Transport from/to the islands Phangan, Tao and Samui

josephbloggs · September 10, 2023

Bangkok Airways wanting nearly 11k THB for a quick trip later this month.

I feel a bit sick paying that, so what are the current alternatives? I don't mind a slightly longer journey but definitely won't consider a bus or train from Bangkok. Any good all inclusive Surat Thani + ferry options?

Tropicalevo · September 11, 2023

Flights to Samui are pretty full at the moment. Last month we had two groups of guests arriving at Bangkok who had not booked their flights. They thought that at 40 flights a day they would catch a flight easily.

They had an extra stay in Bangkok for a night.

Here are the airlines flying into Suratthani this morning. Air Asia used to do an all inclusive plane/minivan/ferry service.

Scheduled	Revised	From	Flight	Status
07:20	07:20	Bangkok (DMK)	Nok Air DD 570	Arrived On-Time
08:15	08:15	Bangkok (DMK)	Thai Lion Air SL* 734	On-Time
08:30	08:25	Bangkok (DMK)	Thai AirAsia FD 3235	On-Time
10:15	10:15	Bangkok (BKK)	Thai Smile WE* 251 Codeshare: TG 2251	On-Time
12:05	12:05	Bangkok (BKK)	Thai Vietjet Air TVJ 350	On-Time
12:55	12:51	Bangkok (DMK)	Thai AirAsia FD 3239	On-Time

gearbox · September 11, 2023

9 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Bangkok Airways wanting nearly 11k THB for a quick trip later this month.

I feel a bit sick paying that, so what are the current alternatives? I don't mind a slightly longer journey but definitely won't consider a bus or train from Bangkok. Any good all inclusive Surat Thani + ferry options?

Book early....I'm flying with them BKK - Samui next month, price is 2160 baht. Booked a few months ago.

josephbloggs · September 11, 2023

56 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Book early....I'm flying with them BKK - Samui next month, price is 2160 baht. Booked a few months ago.

Yeah, unfortunately this has come up at short notice.

Nok Air do a flight -> bus -> Lomprayah catamaran return for 2,600 baht. Tempting. But I don't want to regret it if the journey drags on and just wished I'd paid the extra to fly direct. Anyone tried the Nok air thing?

gearbox · September 11, 2023

1 hour ago, josephbloggs said:

Yeah, unfortunately this has come up at short notice.

Nok Air do a flight -> bus -> Lomprayah catamaran return for 2,600 baht. Tempting. But I don't want to regret it if the journey drags on and just wished I'd paid the extra to fly direct. Anyone tried the Nok air thing?

I've done many times the trip with AirAsia, you can book the whole route including ferry too.

Booked in advance they are the cheapest, the tickets between Surat Thani and Don Mueang can go as low as 100 baht. I'm flying November during the wet season to Bangkok with my gf and back, 100 baht one way.

khunPer · September 11, 2023

14 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Bangkok Airways wanting nearly 11k THB for a quick trip later this month.

I feel a bit sick paying that, so what are the current alternatives? I don't mind a slightly longer journey but definitely won't consider a bus or train from Bangkok. Any good all inclusive Surat Thani + ferry options?

Air Asia, they got a package including ferry/bus and air from Surat Thani to Bangkok and vice versa.

josephbloggs · September 11, 2023

4 hours ago, khunPer said:

Air Asia, they got a package including ferry/bus and air from Surat Thani to Bangkok and vice versa.

I just bit the bullet, bent over, pulled down my pants, and booked Bangkok Airways. As it's only a four day visit I decided it was worth it to get the extra beach time. But I did look in to all the suggestions, so thanks, I would definitely do the AirAsia thing in future if I have more time, and definitely definitely if I am flying with the family as it would make a big difference.

Cheers.

ExpatOilWorker · December 22, 2023

Night boat 🚢 sunk. Everyone survived.

https://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/news-update/1104954

Tropicalevo · December 22, 2023

Thank you for the update.

I have received messages that Seatran are not accepting reservations at the moment as they cannot guarantee sailing times.

Also, not taking bookings for transfers to the airport as again, no guarantees.

josephbloggs · December 22, 2023

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Thank you for the update.

I have received messages that Seatran are not accepting reservations at the moment as they cannot guarantee sailing times.

Also, not taking bookings for transfers to the airport as again, no guarantees.

Yeah, my friend was going to drive there but Seatran saying no bookings until the 24th (at the moment) as they can't guarantee sailings. So he flew as he needs to be there for Christmas. Nice to see one company taking safety seriously.

khunPer · December 23, 2023

Update on the night boat that sank underway to Koh Tao here...

Other news reports say that there 102 souls on board and that all are safe, including the passengers' luggage.

Tropicalevo · December 23, 2023

In other news, a dive boat sank this morning on the other side of the mainland (near Surin islands).

Two folk missing, 14 saved.

Now is not a good time to be on the water. A good idea by Seatran to warn people.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Tropicalevo

Henryford · December 25, 2023

On 9/11/2023 at 4:11 PM, khunPer said:

Air Asia, they got a package including ferry/bus and air from Surat Thani to Bangkok and vice versa.

I have done that route twice and it's a nightmare. Flying to Surat Thani (maybe staying a night) travel to the pier, ferry to KS and then taxi to hotel. I would never do it again and i definitely won't pay Bangkok Airways rip off prices so that's Samui off my holiday list.

thaibeachlovers · February 13

On 12/25/2023 at 4:49 PM, Henryford said:

I have done that route twice and it's a nightmare. Flying to Surat Thani (maybe staying a night) travel to the pier, ferry to KS and then taxi to hotel. I would never do it again and i definitely won't pay Bangkok Airways rip off prices so that's Samui off my holiday list.

What was so bad about it? I did that many times, except I took sleeper train to Surat or stayed the night near the train station.

I didn't experience any major problems.

thaibeachlovers · February 13

Is there an airport on Phangan?

Google is giving me contradictory information.

I know one was started, but happily wasn't completed.

thaibeachlovers · February 13

On 9/11/2023 at 6:19 AM, josephbloggs said:

Bangkok Airways wanting nearly 11k THB for a quick trip later this month.

I feel a bit sick paying that, so what are the current alternatives? I don't mind a slightly longer journey but definitely won't consider a bus or train from Bangkok. Any good all inclusive Surat Thani + ferry options?

Lomprayah do an all included from Bkk. They don't go all the way to Surat, so it's not that long a bus ride.

What's wrong with a sleeper train to Surat? I did it many times and never a serious problem. You can take a first class cabin if don't like bunking with the commoners.

Tropicalevo · February 13

53 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Is there an airport on Phangan?

Google is giving me contradictory information.

I know one was started, but happily wasn't completed.

Still no airport. Thankfully.

josephbloggs · February 13

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Lomprayah do an all included from Bkk. They don't go all the way to Surat, so it's not that long a bus ride.

What's wrong with a sleeper train to Surat? I did it many times and never a serious problem. You can take a first class cabin if don't like bunking with the commoners.

Well my post was from five months ago so a bit irrelevant now, but the reason I didn't want a bus or train is because it was only a four day trip, so wasting two days on the journey there and back made no sense. For a longer visit, no problem. Nothing to do with mixing with the commoners (maybe a bit), a train would be fine, but I'll never get on a long distance bus in Thailand.

I actually just spent 8 days on Samui and got back a couple of days ago. This time I drove and it was much easier than I expected. Left home in Bangkok at 6am and was at the Seatran pier at Donsak at 2pm. Unfortunately I had booked a 7pm ferry and all earlier ferries were full, so I had a few hours to kiil which was not ideal but also not the end of the world.

Coming back I intended to stay a night in Hua Hin to break up the journey. An 8am ferry from Samui to Donsak got me to Hua Hin before 4pm, but then I decided to keep going to Bangkok as it was still daylight and Hua Hin holds no interest for me whatsoever.

I wouldn't hesitate to drive again. The bit between Bangkok and Hua Hin is a pig: ugly scenery, horrible roads, construction, trucks (so leave early and you miss the nastiness) but the rest of journey is scenic, quiet, and excellent roads.

Edited February 13 by josephbloggs

khunPer · February 13

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Is there an airport on Phangan?

Google is giving me contradictory information.

I know one was started, but happily wasn't completed.

No. But there was a project for one, up north-west and they began about a decade ago to construct a runway of around 1100 meters, which could just handle an ATR42/72 plane. But they didn't have user rights to all the land they used, so the project stopped.

thaibeachlovers · February 13

1 minute ago, khunPer said:

No. But there was a project for one, up north-west and they began about a decade ago to construct a runway of around 1100 meters, which could just handle an ATR42/72 plane. But they didn't have user rights to all the land they used, so the project stopped.

Thanks for the laugh ( I know it was unintentional ). Building something on land that they had no right to is so typically Thai that I just had to laugh.

I'm very happy to hear that the airport never got finished- IMO it would have been the end of Phangan as the last refuge from the flashpacker menace. Most flashpackers won't travel with us peasants and it has to be by air or not at all.

With any luck the concrete road they were building on the East coast didn't get finished. I was at Haad Khom after it reached there and the flashpacker palaces were already being built. It'd be sad if it reached Bottle or Than Sadet

thaibeachlovers · February 13

37 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Well my post was from five months ago so a bit irrelevant now, but the reason I didn't want a bus or train is because it was only a four day trip, so wasting two days on the journey there and back made no sense. For a longer visit, no problem. Nothing to do with mixing with the commoners (maybe a bit), a train would be fine, but I'll never get on a long distance bus in Thailand.

I actually just spent 8 days on Samui and got back a couple of days ago. This time I drove and it was much easier than I expected. Left home in Bangkok at 6am and was at the Seatran pier at Donsak at 2pm. Unfortunately I had booked a 7pm ferry and all earlier ferries were full, so I had a few hours to kiil which was not ideal but also not the end of the world.

Coming back I intended to stay a night in Hua Hin to break up the journey. An 8am ferry from Samui to Donsak got me to Hua Hin before 4pm, but then I decided to keep going to Bangkok as it was still daylight and Hua Hin holds no interest for me whatsoever.

I wouldn't hesitate to drive again. The bit between Bangkok and Hua Hin is a pig: ugly scenery, horrible roads, construction, trucks (so leave early and you miss the nastiness) but the rest of journey is scenic, quiet, and excellent roads.

Thanks for the reply and the entirely appropriate reason for not going on the train. I always went sleeper so as to save the day for sightseeing ( and save a night's hotel bill ). I'd leave Bkk in the evening and be on Samui by mid day. It's not as though Samui had a lot to do except walks on the beach though.

Hua Hin was nice till they destroyed it with the monstrous Hilton right in the middle. Had some nice restaurants over the water. It was OK for a couple of days.

thaibeachlovers · February 13

On 12/23/2023 at 8:28 PM, Tropicalevo said:

In other news, a dive boat sank this morning on the other side of the mainland (near Surin islands).

Two folk missing, 14 saved.

Now is not a good time to be on the water. A good idea by Seatran to warn people.

I was so concerned by the lack of liferafts that worked on the ferries ( perhaps that has changed ) that I always took my own flotation device.

khunPer · February 13

20 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Thanks for the laugh ( I know it was unintentional ). Building something on land that they had no right to is so typically Thai that I just had to laugh.

I'm very happy to hear that the airport never got finished- IMO it would have been the end of Phangan as the last refuge from the flashpacker menace. Most flashpackers won't travel with us peasants and it has to be by air or not at all.

With any luck the concrete road they were building on the East coast didn't get finished. I was at Haad Khom after it reached there and the flashpacker palaces were already being built. It'd be sad if it reached Bottle or Than Sadet

There's a photo of the airport area here...

And the article about the suspended construction in the link HERE.

"The airport construction project on Koh Phangan by commuter carrier Kan Air has trespassed on Than Sadet National Park, Surat Thani deputy governor Ouaychai Innak said on Wednesday.

Mr Ouaychai said an inspection carried out by forestry officials found part of the land on a mountain in Thong Nai Pan bay which had been prepared for the planned airport construction had encroached on Thansadet National Park land. The encroached areas covered about 20 rai.

He said authorities had filed a complaint with police."

However, you can already fly direct to Koh Phangan, but you need to use Microsoft Flight Simulator for the trip... :biggrin:

josephbloggs · February 13

22 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I was so concerned by the lack of liferafts that worked on the ferries ( perhaps that has changed ) that I always took my own flotation device.

I can confirm that Seatran has excellent live saving equipment. Live vests under all the seats, floatation devises on the decks and lots of lifeboats/liferafts. They were all stamped with their last inspection date and the date of their next due inspection (which was July 2024 on the ferry I was on).

Raja on the other hand......

thaibeachlovers · February 13

1 minute ago, josephbloggs said:

I can confirm that Seatran has excellent live saving equipment. Live vests under all the seats, floatation devises on the decks and lots of lifeboats/liferafts. They were all stamped with their last inspection date and the date of their next due inspection (which was July 2024 on the ferry I was on).

Raja on the other hand......

Thanks for that. When I was a regular on them they had inflatable life rafts, but they obviously wouldn't inflate- probably never checked.

Life jackets- only after a ferry sank in a storm that had none at all. I think it was one of those fast ferries- don't remember the company, I think Raja. I spent 4 hours on a Raja fast ferry floating around after the engine failed. We were only 1/2 hour from Samui, but had to wait till a boat came from the mainland!

Tropicalevo · February 13

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Thanks for the laugh ( I know it was unintentional ). Building something on land that they had no right to is so typically Thai that I just had to laugh.

I'm very happy to hear that the airport never got finished- IMO it would have been the end of Phangan as the last refuge from the flashpacker menace. Most flashpackers won't travel with us peasants and it has to be by air or not at all.

With any luck the concrete road they were building on the East coast didn't get finished. I was at Haad Khom after it reached there and the flashpacker palaces were already being built. It'd be sad if it reached Bottle or Than Sadet

The concrete road along the north to Bottle Beach is just the same except that there is now a place called Moon Rock with access via a dodgy dirt track. Careful riding will get you there and back.

The concrete road up the east coast has progressed to Thong Nai Pan and heads off to the west towards Bottle Beach. Again, after a while, an easy to ride dirt track until the last 2 kilometres. There are signs then stating 4 wheel drive only with a number to call.

I thought about giving it a go on the bike but as I was looking at the way down the very steep track, someone dropped their bike and could not get it upright again.

As I was on a rental, discretion became the better part of valour. 🏍️😎👍

thaibeachlovers · February 14

15 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

The concrete road along the north to Bottle Beach is just the same except that there is now a place called Moon Rock with access via a dodgy dirt track. Careful riding will get you there and back.

The concrete road up the east coast has progressed to Thong Nai Pan and heads off to the west towards Bottle Beach. Again, after a while, an easy to ride dirt track until the last 2 kilometres. There are signs then stating 4 wheel drive only with a number to call.

I thought about giving it a go on the bike but as I was looking at the way down the very steep track, someone dropped their bike and could not get it upright again.

As I was on a rental, discretion became the better part of valour. 🏍️😎👍

Last time I stayed on Bottle there was a dirt road south, and the resort manager gave me a ride down to Had Rin, but the concrete road had not passed Haad Khom, so the normal way to get to Bottle was by longtail from Chaloklum. I must have stayed on every beach in the north east, and Bottle was by far the best, but the rot was already there with a concrete hotel right in the middle. IMO the only thing saving them ( if they are saved ) is the lack of an airport.

khunPer · March 7

From May 13, 2024, Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airline, will operate daily flights between Singapore and Ko Samui using its new Embraer E190-E2 aircraft.

"Scoot’s network expansion comes as the Singapore Airlines Group unit prepares to take delivery of its first Embraer 190-E2 aircraft. The airline on 5 March disclosed the E2’s initial network, including the addition of two regional points from Singapore.

The airline announced that the E2s – on lease from lessor Azorra – will be flying to Samui in Thailand from May, and Sibu in Malaysia from June. In addition, the E2s will be deployed on flights to Hat Yai and Krabi in Thailand, as well as to Kuantan and Miri in Malaysia."

Source: Flight Global.

khunPer · March 7

New Seahorse car-ferry route from Bangkok to Samui – or change of departure from Sattahip to Bangkok – starting March 23, with tickets sales opening on March 9th...