Lomprayha Service

[daytripper]

i will be departing samui soonish... maybe november 16 and heading to udon.. would like to save a few baht and go by boat and sea instead of the pricey flight..

ive not used the lomprayaha sevice before.. does the boat depart from nathon? and if so do they offer a pick up service from the chaweng area?

also, how long will the overall journey take to Bangkok? am i right in thinking it about 1200 baht all in to Bangkok? i will then get the vip bus service up to udon.

alot of travelling in one gpo i know, but im fed up of flying and im in no rush to get anywhere and i quite like taking in abit of thailand by road.

anyone got any advice or thoughts by travelling on this service?? having seen the seatran thread, maybe crossing the sea in november is not a wise idea! having said that flying in monsoons doesnt fill me with confidence either!!

i know im being lazy and could go to a travel shop, but just after a few thoughts.

Edited November 6, 2009 by daytripper

[Rooo]

i will be departing samui soonish... maybe november 16 and heading to udon.. would like to save a few baht and go by boat and sea instead of the pricey flight..

ive not used the lomprayaha sevice before.. does the boat depart from nathon? and if so do they offer a pick up service from the chaweng area?

also, how long will the overall journey take to Bangkok? am i right in thinking it about 1200 baht all in to Bangkok? i will then get the vip bus service up to udon.

alot of travelling in one gpo i know, but im fed up of flying and im in no rush to get anywhere and i quite like taking in abit of thailand by road.

anyone got any advice or thoughts by travelling on this service?? having seen the seatran thread, maybe crossing the sea in november is not a wise idea! having said that flying in monsoons doesnt fill me with confidence either!!

i know im being lazy and could go to a travel shop, but just after a few thoughts.

From my understanding, they only go as far as Chumpon & then the bus. With the current sea condition, they might bus you all the way.

Seen people on here talking about getting the day train from Surat, might be worth trying that instead.

Good luck.

[OriginalPoster]

i will be departing samui soonish... maybe november 16 and heading to udon.. would like to save a few baht and go by boat and sea instead of the pricey flight..

ive not used the lomprayaha sevice before.. does the boat depart from nathon? and if so do they offer a pick up service from the chaweng area?

also, how long will the overall journey take to Bangkok? am i right in thinking it about 1200 baht all in to Bangkok? i will then get the vip bus service up to udon.

alot of travelling in one gpo i know, but im fed up of flying and im in no rush to get anywhere and i quite like taking in abit of thailand by road.

anyone got any advice or thoughts by travelling on this service?? having seen the seatran thread, maybe crossing the sea in november is not a wise idea! having said that flying in monsoons doesnt fill me with confidence either!!

i know im being lazy and could go to a travel shop, but just after a few thoughts.

Those catamarans that Lomprayah runs give a choppy ride when the sea is anything less than serenely calm. This time of year, the potential for seasickness is quite high on those boats if you're at all susceptible to that problem. The recent incident on Seatran notwithstanding, Seatran's boats normally have a much smoother ride.

[Samuian]

It is a strong built, fast Motor Catamaran - but choppy, rough seas can make the ride a bit uncomfortable as there might be other travelers affected by this and ...... them using plastic bags all the time.... might not be really pleasurable...!

Depends on the weather conditions!

I would suggest train too, no extra time, sleep in comfort, arrive early moring in bkk!!

[daytripper]

It is a strong built, fast Motor Catamaran - but choppy, rough seas can make the ride a bit uncomfortable as there might be other travelers affected by this and ...... them using plastic bags all the time.... might not be really pleasurable...!

Depends on the weather conditions!

I would suggest train too, no extra time, sleep in comfort, arrive early moring in bkk!!

right.. thanks for your replies..

so im thinking ferry to surat and then train up to bangkok. anyone know how much a ticket is on the train to bkk... ideally the express train i suppose.

how far is the train station from the dock in surat thani??

[OriginalPoster]

It is a strong built, fast Motor Catamaran - but choppy, rough seas can make the ride a bit uncomfortable as there might be other travelers affected by this and ...... them using plastic bags all the time.... might not be really pleasurable...!

Depends on the weather conditions!

I would suggest train too, no extra time, sleep in comfort, arrive early moring in bkk!!

right.. thanks for your replies..

so im thinking ferry to surat and then train up to bangkok. anyone know how much a ticket is on the train to bkk... ideally the express train i suppose.

how far is the train station from the dock in surat thani??

Price from Surathani to BKK is anywhere from 235 to 1339 baht depending upon which class you travel in and from whom you buy the ticket. See http://www.traveller2000.com/train/reservation.htm and http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm for more details about the train service.

[daytripper]

It is a strong built, fast Motor Catamaran - but choppy, rough seas can make the ride a bit uncomfortable as there might be other travelers affected by this and ...... them using plastic bags all the time.... might not be really pleasurable...!

Depends on the weather conditions!

I would suggest train too, no extra time, sleep in comfort, arrive early moring in bkk!!

right.. thanks for your replies..

so im thinking ferry to surat and then train up to bangkok. anyone know how much a ticket is on the train to bkk... ideally the express train i suppose.

how far is the train station from the dock in surat thani??

Price from Surathani to BKK is anywhere from 235 to 1339 baht depending upon which class you travel in and from whom you buy the ticket. See http://www.traveller2000.com/train/reservation.htm and http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm for more details about the train service.

thank you very much...

much appreciated.

[Lite Beer]

The Phantip bus leaves Nathon and takes you all the way to the train station. Last time I got it the bus was around 300 Baht. The station is in Phun Phin about one and a half hours from the ferry port in Donsak.

Get the overnight sleeper train.

[BasementCat]

A couple of days ago we were returning from BKK to Samui. Strangely enough, Lomprayah catamaran was only sailing to Koh Tao due to weather conditions. I don't quite understand why a catamaran can not proceed to Samui if it can reach Tao but anyways.

We ended up boarding Nok Air's 07:00am BKK-Surat flight. 1750 THB per person (incl. all taxes and fees) + 350 THB for a comfy transfer from Surat airport to Nathon by Seatran ferry and minivan. Quick and efficient, not a bad option IMHO.

[Samuian]

A couple of days ago we were returning from BKK to Samui. Strangely enough, Lomprayah catamaran was only sailing to Koh Tao due to weather conditions. I don't quite understand why a catamaran can not proceed to Samui if it can reach Tao but anyways.

We ended up boarding Nok Air's 07:00am BKK-Surat flight. 1750 THB per person (incl. all taxes and fees) + 350 THB for a comfy transfer from Surat airport to Nathon by Seatran ferry and minivan. Quick and efficient, not a bad option IMHO.

Maybe someone (the agent) made up one of these stories...but in general a catamaran of this size does take a bit more then the car ferries

and the obsolete fishing boats turned into passenger"ferries"

however, things could prove more difficult these days - dependson the weather:

The night-time island-hopping ferries from Nakhon Surat Thani, Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao piers suspended their services.

The Nation

[stiggy]

The catamaran could go to Tao but not samui due to the wind/wave direction.

Chumporn -Tao wind almost head on . Tao -kpg-Samui wind waves side on.

The waves where huge that day and a good sound decison by the company in my opinion,

[onecare]

The catamaran could go to Tao but not samui due to the wind/wave direction.

Chumporn -Tao wind almost head on . Tao -kpg-Samui wind waves side on.

The waves where huge that day and a good sound decison by the company in my opinion,

so, this means if train from bkk-samui, then if weather is not good, i couldn't get back samui after the train?

if it's rain or windy,then no ferry back samui?

any suggestion if need to stay in surat thani? and how much it cost?where is best for a night stay? thanks

[sbk]

Car ferries run in bad weather --the catamaran does not go to surat thani.

[islandguy]

Have heard several stories about seasickness and rough pitching about when the seas were rough riding the big catamaran. I agree it looks to be a good design despite these stories, but, I always feel somewhat trapped in there as evacuating the main cabin would be dificult to do rapidly. I think that would be true even under good conditions and even more so in emergency conditions.

[ham]

Have heard several stories about seasickness and rough pitching about when the seas were rough riding the big catamaran. I agree it looks to be a good design despite these stories, but, I always feel somewhat trapped in there as evacuating the main cabin would be dificult to do rapidly. I think that would be true even under good conditions and even more so in emergency conditions.

btw. Lomprayah is not operating the 7 o'clock boat and the evening boat back to Ko Phangan. No boat this morning, the cashier said since five day no boat for this time. I had to go with old Songserm. When coming back with Songserm the 11 o'clock boat was crossing us.

[crusty]

Have heard several stories about seasickness and rough pitching about when the seas were rough riding the big catamaran. I agree it looks to be a good design despite these stories, but, I always feel somewhat trapped in there as evacuating the main cabin would be dificult to do rapidly. I think that would be true even under good conditions and even more so in emergency conditions.

This by no means a big catamaran. They are built under Australian supervision at Khun Sutham's Seatrans shipyard in Bangkok and are the smallest passenger catamaran built in Australia and are meant for use in estuaries and harbours and are not designed for open seas. Thailand's East coast is only 40 m. deep and with 30 knots winds expect 10 m. seas

with a short fetch. For a real ferry designed for these conditions look at www.austal.com

[stiggy]

10 mtr seas....ummm maybe 5.

[t.s]

i will be departing samui soonish... maybe november 16 and heading to udon.. would like to save a few baht and go by boat and sea instead of the pricey flight..

ive not used the lomprayaha sevice before.. does the boat depart from nathon? and if so do they offer a pick up service from the chaweng area?

also, how long will the overall journey take to Bangkok? am i right in thinking it about 1200 baht all in to Bangkok? i will then get the vip bus service up to udon.

alot of travelling in one gpo i know, but im fed up of flying and im in no rush to get anywhere and i quite like taking in abit of thailand by road.

anyone got any advice or thoughts by travelling on this service?? having seen the seatran thread, maybe crossing the sea in november is not a wise idea! having said that flying in monsoons doesnt fill me with confidence either!!

i know im being lazy and could go to a travel shop, but just after a few thoughts.

Those catamarans that Lomprayah runs give a choppy ride when the sea is anything less than serenely calm. This time of year, the potential for seasickness is quite high on those boats if you're at all susceptible to that problem. The recent incident on Seatran notwithstanding, Seatran's boats normally have a much smoother ride.

lomprayah boats are harbour cats and while they are faster than the seatran they are a pukefest during monsoon. they may well not be faster in the chop as well

[so55]

My friend told me, they are using Nathon pier. they charge B100 more for transfer and fuel surcharge.

Is this right? they usually use bangrak intead of Maenam.

[daytripper]

My friend told me, they are using Nathon pier. they charge B100 more for transfer and fuel surcharge.

Is this right? they usually use bangrak intead of Maenam.

i ended up getting a cheap ticket from chaweng to bangkok.. i went on mini-bus to the RA JA ferry port.. i was told i would be going on seatran, it didnt really matter tho, i found the ferry trip ok, thank god is was perfect sailing conditions! from donsak to a holding area in surat thani for a few hours, then a good air con bus to bangkok.. all in 700 bt. i was very happy for that price. i then got a chan tours bus up to udon for a further 412 baht.. from doorstep in chaweng to door step in udon 1300 bt. it did take around 30 hours. flying would of taken me 3/4 day but cost 6500 bt minimum. quite a good saving if you ask me and i saw a fair bit of thailand too!

[Rooo]

name='daytripper' post='3163309' date='2009-11-25 15:13:

i ended up getting a cheap ticket from chaweng to bangkok.. i went on mini-bus to the RA JA ferry port.. i was told i would be going on seatran, it didnt really matter tho, i found the ferry trip ok, thank god is was perfect sailing conditions! from donsak to a holding area in surat thani for a few hours, then a good air con bus to bangkok.. all in 700 bt. i was very happy for that price. i then got a chan tours bus up to udon for a further 412 baht.. from doorstep in chaweng to door step in udon 1300 bt. it did take around 30 hours. flying would of taken me 3/4 day but cost 6500 bt minimum. quite a good saving if you ask me and i saw a fair bit of thailand too!

Thank you for updating & glad it all worked out.

[BigC]

if u r travelling witha thai. try and get on the thai bus. for some reason u get treated alot better when u r on bus with the thai's. it runs straiht from samui to bangkok. or go by train on the sleeper but be prepared to for long delays at the station. though once u r on it is quite pleasuable. if i go wih my bird i go first class and get the room to ouselves. ge 2 beds though we only use 1. well fo the first 30 minutes. then sleeping pill and wake up in bangkok.

then get the under ground train to asok. then get sky train to moo chit. where the bus station is then get on the bus to udo. pease of pss