Hey Ya,

I'm taking my boyfriend on his first T-land trip (this is my 3rd time) and I'd like some help with getting to where we need to go on the first leg of the trip, I'm finding some information but not entirely useful...

Goes like this

BANGKOK - SRI RACHA - KOH SI CHANG - SRI RACHA - TRAT - KOH CHANG - TRAT - SURAT THANI ...

money's not so much an issue as time is, and I'd rather not fly..it's the bus from SRI RACHA - TRAT and then TRAT to SURAT THANI that's the problem.

I'd LOVE some help, this trip is all part of my evil plan to convince my boyfriend that living in Thailand would be WAY better than slaving it out any where else! hahaha.

Thanks

Well, the Trat-Surat leg would have to involve Bangkok as everything begins and ends there.

so, return to Bangkok and from there take either the train (second class sleeper is very nice) or the bus to Surat.

I think you might decide that a flight from U Tapao to Koh Samui might save you more than a day

BANGKOK - SRI RACHA = Buss from Ekamai

SRI RACHA- KOH SI CHANG = Samlor to pier and boat

SRI RACHA - TRAT = Buss and then mini to KOH CHANG

KOH CHANG - TRAT = Mini

TRAT - SURAT THANI = Buss to Bangkok and naight train to SURAT THANI then buss to ferry and songtew to...

If time is not a factor, why not rent a car and drive down from BKK to Surat. If you're going to Samui you can get one of those deals where you just drive the car one way from office to office and don't have to return it. Places like Hertz or Budget do these deals, pick the car up in BKK and deliver to Koh Samui.

The drive down is quite nice and you could stop a night in a couple of places (Hua Hin, Petchaburi, Cha-am, Chumphon).

so, return to Bangkok and from there take either the train (second class sleeper is very nice) or the bus to Surat.

I second that! The night train to Chiang Mai turned out to be a blast.

Unfortunately, we had our minds set on trying out everything which

resulted in a miserable trip with a 'VIP-Coach' night bus from Bkk

to Surattani. Don´t forget to get your tickets in advance!

It´s not the most comfortable berths, but they´re good enough.

Also it´s very convinient not to waste any valuable time on travelling

about. Hop on train, have some beers and mingle in the 'bistro', go to

bed and voilá! Wake up at the destination!

(or... the train might brake down and become delayed for six hours,

but once again - find some nice chaps and head for the bistro again!

At least, that´s what we did :-) )