Chiang Mai to Pai: Minivan, Private Taxi or Scooter

Updated by the Nolo team, November 2026

tl;dr

Highway 1095 winds through 762 mountain curves between Chiang Mai and Pai, and there are three ways to make the trip: by minivan, by private taxi, or on a rented scooter.

Also known as: The bus to Pai · Chiang Mai–Pai minivan · เชียงใหม่–ปาย

At a glance

Minivan (“the bus”): Journey time varies with the operator, stops and road conditions. Book directly with Prempracha or AYA. The easiest option for most people.
Private taxi: The only direct option from Chiang Mai Airport. You stop whenever you like; agree the price beforehand. Best for groups, big luggage, or anyone prone to carsickness.
Scooter: Allow four to six hours with stops. For confident mountain riders with a motorcycle licence and, unless it’s Thai or from another ASEAN country, an International Driving Permit.
Staying with us: Free pickup from Walking Street, any time between 9am and 9.30pm.

Route signs on the road from Chiang Mai: the 1095 to the left, the 107 straight on and the 1414 to the right — Photo (cropped): Shinsuke JJ Ikegame, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

There’s no train from Chiang Mai to Pai and no scheduled flights. Pai does have an airport on the map, but no commercial flights run there. Everyone coming up takes the road: Highway 107 north out of Chiang Mai, then west onto Highway 1095 into the mountains.

Chiang Mai to Pai at a glance

Minivan (“the bus”)

Where it leaves from: Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 2 (Arcade) for Prempracha; AYA’s office and Old City pickups; the door at Stamps Backpackers
Stops on the way: One break of about ten minutes, halfway
Timing: Varies with the operator, pickup route and traffic
Best for: Solo travellers and couples after the simplest, cheapest ride

Private taxi

Where it leaves from: Anywhere in Chiang Mai, including the airport
Stops on the way: Wherever and whenever you ask
Timing: Varies with the road and your stops
Best for: Groups splitting the fare three or four ways, big luggage, or anyone who gets carsick

Scooter

Where it leaves from: Your rental shop in Chiang Mai
Stops on the way: Whenever you like, Pong Dueat included
Timing: Allow four to six hours to make a day of it
Best for: Experienced riders with a licence that covers motorcycles

	Minivan (“the bus”)	Private taxi	Scooter
Where it leaves from	Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 2 (Arcade) for Prempracha; AYA’s office and Old City pickups; the door at Stamps Backpackers	Anywhere in Chiang Mai, including the airport	Your rental shop in Chiang Mai
Stops on the way	One break of about ten minutes, halfway	Wherever and whenever you ask	Whenever you like, Pong Dueat included
Timing	Varies with the operator, pickup route and traffic	Varies with the road and your stops	Allow four to six hours to make a day of it
Best for	Solo travellers and couples after the simplest, cheapest ride	Groups splitting the fare three or four ways, big luggage, or anyone who gets carsick	Experienced riders with a licence that covers motorcycles

Chiang Mai to Pai by minivan (the bus)

This is how most people travel from Chiang Mai to Pai, and it’s the simplest way up. Travellers usually call it “the bus”, though it’s always a minivan: no full-size coach runs the mountain bends to Pai. Two companies run the route, both with air-conditioned vans and a short rest stop about halfway.

Prempracha leaves from Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 2 (Arcade), and you make your own way to the terminal. premprachatransports.com

AYA leaves from its own office and picks up around the Old City. ayaservice.com/minivan

Staying at our sister hostel in Chiang Mai? At Stamps Backpackers, the minivan to Pai picks you up at the door: book it at their tour desk or on WhatsApp. You can rent a luggage locker there and leave your big bag behind while you travel light to Pai.

Neither minivan company picks up at Chiang Mai Airport, so if you’ve just landed you’ll need to head into the Old City or to the Arcade bus terminal first. Only a private taxi goes straight from the airport to Pai.

Both companies show live departure times, ticket prices and open seats on their own booking sites, so check there rather than trusting a timetable on someone else’s website. You can see how full each van is before you book, which is well worth doing between November and February, when the morning vans fill up a day or more ahead.

Chiang Mai to Pai by private taxi

If you’re travelling in a group, carrying a lot of luggage, flying straight into Chiang Mai Airport, or you (or someone with you) don’t do well on winding mountain roads, a private taxi is the most comfortable way to Pai. You can stop for fresh air or photos whenever you like instead of working around a van’s pickup route, and split three or four ways it’s more reasonable than it sounds.

Taxi fares aren’t fixed, so agree the total price with the driver before you set off. If you’ve booked a bed at Nolo Hub Pai, call us before you travel and we’ll help you arrange a private taxi from this end; it’s usually easier to sort a fair local rate from Pai than from Chiang Mai.

Riding a scooter from Chiang Mai to Pai

Riding Highway 1095 is one of the classic road trips in northern Thailand, and nothing like pottering around the valley once you’re in Pai.

Give it four to six hours and make a day of the ride. Pong Dueat Geyser is the best reason to go on two wheels: it’s off Highway 1095 inside Huai Nam Dang National Park, and the minivans don’t stop there, so a scooter or a private taxi is the only way you’ll see it on the way up.

A 125cc scooter will make the climb, even with two people on it. What you need to ask yourself is whether you’re comfortable with long climbs, long descents on the brakes, blind hairpins, mountain weather that shifts as you gain height, and sharing a narrow two-lane highway with minivans and pickup trucks whose drivers know every corner by heart.

If you ride regularly at home, it’s a brilliant route. If this would be your first mountain ride, take the minivan up and rent a scooter once you’re settled in Pai.

Licences and checkpoints. Police checkpoints on Highway 1095 are routine, and they do stop foreign riders. You need a full licence that covers motorcycles and, unless it was issued in Thailand or another ASEAN country, an International Driving Permit alongside it. Check your travel insurance too: most policies won’t cover a motorbike accident if you weren’t licensed to ride.

What the Highway 1095 drive is like, and avoiding carsickness

The first hour north out of Chiang Mai on Route 107 is flat highway. Once you turn left onto Highway 1095 at Mae Malai, it’s almost entirely mountain road: a steady climb into the forest, high ridges where the valleys open out below you, then a long winding descent into the Pai basin.

The road itself is paved and in good condition. What catches people out is the relentless run of bends.

Carsickness hits plenty of travellers who never normally get travel sick. A few simple habits make a big difference:

Sit as close to the front of the minivan as you can.
Keep your eyes on the road ahead through the windscreen rather than down at your phone.
Take something for it before the van leaves, not once you already feel sick, and keep food light beforehand.

The halfway rest stop. Both minivan companies stop for about ten minutes, roughly halfway. There are toilets there, so carry a few baht in coins for them and a little pack of tissues in case they’ve run out of paper.

Arriving in Pai, and going back to Chiang Mai

Both minivans drop you within a few minutes’ walk of the town centre: Prempracha pulls into Pai Bus Station, and AYA arrives at its own office just off Chaisongkram Road.

Once you’re in town, our guide to getting around Pai without a scooter covers Grab, the motorbike taxis and joining our day trips.

Going back to Chiang Mai. Both companies run the trip back down the mountain, and you book it the same way. AYA can collect you from Nolo Hub Pai. Prempracha only leaves from Pai Bus Station, and if you’re staying with us, we’ll drop you there for free.

Quick answers

Is there a bus or train from Chiang Mai to Pai?

There’s no train to Pai, and no full-size bus runs the mountain road. When travellers talk about the “bus to Pai”, they mean the air-conditioned minivans run by Prempracha (from Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 2, Arcade) and AYA (from its own office, with Old City pickups).

Can you get a minivan directly from Chiang Mai Airport to Pai?

No. Neither Prempracha nor AYA picks up at Chiang Mai Airport. If you’ve just landed, take a short taxi ride to the Arcade bus terminal or the Old City to catch a minivan, or book a private taxi straight from the airport to Pai.

How do you avoid carsickness on the 762 curves to Pai?

Sit near the front of the minivan, look out through the windscreen rather than down at your phone, eat lightly before you go, and take something for travel sickness before the van leaves Chiang Mai, not once you feel sick.

How does Nolo Hub Pai’s free pickup from Walking Street work?

If you’re staying at Nolo Hub Pai, walk over to our pickup point at Pai Authentic Travel on Walking Street any time between 9am and 9.30pm. Tell the staff inside you’re staying at Nolo Hub Pai; they’ll call us, and we’ll come and collect you for free.