The flight from Bangkok’s International Airport to Chiang Rai, located about eight kilometres from the city, takes about an hour and a half. Several airlines including budget carriers offer daily flights to Chiang Rai including Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways Orient Thai Airways, Air Asia, One-Two-Go and Phuket Air. Upon arrival at Chiang Rai’s airport you can get a taxi or hire a car to get to town. The price of the ticket fluctuates depending on the season of travel.
Although there are no direct trains to Chiang Rai you can get a train to Lampang or Chiang Mai. From here hop on to a bus that takes you straight to Chiang Rai. The journey via Lampang takes about 11 hours and about 13 hours if you choose to travel via Chiang Mai. Drive through the Ngao district and turn right, connecting with Highway 1 to Phayao. Once you are on this highway just drive straight on till you get to Chiang Rai. The roads are in good condition and well sign posted but some of the signs leading to smaller roads may only be in the Thai script. The distance between Bangkok and Chiang Rai town is approximately 800 kilometres. Thailand has a very good network of bus services covering almost every town within its borders. There are usually two types of service to choose from; first or second class. First class travel provides air-conditioning, usually seats that can recline and sometimes toilets on the bus. | 
