Sukhothai Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Sukhothai is easily reached from Phitsanulok, Tak or Kamphaeng Phet. Buses to/from Phitsanulok (ordinary/2nd class air-con/1st class 30/42/54B, one hour), leave every half hour or so. Buses to Tak (ordinary/2nd class air-con/1st class 40/56/72B, 1½ hours) and Kamphaeng (ordinary/2nd class air-con/1st class 39/55/70B, 1½ hours) leave every 40 minutes.

Departures to Bangkok (2nd class air-con/1st class/VIP 273/349/407B, six to seven hours) leave half-hourly from 7am to 11pm.

Buses to and from Chiang Mai (ordinary/2nd class air-con 167/234B, 5½ hours) via Tak are frequent from 7pm to 2am.

Four air-con buses leave daily for Chiang Rai (ordinary/2nd class air-con 186/260B, nine hours). The 9am one is a good choice for Sawankhalok. Otherwise buses to Sawankhalok (40B, 45 minutes) and Si Satchanalai (38B, one hour) leave every hour from around 6am to 6pm.

Other destinations include Khon Kaen (ordinary/2nd class air-con/1st class 179/251/322B, 6½ hours), Phrae (ordinary/2nd class air-con 83/116B, three hours, four times daily), Lampang (2nd class air-con 162B, four hours) and Nan (ordinary/2nd class air-con/1st class 132/185/238B, four hours). There are also eight 12-seat minivans to Mae Sot (125B, three hours) between 8.30am and 5.30pm.

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Air

The so-called ‘Sukhothai’ airport is 27km from town off Rte 1195, about 11km from Sawankhalok. It’s privately owned by Bangkok Airways and, like its Ko Samui counterpart, is a beautifully designed small airport using tropical architecture to its best advantage. Bangkok Airways (0 5563 3266/7, airport 0 5564 7224; www.bangkokair.com) operates a daily flight from Bangkok (1700B, 70 minutes). Bangkok Airways charges 120B to transport passengers between the airport and Sukhothai.

Bangkok Airways also flies daily from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai (1440B, 40 minutes). Fares for children are half the adult price.

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