i'll be bicycling through cambodia, re-entering thailand at hat lek. would like

to take a bus back to chiang mai.

i've found there is a direct bus (nakhonchai air) from rayong, ~12hrs.

but whereabouts is the bus terminal in rayong?

and when do the buses depart?

more convenienter would be a direct bus from trat or chantaburi to chiang mai

without changing buses in bangkok. possible?

Edited February 20, 201016 yr by ChouDoufu

> whereabouts is the bus terminal in rayong?

Just down the soi from the main Rayong bus terminal. For some reason Nakhaon Chai Air terminals are a stone's throw from the main bus station instead of inside it. Don't know why but this is the case everywhere.

I don't think they have a direct bus from Trat or Chanthaburi. In fact, while a direct bus may seem attractive, keep in mind that this bus WILL stop in a whole lot of places in between. This as opposed to the Bangkok bound buses which stop just once for food.

So it's actually faster to connect in Bangkok. (Also chances are that a Trat -> Rayong bus will take the slow route compared to a Trat->Bangkok bus) And as you're connecting anyway coming from Cambodia, the fastest connection by far will be Bangkok. This will be fastest, and gives you the biggest choice of good (VIP or Super VIP) buses, so it's also more convenient. The main thing though when taking a bus to Bangkok is that it's a 'direct' 'motorway' bus to Mo Chit terminal. NOT a slow one and NOT to Ekamai.

Because at Mo Chit you can connect to a Chiang Mai VIP bus at the same terminal. (Walk to the departure terminal building)

Edited February 21, 201016 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Yes there is a buss (NCA VIP) from Rayong to Chiang Mai. Great service. Last year it was about 780 baht from CM to Pattaya. Here is there website and phone numbers.

http://primia.net/thaibus/

NCA by passes Bangkok and the trip should be about 12 hours

Edited February 21, 201016 yr by gotlost

If you don't get dropped off at the terminal in Rayong it is in the same area as the Star Hotel or Star Plaza, which is effectively behind Tesco. The bus terminal is in the North/East corner down past the "old" Star hotel.

The "other" bus company office is down the street past the 7/11 towards Sukhumvit. One company is on one side of the street the other on the opposite side.

Sorry I can't be more specific. All I know for sure is the bus Rayong-BKK leaves from the office on the same side as 7/11 which is on the corner opposition the old Star Hotel.