Bangkok To Koh Phangan

[chris2009]

Hello,

We are travelling from Melbourne (Australia) to Bangkok Thursday the 22nd of December 2009. The plane lands in Bangkok at 7:55PM (Bangkok time) We check-in to the Baan Talay guest house in koh phangan the Friday, 23rd of December.

We really do not want to stay a night in Bangkok and rather make our way straight to koh phangan as soon as we get off the plane.

I've been researching a bit on the internet and have found the following option for getting to Koh Phangan from Bangkok.

Catch the 22:50 train from Bangkok station to Chumphon (arriving at 05:47AM). We then catch the boat from Chumphon to Koh Phangan at 08:30AM with kohtao travel, unsure of which boat it actually is (http://www.kohtaotickets.com/schedule.html).

The problem with this is, obtaining train tickets prior to travel. It is a very busy period of the year and if both trains which depart bangkok at 22:50 are full, we are screwed. You can only book upto 60 days in advance with railway.co.th via e-stars. I had a look at tickets 60 days from now and I am unable to order tickets for the 22:50 train, so my guess is either they dont offer tickets for this train over the net or it is probably sold out.

We really need a back up plan for getting to Koh Phangan, are there busses available to Chumporn ? Or are there companies which do through way tickets (ie. train or bus/boat etc.). I have found a few companies that offer this, but the latest I've found a bus departing is 21:00, which is too close to our arrival time. We need to allow at least 1.5 hours to get off the plane, through customs etc.

Another option is to catch a plane from bangkok to koh samui with bangkok airways. But that means we'll have to spend a night in koh samui as no boats will take us to koh phangan after 10pm.

We'd rather remain in transit over night rather than have to find some accomodation to stay the night.

Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks

[H2oDunc]

Both Seatran and Lomprayah both do bus and ferry tickets from BKK koh san rd to KPG.The train is a far better trip though. You could also fly to Samui then get a number of ferries to KPG which takes around 30 minutes as against a couple of hours from Chumphon. The train comes in 1st class sleeper, 2nd class sleeper and 3rd class Thai style. Used the 1st class sleeper to BKK many times and is a great way to travel. I believe the train company is to start on line booking very soon.

Good luck.

[chris2009]

Both Seatran and Lomprayah both do bus and ferry tickets from BKK koh san rd to KPG.The train is a far better trip though. You could also fly to Samui then get a number of ferries to KPG which takes around 30 minutes as against a couple of hours from Chumphon. The train comes in 1st class sleeper, 2nd class sleeper and 3rd class Thai style. Used the 1st class sleeper to BKK many times and is a great way to travel. I believe the train company is to start on line booking very soon.

Good luck.

yeah im aware that theres boats from koh samui to koh phangan, we caught one last time. I'm also aware of lomprayah. The problem is, the transfer leaves bangkok at 9pm, our flight lands at 7:55pm, theres not enough time to get on that transfer to koh phangan offered by lomprayah and seatran.

Rail is the preferred option, train leaves at 10:50PM, gives us time to get our bags and get on that train. But I cant seem to be able to purchase tickets for any date (60 days from now) for the 10:50 train. Do they not offer this online?

[H2oDunc]

As said I am led to believe they are to offer on line booking for train tickets in the very near future. This is Thailand though so it could be next year

lights to Samui run up till around 11pm so you could always fly to Samui. Night there in a cheap hotel, 500 baht, then the morning or afternoon ferry to KPG. That is the stress free, and safest way of doing it. The flight to Samui is around 45 -60 minutes. Its not the cheapest of options though.

[sbk]

Online booking with the State Railway of Thailand can be found here. You must sign up to be able to purchase tickets however.

[Lite Beer]

Online booking with the State Railway of Thailand can be found here. You must sign up to be able to purchase tickets however.

That appears to be what he has already tried. Just looked and it can only be booked within 60 days of travel for some strange reason.

There will be buses from the Southern Bus Station to Chumpon.

Personally I would wait till the morning and fly to Samui or fly to Surat with AirAsia.

[angiud]

Not so a good idea fly to Surat, because bus from URT airport to Surathani town, and then to Donsak ferry terminal is 2/3 hours, plus 2.30/3 hours Raja ferry to KPG.

Good service BKK KPG by Government bus, never change bus and about 12 hour trip.Cheap and safe (no thieves on board)

[chris2009]

H20Dunc:

This will be last resort, we really dont want to spend the night in samui.

SBK:

I've tried and I have signed up. I cannot find a date in the next 60 days where the late night 22:50 train is available via online booking. No way could every day be sold out, I'm assuming they dont offer an online booking for this train.

Lite beer:

As above.

Not so a good idea fly to Surat, because bus from URT airport to Surathani town, and then to Donsak ferry terminal is 2/3 hours, plus 2.30/3 hours Raja ferry to KPG.

Good service BKK KPG by Government bus, never change bus and about 12 hour trip.Cheap and safe (no thieves on board)

What time do these run till? Is this run by BMTA (Bangkok Mass transit Association?). If so, what route number is it? There website have a billion route numbers.

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated.

[chris2009]

bump!

[sbk]

You won't be in time to catch the govt bus angiud mentions, it leaves at 7 pm. Can't help you with the train booking problem, you could try contacting a travel agent to see if they can book it for you and mail you the tickets.

Sorry, but it seems the best choice is a Bkk Air and a night on samui.