Nan Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Buses travel from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phrae to Nan. The fare from Chiang Mai’s Arcade terminal is ordinary bus/2nd class air-con/1st class/VIP 158/221/284/440B, six to seven hours. From and to Chiang Rai there’s one daily bus at 9am (150B) that takes five to six gruelling hours via treacherous mountain roads – get a window seat as there’s usually lots of motion sickness. Buses from Phrae to Nan leave frequently (ordinary/2nd class air-con/1st class/VIP 62/87/112/170B, two to 2½ hours). From Nan all buses, including privately run buses, leave from the main terminal at the southwestern edge of town.

Regular air-con buses to Bangkok cost 388B for 2nd class (7.20am, 8am, 8.30am, 9am, 6.30pm and 7pm), 497B for 1st class (8am, 9am, 7pm) and 770B for VIP (7.30pm). The journey takes 10 to 11 hours. The private Sombat Tour buses are also at the bus terminal. To reserve tickets call Sombat Tour (0 5471 1078) or go to the bus terminal.

Train

The northern railway makes a stop in Den Chai, a 55B, three-hour bus ride from Nan.

A Bangkok-bound Sprinter leaves Den Chai at 12.50pm and arrives in Bangkok at 8.15pm. There are also a couple of evening rapid-train departures each day; to be sure of meeting any of these trains, take an early afternoon (1pm or 2pm) Den Chai-bound bus from the Nan bus terminal.

Trains bound for Chiang Mai depart Den Chai at 3.31pm (2nd and 3rd class, arrives 7.45pm), 3.53pm (2nd class, arrives 8.20pm) and 7.14am (2nd and 3rd class, arrives 12.25pm). The 2nd- and 3rd-class fares to/from Chiang Mai are 208/153B.

Tickets can be reserved by calling the Den Chai station (0 5461 3260), where English is spoken.

See Phraefor more Den Chai train details.

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Air

PB Air (0 5477 1729; www.pbair.com; Nan Airport) runs flights from Bangkok to Nan (3160B, once a day). Flights can be booked at the travel agency at Fahthanin Hotel (0 5475 7321-4; 303 Th Anantaworarittidet), online or at its airport office.

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