pattaya to chiang mai

[mja34]

hi folks, can any one sugest a good route from pattaya to chiang mai!, whant to keep out of bangkok,so can go eather side? tarmac all the way,but dont whant to sit in the fast lane eather,have a couple of days to kill,so any pointers on where to stay/look at and routes would be well recieved and a cold beer for some good tips! cant read a word of thai so route numbers aprieted. thanks in advance marcus

marcus ackerman

 

[StanGayuski]

From Pattaya:
North on the Super Route 3 about 10kms-at Bang Lamung and take to Route 36 East (sign says Rayong) Take this to Route 331 North all the way to Route 304 then go East towards PHANOM SARAKHAM

Just past P.S. the road forks; Take the left fork which is Route 319 (North). This goes to PRACHIN BURI - continue through this town to Route 33. Go West on 33 through NAKHOIN NAYOK, cross the Super (Route 1) and continue on 33 west towards PHRA NAKHON SI AYUTTHAYA. Spend a day in this old Siamese capital called simply, Ayutthaya.

From Ayutthaya:
Cross the river to the west and get on Route 309 North to ANG THON the road jogs here - Look for Route 311 and continue North to CHAI NAT.

Now the ride gets interesting and I will post the balance of this itinerary to you in a subsequent post immediately (Before I time out on the Net)

-When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It.

 

[StanGayuski]

....Continued:
(By the way, disregard my little funny signature thing at the bottom of these posts that say ...fork in the road, take it)

From CHAI NAT:
Continue North on Route 311 to the Super Hiway Route 32 - this is a mere 30 km ride on the Super to the large town of NAKHON SAWAN.

Continue North through this maddening town to take Route 117 North to Route 12. This is a 138 km nice easy ride. Route 117 "T's" at route 12. Take Route 12 East just about 10 minutes - to PHITSANULOK (Overnight).

From PHITSANULOK:
Retrace back on Route 12 (this time West) the 60 km ride to SUKHOTHAI
Sukhothai is a must see (about 2-3 hours) the 1st ancient Saimese Capital now in ruins.

OPTION: You can overnight in Sukhothai instead of Phitsanulok by just going west at the "T" for the 50 some km's. Sukhothai town is just east of Sukhothai Ruins, so you'll get to the town before the Ruins.

At this point in your trip you are 75% of the way to Chiang Mai from Pattaya.

...Continued in subsequent Post.

 

[StanGayuski]

From SUKHOTHAI PARK Ruins:
Route 12 West to TAK. An easy flat 75 km ride.
From TAK: Route One (North) to Thoen, its 99 kms, gently curves and straight-aways, hardly any traffic.

From Thoen: NorthWest on Route 106 through the small towm of MAE TAN (50 kms). Continue on 106 another 82 kms of more curvy road to BAN HONG
Keep on 106 north from here to LAMPHUN.

You can continue on 106 all the way to Chiang Mai BUT I wouldn't!
You are already in traffic before getting to Lamphun and you want to avoid any further congestion, so, jog west on Route 1015 to SAN PA TONG (NOT Pa Sang!) San Pa Tong is just shy of the junction of Route 108. Go North on Route 108 - it'll be a right turn. You've already seen Chiang Mai road signs so follow those. 108 represents the best entrance into CM and is a local Super (dual carriageway) and well sign posted as you approach C.M.

...continued in subsequent Post to follow...

-When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It.

 

[StanGayuski]

...Now Continued:
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS TRIP WITHOUT A GOOD MAP
www.mapmyway.com is the best one - It's a German printing and laminated and can be found in finer bookstores and finer street vendors in most towns in Thailand. Buy one in Pattaya and study it so as to follow my suggested itinerary and to modify as you see fit.

Suggested Overnights:

250 kms is a good days ride in Thailand. It's dark by 6pm you want to avoid dark riding unless you're a night rider. Rural roads are not lit like in the UK though the towns are. So budget your daily riding to a max of 250 kms.

Overnight in:

1) Ayutthaya (and you'll need it from riding from Pattaya)
This route to Ayutthaya has avoided all BKK traffic buzz.

2) Nakhon Sawan UNLESS you are hard rumped and can get to Sukhothai
from Ayutthaya, but I'd take it easier and stay in N.Sawan.

3) Sukhothai Town (or Phitsanulok as mentioned above in prev post)

4) You can make it to Chiang Mai from SUKHOTHAI - a full days ride.

-When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It.

 

[StanGayuski]

Accomodations:

Guest House accomodations are the way to go; cheap, good, and relaxing and you don't have to ring ahead like in England

I will let others chime in here on the Guest House suggestions.

I travel with no safety net and so risk my sleeping to my eye-balling the town when I arrive unless I already know of a place. Expect to pay at least 350 Thai Baht per night (cheap) to 750 Thai Baht (on the high end)

If you want to chat with me and you have Yahoo messenger, my ID is Stanley_mars2001

I live in Central USA and am GMT -8 hrs. 6pm my time is 2am your time.

-When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It.

 

[StanGayuski]

Sorry Marcus but that website seems to be taken over by some American phone company. The map I am referring to is Berndtson & Berndtson in Germany, you may try a Search on that name. But you can find this product at www.amazon.com

-When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It.

 

[SilverhawkUSA]

Marcus-
You may also want to look at my post "Sukhothai and the North's Worst Short Cut" for an alternative route from Sukhothai. Of course disregard the short cut. Also the Lotus-Village GH in Sukhothai was first class.

Dave Early

Ever notice that "What the Heck!" is usually the right answer?