TOP SECRET: routes/times for air-con 15 baht local bus service!

[Asiantravel]

Thanks for the update Chris.

Call me sceptical, but it appears to me that they want it to fail. Or somebody wants it to fail.

Why not more (any) info in English. It's crazy.

" but it appears to me that they want it to fail "

I really don’t agree with your assessment. Why?

Because I have seen this kind of thing happen before more than 10 years ago when Don Muang airport in Bangkok was still the only international airport functioning and before Suvarnabhumi Airport opened.

It took me ages to become aware of the A1, A2, A3 buses in those days because they were hidden well away from the entrances from the international arrivals hall. It was never widely publicised to foreigners arriving at the airport and I can remember well that it took a lot of questioning and determination to find out where they stopped although it was quite evident they didn’t really want me to have information as a foreigner.I think it's better now but I often wondered at that time whether it was the taxi drivers Mafia that were deliberately keeping it low key.

I noticed they have put up quite a large sign at Arcade bus station advertising the B1 and B2 buses which is positioned directly above the taxi rank but yes again it all in Thai with nothing in English (see photo below). Maybe it’s just poor marketing.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Asiantravel

[Cpkt8]

http://www.tnamcot.com/content/452850

What's this about? Red Color bus in Chiang Mai?

[Chris Pirazzi]

http://www.tnamcot.com/content/452850

What's this about? Red Color bus in Chiang Mai?

HA! Yet another new bus. Doesn't seem to be included in the "Chaingmaibus" naming system.

It says:

รถเมล์ปรับอากาศ สาย ปอ.10 เป็นรถโดยสารขนาด 21 ที่นั่ง

21-seat aircon bus number ปอ.10 (po #10)

เส้นทางเริ่มต้นจากหมู่บ้านขวัญเวียง อำเภอหางดง

route starts in Kwan Wiang village in Hang Dong

เข้าไปยังรอบตัวเมืองเชียงใหม่

and goes around central Chiang Mai

ผ่านท่าอากาศยานนานาชาติเชียงใหม่

passing Chiang Mai Airport

ห้างสรรพสินค้า

Department store(s) (but they don't say which one(s) and it's not necessarily Airport Plaza)

เส้นทางรอบคูเมือง

Going around the old city (moat)

ตลาดวโรรส

Warorot market

ผ่านถนนช้างคลาน

Chang Klan road

ถนนศรีดอนไชย

Sri Don Chai road

ตลาดประตูเชียงใหม่

Chiang Mai Gate Market

ไปวนท่าอากาศยานนานาชาติเชียงใหม่

Chiang Mai Airport

และถนนสายเชียงใหม่-หางดง

Chiang Mai-Hang Dong road

กลับหมู่บ้านขวัญเวียง

then back to Kwan Wiang village (Hang Dong)

ตลอดเส้นทางคิดค่าบริการ 20 บาท

20 B for any trip

ส่วนนักเรียนนักศึกษาในเครื่องแบบและพระสงฆ์ ค่าบริการ 15 บาท

uniformed students and monks 15B

รถออกทุก 10 นาที

leaving every 10 minutes

เบื้องต้นมีรถให้บริการ 8 คัน

initially there are 8 buses

ให้บริการตั้งแต่เวลา 05.30 น. จนถึง 22.00 น.ทุกวัน

with daily service from 5:30am to 22:00pm

ทั้งนี้ เพื่อเป็นการอำนวยความสะดวกให้กับประชาชนและนักท่องเที่ยว ลดการใช้รถยนต์ส่วนตัว หวังลดปัญหาการจราจรติดขัด และลดมลพิษ หากประชาชนและนักท่องเที่ยวให้ความสนใจใช้บริการเพิ่มมากขึ้น ก็จะเพิ่มเที่ยวรถอีก โดยจะออกทุก 5 นาที.

... bla bla bla ... and if people and tourists show interest they will increase the frequency to every 5 minutes.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

^ And they stop at 10pm....

I don't need it to be every 10 minutes either. Every hour would be fine, but I do want one at 11pm, midnight and 1am.

[Mapguy]

^ And they stop at 10pm....

I don't need it to be every 10 minutes either. Every hour would be fine, but I do want one at 11pm, midnight and 1am.

You got to see mama every night, or you can't see mama at all!

Got to see mama and treat her right, or...

[Cpkt8]

There are enough transport that covers central Chiang Mai and airport. Why aren't there any to cover outskirt of the city area like Chiang Mai international convention centre? Even every 2/3 hours is good.

[Konini]

There are enough transport that covers central Chiang Mai and airport. Why aren't there any to cover outskirt of the city area like Chiang Mai international convention centre? Even every 2/3 hours is good.

I really think that this is a business opportunity waiting to happen. If someone established a regular town and back route, even if only 3 or 4 times a day, as long as they were reliable and kept to the times advertised, they would make a killing.

There are a lot of people living in that area now, not everybody drives, and maybe with a bit of patience until people could see it was reliable, it would do good business in my humble opinion.

[ravelkuan]

Do you have any information about Red Color bus? ..or official site??

[Tywais]

Do you have any information about Red Color bus? ..or official site??

The text on the front says Bahn Kwan Wiang which is the Kwan Wiang bus route aka Bus Route 10. I used to live there and years ago they had a bus service that ran from there so looks like it is starting up again. Here are a few articles, in Thai, of the service. There will be 8 buses, 20 Baht, running 05:30 to 22:00. BTW, the original contract for the Kwan Wiang service was 2539-2551 and that is the time frame I remember them running in that moo bahn.

Khwanwiang Transport - https://www.facebook.com/KhwanwaingTransport/?fref=ts

http://www.chiangmainews.co.th/page/archives/477187

http://www.chiangmainews.co.th/page/archives/476129

https://www.facebook.com/chiangmaicityupdate/

[Chris Pirazzi]

Thanks for the links, Tywais! The map and links you provided are for the same service whose announcement http://www.tnamcot.com/content/452850 I translated a few posts up.

Looks like the Kwan Wiang bus folks are quite a bit more with-it in terms of publishing a route and even having English and Chinese. Let's see how well they stick to it.

It's very cool that there seem to be more and more public transport options now.

I just added a mention of the Kwan Wiang red bus, along with pictures of all vehicles, to help avoid confusing in our ever-expanding field of choices:

http://slice-of-thai.com/cmbus/

[Konini]

Let's hope it continues.

From other public and private threads though, a business opportunity waiting to happen is somebody running a round trip service from Canal Road to town. There are so many condo's and housing estates out there now, I've joked that if we had a business visa I'd put Mr K to work. All it would take is a little patience. Once all of the people who live in those condo's and moo baans know that there is a reliable service that goes at the advertised times, even if only a couple of times a day, would make a killing. Many people out there don't drive. Many wives of Japanese or Korean workers for example. They would prefer to use a cheaper songtaew or minibus service rather than private drivers. It would just take a bit of time for the operator to establish himself as being reliable and reasonably on time.

All it would take would be the patience to give people enough time to realise that you're reliable with schedule times on time (or close enough).and it would be a winner. As I said, my husband can drive, I could put him to work if we had the right visa and we'd make money. I can see this, so why can't Thai's see this?

(I have no interest in Canal Road or the surrounding area, just know a few people who live up that way. I live in town and can get yellow, green or red trucks (as well as the new fancy air-conditioned buses) to pretty much everywhere I want to go).

[ravelkuan]

This is a good news for me.Thank you for your information, Tywais...

I love Chiang Mai.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I just added a mention of the Kwan Wiang red bus, along with pictures of all vehicles, to help avoid confusing in our ever-expanding field of choices:

Those buses are pink, not red.

Mostly, anyway.

Edited April 25, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Tywais]

I just added a mention of the Kwan Wiang red bus, along with pictures of all vehicles, to help avoid confusing in our ever-expanding field of choices:

Those buses are pink, not red.

Actually I would say Magenta.

[Chris Pirazzi]

Cool thanks. Fixed:

http://slice-of-thai.com/cmbus/

[Chris Pirazzi]

I just did a major update to the Chiang Mai aircon bus information website:

http://slice-of-thai.com/cmbus/

• I rode the complete route B1 and B2 in both directions with a GPS unit to record the exact bus route and exact stop locations, updating the interactive maps on the website to include both stops and route. This will help people know where the bus stops are and it will also help folks who want to hail the bus between stops (some stops are very far between).
  
• Speaking of hailing the bus, the bus people told me that one ongoing problem they have is that Westerners who want to get on the bus often wave their hands fingers-up, which means "I'm not going to ride" in the Thai convention, causing many drivers to just pass them by, so I included a silly animated GIF on the website about to hail a bus Thai Style palms-down.
  
• I learned more about what the aircon bus stop signs are supposed to (but often don't) look like, updating that advice on the site.
  
• Corrected weekend schedule: there is no bus at noon
  
• Provided links to raw KML files for GPS map data for map nerds who would like to make their own maps/services

Enjoy!

http://slice-of-thai.com/cmbus/

[KhonKaenKowboy]

The basturd drove right by me the other day. I was standing right at a stop on Thaphae Rd. It's obviously rigged for failure. The only other time I rode it in the last two weeks, the bus stopped in front of Siriphat Hospital, and a mom got on with two kids. The little girl did a high velocity vomit (looked like strawberry flute shek) all over the place. The bus stopped and they had to do a clean-up. No mas! I did see those other new busses to the airport earlier, and they seemed to be somewhat more frequent.

[Chris Pirazzi]

The basturd drove right by me the other day. I was standing right at a stop on Thaphae Rd. It's obviously rigged for failure. The only other time I rode it in the last two weeks, the bus stopped in front of Siriphat Hospital, and a mom got on with two kids. The little girl did a high velocity vomit (looked like strawberry flute shek) all over the place. The bus stopped and they had to do a clean-up. No mas! I did see those other new busses to the airport earlier, and they seemed to be somewhat more frequent.

Man, you got some pretty bad luck!

Did you try to hail them in some way when they approached at Tha Pae? Because they are not used to actual passengers actually knowing about the service (especially Westerners), hailing is probably mandatory, even at stops. I just updated my site to point this out more explicitly. Also on my site I note that you have to hail with palms down, because the usual Western fingers-up waving gesture actually means "I'm not going on this bus" to most Thai bus drivers!

The pink/magenta "Kwan Wiang" bus people do seem to be a bit more with-it in terms of organization and PR. They are a private company apparently.

- Chris Pirazzi

[Konini]

Nice work Chris, keep it up.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

I've been using public transit in Thailand for 18 years. The only hand gesture that puppet will see from me is my middle finger vertically extended.

[Chris Pirazzi]

October 2017 Update:

 

http://slice-of-thai.com/cmbus/

 

Amazingly, the "Chiangmaibus" service is going strong and B1 and B2 routes/times haven't changed.  They even added a new route B3 that goes from Arcade all the way to the Chiang Mai Provincial Government Center via the Chiang Mai International Convention Center and the 700th Anniversary Stadium.

 

I just added the currently best available B3 maps (will do GPS tracks later) to:

 

http://slice-of-thai.com/cmbus/

 

Enjoy!

 

Edited October 10, 2017 by Chris Pirazzi

[radiomore]

The Chiangmaibus people have a map on their website, but it's in Thai:

http://www.chiangmaibus.org/

can anyone translate?