Driving Samui To Ranong For Visa

[SilentReader]

I am planning to head to Ranong for my visa run, haven't been that way for many years and was just wondering what is the best route to follow once in donsak. Is it quicker to follow the 401 all the way to Suratthani and connect up with highway 41 to head north or would it be better to take the 44 just before Kanchanadit that cuts out Suratthani and joins up with 41 a little further south than the first option ? I know there is usually very little traffic on the 44 but it does add about 25 km to the distance. Anyone got any ideas ? Thanks.

[MattCinderey]

I always do this route:

Take the 4142 from Donsak on to the 401. Head straight towards Suratthani and when you're coming in to Surtthani I take the left turning at Big C (can't miss it)

Follow that road all way down (can't remember it's name/number) past Tesco on the left to the big roundabout at the bottom (the one the Grand Diamond Hotel is on - you can't miss it, it's a huge hotel that stands out a mile!)

Head straight over that roundabout taking the signs to Chumpon for a while, then you'll need to turn left on to the 41 and straight up to Lang Suan, when you hit Lang Suan take the left after Mitsubishi on to the 4006 across the beautiful hills then on right on to the No4 to Ranong.

I always cross at the Anderman Club as it's easy.

HTH

Matt.

[Samuian]

#2

[SilentReader]

thanks guys. I think I will go the 2nd option myself. Beats all the stop and goes through Surat. And I guess the extra 20km or so can be made up by cruising speed on the 44.

[Thongkorn]

Why not just get some one from Patong or Phuket to take you, you can do it in a day easy . i have a number if you want one ,

[somchai jones]

thanks guys. I think I will go the 2nd option myself. Beats all the stop and goes through Surat. And I guess the extra 20km or so can be made up by cruising speed on the 44.

Hi, I'm planning to drive a hire car to Ranong from Samui to renew my 90 day stay period (I have a non imm O visa). I usually get my entry stamp at Bangkok Airport as I travel overseas more regularly the every 3 months but we'll be doing it this way for the first time as my wife's 90 day period is nearly up. She has the same visa as I do.

Sorry if this is a silly question but do we simply park the car at the immigration post and leave the country then immediately re-enter? Do we need any documentation apart from our passports?

Also (and this is why I've posted on the Samui forum as opposed to general visa forum) how long does the drive take roughly and has anyone used a sat nav in Thailand (I'm hoping I can hire one with the car) and if so is it straightforward to operate as it is in UK/Australia/US where I usually use them.

Also, can I hire a car from Samui and take accross in the ferry no problem or would I have to hire from Surat Thani - my own car in Samui is a definite 'island vehicle' - about 30 years old, so I won't be driving that!

Again, sorry if the answers are obvious, but it's the first time I'm attempting to do a visa run this way.

Any feedback much appreciated.

Cheers.

Edited March 16, 2010 by somchai jones

[womblejamie]

@Thongkorn: As the title suggests from Samui to Ranong, that is why he won't get someone to take him from Phuket.

@Somchai jones: you have two choices and both involve boats.

Option 1, Andaman Club would be the simplest choice of a one-stop hassle free service. Turn up park the car, give them 850 baht your passport and go and relax at the Andaman Club for a couple of hours. http://www.andamanclub.com/

Option 2, Go to the old smelly immigration at the harbour check out of Thailand and then negotiate a price for a long tail boat ride to Myanmar. While on boat stop and pay 20 baht to leave Thailand to customs or someone else trying to making a quick buck. Stop again in Myanmar on a little island long tail man will usually tale care of your passport stamps. travel another five minutes to mainland Myanmar get off wander down to their immigration, being careful not to get your wallet lifted from your pocket by teens, hand them your passport and $10 and hey presto get back on the boat and travel back to Thailand. Go and get your entrance stamp to Thailand from the same place as you exited, well the window next door, and you have another three months.

Option 1 is by far the simplest and will probably cost an extra 100baht for your troubles

Rent a car in Samui is easy to take across on Seatran or Raja, never had or asked for SatNav though, the route is pretty straight forward.

Good Luck

[somchai jones]

@Thongkorn: As the title suggests from Samui to Ranong, that is why he won't get someone to take him from Phuket.

@Somchai jones: you have two choices and both involve boats.

Option 1, Andaman Club would be the simplest choice of a one-stop hassle free service. Turn up park the car, give them 850 baht your passport and go and relax at the Andaman Club for a couple of hours. http://www.andamanclub.com/

Option 2, Go to the old smelly immigration at the harbour check out of Thailand and then negotiate a price for a long tail boat ride to Myanmar. While on boat stop and pay 20 baht to leave Thailand to customs or someone else trying to making a quick buck. Stop again in Myanmar on a little island long tail man will usually tale care of your passport stamps. travel another five minutes to mainland Myanmar get off wander down to their immigration, being careful not to get your wallet lifted from your pocket by teens, hand them your passport and $10 and hey presto get back on the boat and travel back to Thailand. Go and get your entrance stamp to Thailand from the same place as you exited, well the window next door, and you have another three months.

Option 1 is by far the simplest and will probably cost an extra 100baht for your troubles

Rent a car in Samui is easy to take across on Seatran or Raja, never had or asked for SatNav though, the route is pretty straight forward.

Good Luck

Many thanks for your advice, I'm taking the 1st option and have already booked my hire car and sat nav.

Any preference as far as Seatran/Raja fery concerned?

Cheers, Somchai

[lazygourmet]

Regarding Andaman Club, do you have any idea about first boat departure time and frequency?

I've checked their website but nothing seems indicated.

Thanks...

[MattCinderey]

Andaman Club ferry runs every hour

[MattCinderey]

Most people like to do this trip in a day and blast it... I like to take it easy, it's a pretty dangerous road and you often get stuck behind big lorries which are very dangerous to overtake...

I take the 9am ferry from Samui, get to Donsak around 10.30, the head straight to the Anderman Club @ Ranong. I usually get there around 2pm.

Get the ferry across, get my stamps, get the ferry back. Set of around 3/4pm from Ranong and get to Surattthani around 7pm. I stay in the Grand Diamond Hotel (on the roundabout, you cant miss it) then get the early ferry back to Samui the next day. No rush and nice and steady.

I did it in a day once and to tell you the truth I think it's dangerous to rush this road (the one that runs across from Lang Suan). I lost my truck once going round a corner and hitting a diesel spill, it was only purely luck that I managed to stay on the road - luckily I had a change of underwear with me.

You want to take that road nice and easy. You can also get a bit lost in Ranong trying to find the Anderman club road. I keep on the main road heading in to Ranong and then take the left turn in to Ranong which is opposite the radio station (on the other side of the road)

HTH

Matt.

[BigC]

@Thongkorn: As the title suggests from Samui to Ranong, that is why he won't get someone to take him from Phuket.

@Somchai jones: you have two choices and both involve boats.

Option 1, Andaman Club would be the simplest choice of a one-stop hassle free service. Turn up park the car, give them 850 baht your passport and go and relax at the Andaman Club for a couple of hours. http://www.andamanclub.com/

Option 2, Go to the old smelly immigration at the harbour check out of Thailand and then negotiate a price for a long tail boat ride to Myanmar. While on boat stop and pay 20 baht to leave Thailand to customs or someone else trying to making a quick buck. Stop again in Myanmar on a little island long tail man will usually tale care of your passport stamps. travel another five minutes to mainland Myanmar get off wander down to their immigration, being careful not to get your wallet lifted from your pocket by teens, hand them your passport and $10 and hey presto get back on the boat and travel back to Thailand. Go and get your entrance stamp to Thailand from the same place as you exited, well the window next door, and you have another three months.

Option 1 is by far the simplest and will probably cost an extra 100baht for your troubles

Rent a car in Samui is easy to take across on Seatran or Raja, never had or asked for SatNav though, the route is pretty straight forward.

Good Luck

Many thanks for your advice, I'm taking the 1st option and have already booked my hire car and sat nav.

Any preference as far as Seatran/Raja fery concerned?

Cheers, Somchai

parking in ranong. this is interesting its not straight forward. then nothing here is.

u have to stamp out at the immergration. then u get back into your car and head alone the side of the river. find a company.l i used to use Big Boat. you go into there office they take u over to burmer. sometimes the person in the boat takes all the passports and gets them stamped for. u. u can have a walk around bumrber for a few minutes. then back in to the boat. get back into your car and drive back to the police station to stamp back in. haven't been there in a while so it might be slightly different but that was about 2 years ago.

there is also an island in the middle with a 4 star hotel and legal casino. u can stop there if you want to brake the journey down. u would have to look up more info on that in google.

anyway good luck. old boy !

[SilentReader]

Here is the route I took just a few days ago. Not sure if when you open this link that is still shows the route. Hope so.

I will try it myself and see. Click Here

[SilentReader]

Yeah that seemed to work okay. I caught the 6am Seatran ferry(booked it) and arrived Donsak at 7.30am. It was raining a little along the way so we didn't arrive to the Andaman Club pier until 11.20am. Very easy to arrange everything here. Go into the office to the Immigration Desk, stamp out of Thailand, then to the Andaman Club desk, they give you a few bits of paper and copy your passport. Waited until 12.20pm for the ferry(was scheduled for 12) got on, 20 minutes later arrive Andaman Club pier. Walk along the pier to the Immigration desk. Hand over your passport. Walk through to the Andaman Club desk, give them the paperwork they gave me on the mainland and 850Baht. Walk back to the Immigration desk, collect my passport and walk back to catch the same ferry back to the mainland.

Did it like this as we were heading north and didn't want to spend time in the Andaman Club. Be sure to mention to the staff as you get off the ferry that you want to return directly to the mainland and they will ensure that the ferry waits for you to process through immigration.

All in all from the time we boarded the ferry to the time we returned with our stamps was no more than 1 hour. Very very simple and relaxed. Stuff that other option of longtails etc.

[womblejamie]

@Thongkorn: As the title suggests from Samui to Ranong, that is why he won't get someone to take him from Phuket.

@Somchai jones: you have two choices and both involve boats.

Option 1, Andaman Club would be the simplest choice of a one-stop hassle free service. Turn up park the car, give them 850 baht your passport and go and relax at the Andaman Club for a couple of hours. http://www.andamanclub.com/

Option 2, Go to the old smelly immigration at the harbour check out of Thailand and then negotiate a price for a long tail boat ride to Myanmar. While on boat stop and pay 20 baht to leave Thailand to customs or someone else trying to making a quick buck. Stop again in Myanmar on a little island long tail man will usually tale care of your passport stamps. travel another five minutes to mainland Myanmar get off wander down to their immigration, being careful not to get your wallet lifted from your pocket by teens, hand them your passport and $10 and hey presto get back on the boat and travel back to Thailand. Go and get your entrance stamp to Thailand from the same place as you exited, well the window next door, and you have another three months.

Option 1 is by far the simplest and will probably cost an extra 100baht for your troubles

Rent a car in Samui is easy to take across on Seatran or Raja, never had or asked for SatNav though, the route is pretty straight forward.

Good Luck

Many thanks for your advice, I'm taking the 1st option and have already booked my hire car and sat nav.

Any preference as far as Seatran/Raja fery concerned?

Cheers, Somchai

parking in ranong. this is interesting its not straight forward. then nothing here is.

u have to stamp out at the immergration. then u get back into your car and head alone the side of the river. find a company.l i used to use Big Boat. you go into there office they take u over to burmer. sometimes the person in the boat takes all the passports and gets them stamped for. u. u can have a walk around bumrber for a few minutes. then back in to the boat. get back into your car and drive back to the police station to stamp back in. haven't been there in a while so it might be slightly different but that was about 2 years ago.

there is also an island in the middle with a 4 star hotel and legal casino. u can stop there if you want to brake the journey down. u would have to look up more info on that in google.

anyway good luck. old boy !

No stamps at Immigration building anymore. its all done at the pier or andaman club pier

[BigC]

Here is the route I took just a few days ago. Not sure if when you open this link that is still shows the route. Hope so.

I will try it myself and see. Click Here

whats the casino like in that island in the middle. i would be up for a night on the roullet

[MattCinderey]

Here is the route I took just a few days ago. Not sure if when you open this link that is still shows the route. Hope so.

I will try it myself and see. Click Here

whats the casino like in that island in the middle. i would be up for a night on the roullet

Casino!? I was expecting Las Vegas dude. About 30 slot machines... Big let down...

[BigC]

Here is the route I took just a few days ago. Not sure if when you open this link that is still shows the route. Hope so.

I will try it myself and see. Click Here

whats the casino like in that island in the middle. i would be up for a night on the roullet

Casino!? I was expecting Las Vegas dude. About 30 slot machines... Big let down...

oh well macau for me then. now thats vagus of asia

[islandguy]

My take on this:

Hard to do in one day, nice 2 day trip. You can come back the other way (south to Tapua then across Khao Sok Park to Surat.

Andaman club good, but hard to find. Check out some older posts on the Phuket forum for map/google links and description.

You might even pay a motorbike taxi to lead the way.

Ferry from club is mostly about every hour but there is a break in the early afternoon, so if you are getting there around then try to time it.

If you ask, they may be willing to let you return from the Club on the same boat you came on (but nice to check it out if not in a hurry).

There is a nice little hotel near the Tesco Lotus - go past Lotus heading North, take the first U-turn, it will be on your left in the first several blocks

[longtom]

Got lost on the way to the Andaman Club several times already. Once in Ranong, follow the signs for the 'Governor's Cemetary', from there on there are signs for the Andaman Club.

[somchai jones]

Hi folks

Now back in Samui.

The trip went very well, all straightforward.

Did a two day trip so took driving nice and easy, stopped for lunch on the way.

Hired a GPS with the hire car at an extra THB100 per day. Wonderful investment if you're inclined to take wrong turns when driving as I am!

After reaching the Andaman pier, got exit stamps and took ferry to Andaman club. Formalities took 5 mins at the Burmese immigration.

Same boat had already left but we only had to wait 20 minutes for another back to the mainland.

The immigration official when we got our entry stamps on or return to Thailand was a bit of an arsehol_e, rather rude to both my wife and I and everyone else that he was dealing with but heyho...everyone else we met on the trip was great.

Stayed in the Tinidee Hotel in Rayong and had a really good meal by the pool side on Saturday evening - very reasonably priced.

Got back to Seatran Ferry port in Don Sak at 1.30pm Sunday and next ferry available with space was the 4pm one so drove to the Raja ferry port 2 minutes away and they put us straight onto the 2pm ferry.

All in all good trip and has reconfirmed to me how much I love sat navs.

Edited March 23, 2010 by somchai jones