Vientiane to Khon Kaen train

Trains from Vientiane to Khon Kaen start at €25.63 and take 2h 19m at their fastest.

VientianeVientianeKhon KaenKhon Kaen
Left The Houze Condo, The highest point in Khon Kaen city with 37 storey. Almost finished in this Summer. Middle Kosa tower. Right Pullman Hotel Khon Kaen, The 5 star hotel.

The Trains from Vientiane to Khon Kaen starts at €25.63 and takes 2h 19m door to door, run by 1 operator over 196 km, with around 4 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 45 days before departure.

Checked September 17, 2026Priced for October 7, 2026One passenger, all fees included

  • 2h 19mDoor to door
  • 1h 35mMoving
  • €26.74 to €50.39From
  • 06:20 to 07:30First and last departure
  • 4Per day
  • 6.5 kgCO2

First and last are taken from the services we sell on October 7, 2026. The return direction keeps its own timetable and is not these times reversed.

€26.74 to €50.39 for one passenger across the 14 departure dates priced here. The low end is one day, not every day. Worked out from this corridor rather than held for anybody. The operator sets the price on the day.

การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย runs this service and does not sell it here. 12Go takes the payment.

Buying this trip

12Go lists departures for Vientiane to Khon Kaen on your date, and you pay on their side.

Partner link. We do not sell this ticket. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.

Fares by date

What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.

Typical fares

  1. about €48.19Fri18
  2. about €50.39Sat19
  3. about €37.74Sun20
  4. about €46.54Mon21
  5. about €32.24Tue22
  6. about €43.24Wed23
  7. about €45.44Thu24
  8. about €41.04Fri25
  9. about €42.69Sat26
  10. about €36.64Sun27
  11. about €27.28Mon28
  12. about €26.74Tue29
  13. about €27.29Wed30
  14. about €36.64Thu1

Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.

Real services

The cheapest and the fastest on October 7, 2026

Cheapest€25.63
  1. การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย S-661407:3037m08:07Vientiane Railway StationUdon Thani Railway Station
  2. การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย S-977209:231h 4m10:27Udon Thani Railway StationKhon Kaen Railway Station

Changes at Udon Thani, with 76 minutes between services and a walk of about 5 minutes.

Door to door 3h 41mCO2 6.5 kgChanges 1Refundable

Fastest€28.39
  1. การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย S-485506:201h 35m07:55Vientiane Railway StationKhon Kaen Railway Station

Door to door 2h 19mCO2 6.5 kgChanges 0Refundable

Carriers

Rail operators

Every operator we sell on this corridor. Speed is the carrier's own typical cruising speed, not the average over this route.
OperatorFromFastestTypical speedFlexibilityOn board
การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย€26.742h 9m140 km/hRefundablePower outlets, Wi-Fi

The train gets you into Khon Kaen. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.

A hotel room

A room in Khon Kaen for the night the train gets in

Sort by distance from Khon Kaen Railway Station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.

Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.

Booking window

When to book Vientiane to Khon Kaen

The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.

  1. €23.4490 days
  2. €22.8860 days
  3. €21.2445 days
  4. €24.5430 days
  5. €28.3921 days
  6. €36.6414 days
  7. €45.447 days
  8. €37.743 days
  9. €48.191 days
Cheapest lead time
Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €21.24.
How much it moves
The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 127 percent. The most expensive point is €48.19, 1 days out.
What that means
Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Day of the week

Which departure day costs least

Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.

  1. €36.64Sun
  2. €28.93Mon
  3. €26.74Tue
  4. €27.29Wed
  5. €36.64Thu
  6. €41.04Fri
  7. €42.69Sat
Terminals

Where you leave from and where you arrive

Vientiane

Rail
  • Vientiane Railway Station
  • Vientiane North railway station
  • Vientiane South railway station

Khon Kaen

Rail
  • Khon Kaen Railway Station
  • Samran railway station
  • Tha Phra railway station
The journey

What the journey looks like

Direct or connecting
20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
How far it really runs
The route covers 196 km against 171 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
Where the change is
Connections are made at Chum Phae, Udon Thani, Savannakhet, Nakhon Ratchasima. The gap between arriving and leaving is 47 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
If the connection is missed
The tightest connection we sell here has a 20 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
First and last departure
The first service of the day leaves Vientiane at 06:20 and the last at 07:30, across 4 departures The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.

Questions about Vientiane to Khon Kaen

The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.

How long does the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen take?

The Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen takes 2h 19m door to door, of which 1h 35m is spent moving. The route runs 196 km. The difference between the two times is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end, which every time on this page includes.

How much does the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen cost?

The Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen starts at €25.63 for one passenger, as of September 17, 2026. A typical fare is €32.52. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.

Who runs the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen?

1 operators run the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen: การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย. Between them they file around 4 departures a day. The operator table on this page compares them on fare, journey time, cruising speed, fare conditions and what is provided on board.

Which terminal does the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen use?

The Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen leaves from Vientiane Railway Station and arrives at Khon Kaen Railway Station. Allow about 44m for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one. That time is already inside every door to door figure quoted on this page.

When should I book the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen?

Fares for the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €21.24. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 127 percent, measured on September 17, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.

How much CO2 does the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen produce?

The Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen produces about 6.5 kg of CO2 per passenger over 196 km, which works out at roughly 33 grams per passenger kilometer. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveler, not for the vehicle.

What is provided on board the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen?

Operators on the Train from Vientiane to Khon Kaen publish Power outlets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 2h 19m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.

Where these numbers come from

Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.

Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.

Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.

Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon

On this page
Every figure above was computed for Vientiane to Khon Kaen on September 17, 2026: 196 km of route against 171 km in a straight line, 4 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €25.63, and 2h 19m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.

Related journeys

The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Khon Kaen is somebody else's catalog.

A guided tour group

Day trips out of Khon Kaen and across Thailand

Day trips that leave Khon Kaen in the morning and cover a good part of Thailand by evening.

Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.

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