, i've got two tickets on this saturday's overnight train to bangkok from chiang mai which are going begging if you're interested. was going to go down to the station and get a refund on them today but if you want one, PM me.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

There is a Super VIP bus (3 seats across, 24 seats total) run by the Transport Company (B.K.S.) '999' service.

Many regular VIP buses as well, e.g. Nakhon Chai Air (www.nca.co.th), Sombat Tour (www.sombattour.com), etc. (These two are pretty good).

[ricklev]

StevueH I sent you a message. Thanks

Thanks all for the excellent information. Exactly what I needed!

[Deke]

Is it possible to reserve seats on these buses a few days in advance?

I need to go to Chiang Mai on Saturday night and return to Bangkok on Tuesday night.

[StevieH]

There's an A1 overnight coach service... free sleeping pills in the free coffee, .

does the one of those not somewhat counteract the other?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Is it possible to reserve seats on these buses a few days in advance?

Yes. If you just 'reserve' (get someone to book it over the phone) then you need to show up x minutes/hours in advace to pick up the ticket. During these hectic times however I would advise you to actually BUY the ticket (i.e. go to the bus station, buy ticket for a couple days later), not just make a booking/reservation.

You typically get to select your seat on a piece of paper when buying the ticket.

[Deke]

Is it possible to reserve seats on these buses a few days in advance?

Yes. If you just 'reserve' (get someone to book it over the phone) then you need to show up x minutes/hours in advace to pick up the ticket. During these hectic times however I would advise you to actually BUY the ticket (i.e. go to the bus station, buy ticket for a couple days later), not just make a booking/reservation.

You typically get to select your seat on a piece of paper when buying the ticket.

Great. I'll probably swing by the bus station tomorrow.

[SomNamNah]

sombattour has a vip bus, with farang sized, massage seats. really quite decent.

The vip bus has 2 seats at the front on the RIGHT hand side that have a large flat area in front of them where you can stretch your legs out - sleep almost horizontally. No problem - im 6'2" ... But only these 2 seats... and when you book you cant see the flat area on the layout on screen. ie: the left hand side at the front looks the same.. but it aint... you need to reserve a few days ahead.

Edited December 1, 2008 by SomNamNah

[ajarnpim]

Got back this morning on a bus Bkk to chiang mai. Nakhon chai air. One tip they run the air con on full even when its freezing outside. Hence arctic conditions in the bus, wrap up very, very warm.

Watched the taxi boys at 5.30am in lamphun huddled around a fire and actually envied them.

[Tung_Thaid]

Booked a seat this afternoon on Nakornchai Air for Tuesday 9th December 9am departure for Bangkok from Chiang Mai - and more than half the seats already sold for that. They said that the next few days are heavily booked.

That's unusual for bus bookings - you can usually arrive an hour before a departure time and get a seat. So bookings are heavy.

Book ahead if you are able to.

[spiderman2]

<deleted> it if you people are happy to slum it on the bus so will i, anything to get out of Patts.

Hopefully it'll stop by the airport so i can pop in and slap a few for the inconvenience.

[elektrified]

Booked a seat this afternoon on Nakornchai Air for Tuesday 9th December 9am departure for Bangkok from Chiang Mai - and more than half the seats already sold for that. They said that the next few days are heavily booked.

That's unusual for bus bookings - you can usually arrive an hour before a departure time and get a seat. So bookings are heavy.

Book ahead if you are able to.

That is not at all true - in my experience at least. There have been at least two times that I can think of when I arrived 12-24 hours in advance to purchase a bus ticket and was out of luck. It may depend on the destination but don't count on arriving an hour before and getting a ticket if you have some place important to get to. My g/f (and other Thai's I know in C.M.) always buy bus tickets three days in advance.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

<deleted> it if you people are happy to slum it on the bus so will i, anything to get out of Patts.

Hopefully it'll stop by the airport so i can pop in and slap a few for the inconvenience.

Note that from Pattaya, Nakhon Chai Air run a bus all the way to Chiang Mai. While this is convenient in that you don't have to change buses at Mo Chit, it is NOT convenient for the very looooong route that bus takes, stopping at every province in between it seems and not taking the main highway #1 North. So it's actually faster to just do Roong Ruang from North Pattaya Bus Station to Mo Chit, then get a Chiang Mai bus. Then again, with buses booked full, you wouldn't want to arrive at Mo Chit without a reservation or ticket. Choose your poison.

Edited December 2, 2008 by WinnieTheKhwai

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Depends a little on the day too.. Under normal circumstances, a Tuesday morning departure requires less advance purchasing than a Friday evening departure.

[kanokk]

Are there any any VIP buses to Bangkok similar to the Mai Sai bus that has one seat on one side and two on the other?

What is the best bus company? I guess I could buy two seats if I need to. I just don't feel like spending 10 hours with a stranger's head resting on my shoulder and the train is all booked.

Any recent experiences buying bus tickets?

Gotta get to Bangkok next week.

Thanks for your help!

Hi ricklev

A mate of mine who got his flights cancelled last week had to take the bus back to Bkk. I can't remember the name of the company he booked with as there are a few. If in doubt, just ask for the First Class coach which has TV's in the seats. They don't have the row of single seats yet found on the left side of the Mae Sai buses (coming soon), but it's said to be a very good ride, and at 650 Baht for one-way, it can't get much better than that.

There will of course be other options that I'm sure members will post about, but if I were to make the trip, the TV in the seat complete with headset, would win it for me

Aitch

Dear Aitch

Do you have any information about the situation at CM airport? How messy/ crowded? My husband is arriving on this Thursday (from a re-routed China Airline flight) I wonder how long it would be for passing the imigration and get off. I worried that he might miss the bus, I booked for him for going to BKK.

Thanks

[spiderman2]

<deleted> it if you people are happy to slum it on the bus so will i, anything to get out of Patts.

Hopefully it'll stop by the airport so i can pop in and slap a few for the inconvenience.

Note that from Pattaya, Nakhon Chai Air run a bus all the way to Chiang Mai. While this is convenient in that you don't have to change buses at Mo Chit, it is NOT convenient for the very looooong route that bus takes, stopping at every province in between it seems and not taking the main highway #1 North. So it's actually faster to just do Roong Ruang from North Pattaya Bus Station to Mo Chit, then get a Chiang Mai bus. Then again, with buses booked full, you wouldn't want to arrive at Mo Chit without a reservation or ticket. Choose your poison.

Thanks WinnieTheKhwai, reckon i may stop in BKK tomorrow night.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Do you have any information about the situation at CM airport? How messy/ crowded? My husband is arriving on this Thursday (from a re-routed China Airline flight) I wonder how long it would be for passing the imigration and get off. I worried that he might miss the bus, I booked for him for going to BKK.

I feel very qualified to answer that.

-> Yesterday I dropped off some friends to go on the China Airlines flight DEPARTING from Chiang Mai to AMS. It was very busy at the airport. I dropped them off at midnight, and at 2:30am or so I got a text message saying they successfully got their boarding pass. Flight left at 04:14am.

-> This mornign another friend ARRIVED in Chiang Mai from England, via Amsterdam on the China Airlines flight. His flight arrived 20 minutes early at 06:48am, then he called me at 7:30am with a taxi related question (no meter taxis he said, 200 baht into town), so that means he already cleared immigration and got his bags by then, so in just half an hour or so.

Edited December 3, 2008 by WinnieTheKhwai

[PeaceBlondie]

999 is a good VIP bus run to Mochit from Chiang Mai. It took me years to convince my partner that they made reservations more than a day in advance. You get a free meal ticket to redeem en route.