Thread: Enduring the long distance VIP Bus Journey.

A new experience in traveling...................... with "Viaengping bus" a luxury bus from bkk - Chiangrai. include buffet meal just only 890 baht. Takes about 12 hours for travel time. You can book or buy ticket @ Callcenter. 1215

Nice pics...



Eat ya heart out Lulu







Eyes front..









Be careful pissed up taller farang..

...and now the real pics, please.

^^ Very nice, but I think I would still pay around 300 baht more and fly up to CR in an hour rather than the 12 on the bus.

Pray tell Pat what has the link got to do with anything or do you think Preston is Liverpool.

We used to do the journey from BKK to yaso many years ago,never again 9hours of hell.

Originally Posted by Bogon

^^ Very nice, but I think I would still pay around 300 baht more and fly up to CR in an hour rather than the 12 on the bus.

I must admit that I used to do it before the days of AirAsia and Nokair. Thank God them days are long gone!

Remember the 'ordinary' red buses?
No aircon, no seat guaranteed, stop about every half an hour.

Was an adventure.

Train from Bkk to or from CM, Bht 900, 2nd class air-con lower bunk, 15 hrs aprox.

About the most comfortable, best value for money.

^ Yep...Train is magic...Eat, read, sleep, shag yer way north...

1st or 2nd class...

For 1000B more you could have flown rather than spend 12 hours on a bus. Why wouldn't you fly?

Originally Posted by CSFFan

For 1000B more you could have flown rather than spend 12 hours on a bus. Why wouldn't you fly?

Seeing the landscape pass by. Nice experience when done for the first time.

Originally Posted by Takeovers

Seeing the landscape pass by. Nice experience when done for the first time.

Most VIP buses do the long distance runs at night...

Train or bus, day or night - up to you!

I need to take these buses next time I visit Thailand

Originally Posted by taytay

I need to take these buses next time I visit Thailand

WHY:

i hate long distance bus's,only take them as a LAST resort in Burma. would much prefer to travel by train and be able to walk around or if getting there is the only reason, FLY

Originally Posted by stroller

Remember the 'ordinary' red buses?
No aircon, no seat guaranteed, stop about every half an hour.

Was an adventure.

Yeah, what happened to those? Not that I miss 'em either.

I took one from Nong Khai to Udon Thani about 14 years ago. Normally a 1-hour or less trip via the Mitraphahp Highway (Highway 2). This red bucket of bolts immediately turned off the main highway, and stopped at every hamlet on the back roads to Udon--at least every 15-20 minutes. Took me three hours.

^ Orange not red. Slang term was Orange Crush as they often crashed..

Originally Posted by Toptuan

Originally Posted by stroller

Remember the 'ordinary' red buses?
No aircon, no seat guaranteed, stop about every half an hour.

Was an adventure.

Yeah, what happened to those? Not that I miss 'em either.

I took one from Nong Khai to Udon Thani about 14 years ago. Normally a 1-hour or less trip via the Mitraphahp Highway (Highway 2). This red bucket of bolts immediately turned off the main highway, and stopped at every hamlet on the back roads to Udon--at least every 15-20 minutes. Took me three hours.

Chiang Rai to Chiang Kong stops everywhere but the real fun is the Wiang Kaen to Chiang Rai. Last time I did it, some time back admittedly, we sat at the back on sacks of vegetables getting the breeze cos the doors don't shut and then spent the latter part of the journey holding the ceiling up which had fallen down whilst we failed to negotiate some pot holes. My how we laughed.

Originally Posted by aging one

Orange not red. Slang term was Orange Crush as they often crashed..

The one I remember travelling on had rows of three small seats on one side of the bus. Another reason for calling them Orange Crushes.
I think some on here are colour-blind perhaps.

Rep sent. (I think it's a greenish-red or a reddish-green. Ya better check)

Originally Posted by katie23

I used a similar VIP bus last year - took bus 99 which leaves from Lumpini Park and goes to the Aranyaprathet border. A travel blogger called it the "casino bus" because it brings Thais to the casinos in Cambodia. Bus 99 left at 9 am (there's a bus which leaves at 6 or 6:30 am but I didn't want to take that, too early) and arrived at the border market ~12:30. The bus was a double-decker and seats were nice & comfy. In contrast from the OP's post, the A/C wasn't working properly and it was warm in the bus. Bus fare was 200 B. Most (or all) of the passengers were middle-aged Thais. The bus wasn't full, so I had no seatmate, which was nice. I took a seat on the 2nd level for the views. There was also a toilet in the bus, which wasn't too bad. Sorry, no pics of that, as it was a bit tough to maneuver, being a girl. lol Maybe I should buy one of those funnel-like thingies for my travels.

There yah go love, free fitting on request...

https://www.shewee.com/

Originally Posted by katie23

Around 15 min from the border, the bus stopped at an official looking building and the conductor (a woman) got all the passports of the Thais. (Is that where they get a day pass?) I asked her if that was where we had to get off to get our passports stamped. She couldn't speak English, and fortunately, another woman (who spoke English) heard and said, no, it wasn't the place. She would tell me when it's time. So I thanked her and sat again.

When we got to the border market, all the Thais started alighting from the bus. The kind woman told me to go down with them. Then told me to return to the bus at "three and a half o' clock" to get back to BKK. I told her that I didn't intend to go to BKK, that I was to go to Cambodia. So she told me, "go 2nd floor, Thai ppl 1st floor". I just followed the flow of ppl, and true enough, there was a sign for foreigners to go to the 2nd floor for stamping.

After the stamping, I walked down the stretch of road leading to the Cambodian side. There were very long lines for the visa-on-arrival. Many ppl approached me, asking if I wanted a visa. I just shook my head and said, no, I didn't need a visa. Then they asked, "where you come from?" So I told them, and they just waved me off to the Cambo side.

That was my first land border crossing - it was very hot, being midday, but it was interesting. The border crossing (Cambo to Saigon) was a bit different, but that's for another story.

In my brief journey, I found that ordinary Cambodians spoke better English than their Thai counterparts. But some were same-same but different.

End of long post. 55

I've done that one to see the mere-in-law... lives in a village near them parts... she's a kind of Cambo-related minority and despises the K, but yeah, I find many of them are a lot better at communicating than Ts, if a bit loopier...
I found the bus drivers quite amenable when it came to stopping for snacks and wee wees... especially the more remote it got... as I got right into the sticks, they all seemed to know who I was looking for.

A the border you get a lot of people want to fill in your form for you for a few quid. I once saw a girl with that condition in the Cher film "The Mask" there, and lots of emaciated primary school age beggars. Don't think much of the tourists who haggle at Rong Kluea really - Sra Kaeo's a skint province.

^thnx for the pic, I went to the website. I think I'll buy the shewee extreme. It even haa its own case! Might be useful in outdoor concerts. Heh.

Thnx too for the story. My Cambodia visit (first time there) was an eye opener. The ppl looked poor. Poorer than Th or PI. And that in Phnom Penh, one could hardly see elderly ppl among the locals. They've been purged by the Khmer Rouge...

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

Pimp my ride VIP bus ...

Where is the trailer for the forking generator?
Just took the air conditioned bus from Mukdahan to Ubon. The aircon wasn't working and surprise surprise neither were the fans and of course the windows cannot be opened. Added to that we had the seat over the wheels with forked suspension whilst sweating like pigs. All because I hate minibuses.