How long would it take to travel via train + bus from bkk to phuket?

[Howitzer]

I read that the train takes like what 10-12 hours to travel to surat thani and then another 4 hours by bus to phuket?

 

I understand they have faster trains now?

[allane]

While you didn't state that you are travelling from Bangkok, I am making a presumption on that. You are correct on the duration. When you buy your ticket, you can confirm the duration. While I haven't done that trip in about 15 yrs., I am unaware of any high speed trains. Look at the schedule; some trains are a little faster (make fewer stops) than others. Buy a berth or cabin on a night train, go to sleep, and the trip will seem 8 hours shorter.

[Gringogazzer]

http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm#Bangkok_to_Southern_Thailand
There's no romance about it...fly.
If flights to Phuket are extortionate as Samui, flights to Surat Thani from DMK can be found for as little as ฿700 on "promo" AirAsia. But generally about ฿1300.
฿100 bus to Surat Thani drops you off across from travel agent. Mini busses go everywhere from there.
Overnight & half day by train + bus...or morning flight + bus be there by early evening.

[craigt3365]

Thai trains have a reputation for not being on schedule.  I've not read about any faster trains.  Some love this way of travel, others don't.  16 hours on a lower quality train is a long time.

[timewilltell]

Why go with the train.  If you want to see the countryside you can use the VIP bus for about 1,000 baht - always sit upstairs though.  It takes about 12 hours if you like that sort of thing.  If you book early enough you can fly for not much  from Don Muang Airport but you'll need a taxi there, or for a little more Suwanabhumi which has a BTS - Rail link.  The taxi to Don Muang likely not much more expensive though depending where you are coming from.  You could also take the night bus and save a night on a hotel room and sleep through it all as well.

[craigt3365]

4 minutes ago, timewilltell said:

Why go with the train.  If you want to see the countryside you can use the VIP bus for about 1,000 baht - always sit upstairs though.  It takes about 12 hours if you like that sort of thing.  If you book early enough you can fly for not much  from Don Muang Airport but you'll need a taxi there, or for a little more Suwanabhumi which has a BTS - Rail link.  The taxi to Don Muang likely not much more expensive though depending where you are coming from.  You could also take the night bus and save a night on a hotel room and sleep through it all as well.

With respect, night buses don't have a great safety record here.  Especially on that road south out of Bangkok.

[ChrisY1]

Done the BKK to Phuket bus trip a couple of times..... 12-13 hrs 1st class.

[craigt3365]

18 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

Done the BKK to Phuket bus trip a couple of times..... 12-13 hrs 1st class.

How was the cabin?  Did you get a sleeper???

[neeray]

Have taken the train several times from CM to Bkk and then Bkk to Surat Thani and back. As noted, do a night run and get a birth. I will do it many times more. But agreed, it's not for everybody. 

[Scouse123]

2 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

How was the cabin?  Did you get a sleeper???

 

Guys,

 

I recently did the train number 85 from Bangkok to Surat Thani on my way to Koh Samui. The train left about 30 minutes late from Bangkok.

 

I took the first class carriage on the sleeper which is a 2 berth sleeper. My bill was 1500+ for the bottom berth including the bus and fast ferry to Nathon ferry pier in Samui. My friend stayed in the top berth which was an extra 1100 baht. Top berth is cheaper as less headroom. It was an early evening journey, so no view and nothing to see. I did it for a one off ' wanted to know experience ' It wasn't romantic and because evening sleeper, no view, which would be the whole point of a train journey.

 

There is a double lock door for security on your cabin, there is a couple of cabin lights, mirror, small eating table, window, aircon, and that's it.

 

The beds are made up by train staff shortly after Bangkok departure. A meal on the train was 200 baht, so for two of us was 400 baht. Coffees in the morning were I think 35-40 baht each. A toilet at the end of the corridor, one Thai style and one European that contained a small shower area. Second class did not have this level of security, separated by curtains as opposed to a door!! and I would not choose that style of journey, also your luggage is not secure as it is in First.

 

It was overall OK as I slept through the night but other than that a non event, so much so that I flew back to Bangkok. A flight and ferry RETURN with Air Asia is actually quite a bit cheaper than than the train at the right time of year booked in advance taking into account food and stuff.

 

Phuket is by far, a cheaper destination to get to by air unlike Samui where Bangkok Air holds the monopoly on the island itself and all other airlines (except Thai, also very expensive for the short journey) , do the Fly N Ferry route.

 

They have these days better trains but to my knowledge these are on the Chiang Mai route. There are no fast trains to Phuket as it rapid transit.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Scouse123

[csabo]

Everything you need to know about every train in the world.  

http://www.seat61.com/

 

Connecting bus and ferry info as well

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by csabo

[jobsworth]

i want to know when it will be possible to take a train and bus from bangkok to calcutta (india). calcutta is much nearer than phukhet. it is now more than 70 years since the japanese tried to build a railway track but it is still not even talked about. Thaksin was the last person to mention the subject but he has now been banished.

[Howitzer]

8 hours ago, allane said:

While you didn't state that you are travelling from Bangkok, I am making a presumption on that. You are correct on the duration. When you buy your ticket, you can confirm the duration. While I haven't done that trip in about 15 yrs., I am unaware of any high speed trains. Look at the schedule; some trains are a little faster (make fewer stops) than others. Buy a berth or cabin on a night train, go to sleep, and the trip will seem 8 hours shorter.

 

 

I did state i was travelling from bkk. It's in my thread title (duh). I looked thru some other site about train departure and arrival schedules and noticed one type of train made 8 hours of travel while the rest were 12.

[Gringogazzer]

With respect, night buses don't have a great safety record here.  Especially on that road south out of Bangkok.

Did it a couple of years ago while sister-in-law had her passport in VPS.
I can't sleep in a chair like the misses so sat & watched while the bus veered into an oncoming lorry.
2 lorries chased the bus down until stopped then verbally attacked the driver. The lorry drivers co-pilot was jumping up n down on the spot like a chimp hopping for a tear up.
In the end the second driver of the bus came from his sleeping bunk & had to drive the rest of the journey.
No a single Thai woke up & my misses thought I was over exaggerating the whole thing because I hate taking long bus rides...go figure.

[Howitzer]

25 minutes ago, jobsworth said:

i want to know when it will be possible to take a train and bus from bangkok to calcutta (india). calcutta is much nearer than phukhet. it is now more than 70 years since the japanese tried to build a railway track but it is still not even talked about. Thaksin was the last person to mention the subject but he has now been banished.

 

???? Calcutta is closer to bkk compared to phuket? What are you smoking?

[Howitzer]

1 minute ago, Gringogazzer said:

Did it a couple of years ago while sister-in-law had her passport in VPS.
I can't sleep in a chair like the misses so sat & watched while the bus veered into an oncoming lorry.
2 lorries chased the bus down until stopped then verbally attacked the driver. The lorry drivers co-pilot was jumping up n down on the spot like a chimp hopping for a tear up.
In the end the second driver of the bus came from his sleeping bunk & had to drive the rest of the journey.
No a single Thai woke up & my misses thought I was over exaggerating the whole thing because I hate taking long bus rides...go figure.

 

 

veered into a lorry but didn't collide?

[jobsworth]

27 minutes ago, Howitzer said:

 

???? Calcutta is closer to bkk compared to phuket? What are you smoking?

yes you are right. the scale of the maps can be very deceptive.

bangkok to phuket by road is 522 miles, by air is 427 miles.

bangkok to calcutta by road is 2059 miles, by air is 1003 miles.

 

[KhunBENQ]

59 minutes ago, jobsworth said:

i want to know when it will be possible to take a train and bus from bangkok to calcutta (india). calcutta is much nearer than phukhet. it is now more than 70 years since the japanese tried to build a railway track but it is still not even talked about. Thaksin was the last person to mention the subject but he has now been banished.

Calcutta is nearer to Bangkok than Phuket ????

Are you serious ???

 

By train from Bangkok to Calcutta?

Take a sleeping pill and wake up in 20 years or so.

The current plans from India to Thailand are about decent road connections!

Bus? No idea. Maybe you can make in under 1 week.

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[Howitzer]

1 minute ago, jobsworth said:

yes you are right. the scale of the maps can be very deceptive.

bangkok to phuket by road is 522 miles, by air is 427 miles.

bangkok to calcutta by road is 2059 miles, by air is 1003 miles.

 

 

 

It shows that bkk to calcutta is much further not closer what are you smoking?

[jobsworth]

22 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Calcutta is nearer to Bangkok than Phuket ????

Are you serious ???

 

By train from Bangkok to Calcutta?

Take a sleeping pill and wake up in 20 years or so.

The current plans from India to Thailand are about decent road connections!

Bus? No idea. Maybe you can make in under 1 week.

 

i already took one sleeping pill and woke up 70 years later.

there is still no train service so what difference will another 20 make?

as for the bus my understanding is that now that the fighting in burma

is much less travel is much safer and more possible.

that still leaves the naxalites on the western boarder of burma.

it is not well known that there is a big communist problem in india

with armed groups in many places.

thank you for the map.

[KhunBENQ]

I am also interested in the development of the road connections.

It's quite a while it surfaced in the news.

But it sounded like a decent road will be ready in "a couple of years".

 

[Gringogazzer]

 

 

veered into a lorry but didn't collide?

Veered into the path of, but no didn't collide thanks to the lorry driver.
Also thanks for chasing him down & pointing out he was responsible for the lives he was carrying, not just his own.
Lucky he didn't get a slap.

[zd1]

We sort of done this in reverse in January this year but we took a good few days to break the journey. We flew Bangkok to Phuket as we had to meet some friends there, a few days later we took a ferry from Phuket to koh phi phi had a day there then a ferry to Ao nang where we stayed for a few days. We then took a bus from Ao nang to Surat about 3 hours where we stayed with the bil for a few days, we didn't want to do the train to Bangkok in one hit so took the train from Surat to Ban Krut in Pkk province about 4 hours where we stayed for almost a week, then the train back to Bangkok about 4 hours as well.

This is a nice way to do it if you have the time.

[csabo]

7 hours ago, jobsworth said:

i want to know when it will be possible to take a train and bus from bangkok to calcutta (india). calcutta is much nearer than phukhet. it is now more than 70 years since the japanese tried to build a railway track but it is still not even talked about. Thaksin was the last person to mention the subject but he has now been banished.

 

Talk about a thread derailment...

[joecoolfrog]

Unless you are terrified of aeroplanes , why would you not fly ?  If cost ( minimal difference really ) is the issue then get a VIP bus , it will be cheaper than the train and about 5 hours faster to Phuket.

Safety is irrelevent because you are still catching a bus from Surat Thani , that stretch via Phang Nha is no joy ride.

If your destination was Koh Samui , the train makes some sense , not for Phuket.

[Howitzer]

On 9/13/2016 at 5:43 AM, joecoolfrog said:

Unless you are terrified of aeroplanes , why would you not fly ?  If cost ( minimal difference really ) is the issue then get a VIP bus , it will be cheaper than the train and about 5 hours faster to Phuket.

Safety is irrelevent because you are still catching a bus from Surat Thani , that stretch via Phang Nha is no joy ride.

If your destination was Koh Samui , the train makes some sense , not for Phuket.

 

 

I don't know about this it's cos i figure well the train should be faster than a bus and is there a direct bus? I actually took a bus from krabi to bkk terrible ride i tell you.

[Gringogazzer]

http://www.1stopphuket.com/getting_here/bus
Direct busses go from Sai Tai Mai (สายใต้ใหม่), ฿974 VIP...11.5 hours.
Timetable in link above & probably less hassle than train as you'll have to transfer from the train station to travel agents to get mini bus. More time, expense & in need of a shower.