Traveling By Green Bus: A Guide

The worst feeling is to realize that your bus to Chiang Mai is full, and the next one will arrive within 5 hours. To solve this problem, its best that you buy your tickets ahead of time. This guide will show you how!

Types of Buses

VIP Class: These busses have 24 seats and are three as a row, and are comfortable. Buses have a small snack, a water bottle, and a toilet offered at the beginning of the trip. Look for a blanket and a pillow on your seat in most scenarios.

As you can guess, VIP class buses are the most expensive - usually about 30%-50% above the X-class. This might sound like a lot, but a green bus ticket from green bus Chiang Mai ‌to Chiang Rai is only around 288 baht (about $9-$10 USD).

X-Class (first-class bus): X-Class buses have 40 narrow seats that are 4 in a row. A drink and snack are served, and a toilet is there as well. From Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai is 185 (around $6 USD).

VX-Class - Hybrid type buses that have VIP seats in the front half and X-Class seats in the other have (Average: $5 USD).

A-Class (second-class bus): A-Class buses have 48 seats that are 4 to a row. These buses take more stops because there are no toilets on board. These are around 20%-25% cheaper. From Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai is 144 baht ($4.50 USD).

What do I Need?

• A cellphone that sends and receive text messages.
• A debit card, credit card, or a Thai bank account.
• Modern browser and Internet Access (Recommended: Chrome because of its auto translation ability).

Determine Your Bus Route

To plan your trip correctly, go online and find out what green bus Chiang Mai servers are available. Some of the green bus websites are quirky, but you’ll find yourself relying on Google Translate more than expected. As you can guess, the return time is when the bus heads back from that direction to another destination.

Assuming that you A: Found a bus route that works for you. B: you want to obtain your ticket online, you’ll need to register to the website. This is where the auto-translating options will help you a lot.

There’s still a bit of Thai on the website, but at least the important sections are in English. The departure date shows 60 days out. As you start to fill in each section, the next section will refresh to show the relevant options.

Select the gray seats that you want and it will show your ticket number. Warning: Women pay attention because you can’t sit next to a monk. Even if the system allows it, the cultural values won’t - Thai monks are not allowed to touch women and are considered celibate.

Purchasing the Ticket

After selecting your destination, the system will keep your registration for 3 minutes. You’ll have more time if you’ve made a larger purchase, but there’s still a countdown in red that you need to pay attention to. If the number times out, you’ll have to start over!

Then, make the payment. Once the payment is processed, you can print out your bus ticket. Take your reference number to print out the ticket yourself or print them out yourself.

Conclusion

To conclude, traveling by green bus Chiang Mai can be an extensive process, but it's worth it. Through this guide, we hope we’ve made your travel plans easier. Make sure that you have information available and stay safe during your trip!

This is a contribution from one of our contributing writers.

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