The main dilemma regards taking a night or day train. There are 11 trains a day that leave Bangkok heading south and all of these stop at both Chumphon and Phun Phin (for Surat Thani). The train system in Thailand is reasonably safe, affordable and tends to arrive roughly on time. Otherwise you can grab a minibus to town and book your ferry tickets there. Any island will do, just get me outa here! Photo: Stuart McDonaldĬheck domestic flight schedules and prices to Surat ThaniĬheck international flight schedules and prices to Surat ThaniĬhumphon's small airport is located 35 km north of town and served only by Nok Air, which does offer an all-in "fly and ferry" ticket to Ko Tao. You could book an all-in "fly and ferry" ticket through Nok Air or Air Asia, which also includes a minibus transfer to the pier, or you could take a bus from the airport to Talad Kaset 2 Station in Surat and buy your ferry ticket from a travel agent. Surat Thani airport is around 30 km west of Surat Thani town. The flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani takes 70 minutes. Surat Thani airport is served by THAI, Nok Air, Thai AirAsia and Thai Lion Air, with airfares being far more affordable than flying to Samui. The airport is located a 20 minute drive from Chaweng Beach and a five minute drive from Big Buddha Beach.Ĭheck domestic flight schedules and prices to Ko SamuiĬheck international flight schedules and prices to Ko Samui Flight time is 60 to 90 minutes depending on the aircraft used (prop or jet). Bangkok Airways runs over 20 flights a day between Bangkok and Ko Samui, which generally start at a little over the 3,000 baht mark, but can jump to around 5,000 baht for short notice purchases. Now Silk Air, THAI and Bangkok Airways (along with a few others) fly the route but fares remain artificially high. While flying to Ko Samui is preferable, Samui Airport (USM) is owned by Bangkok Airways and until quite recently they were the only airline that flies there. If flying you have three options-flying to Ko Samui or flying to Surat Thani or Chumphon and then connecting by bus and ferry to the islands. Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao are inter-connected by ferries.Ferries to Ko Tao leave from a pier just to the south of Chumphon and ferries to all three islands leave from Surat Thani and three other piers near Surat Thani.Bangkok, Chumphon and Surat Thani are all connected by both public and private buses.Bangkok and Chumphon have train stations on the main north-south line and the closest station to Surat Thani is at Phun Phin, seven kilometres from Surat Thani.Bangkok, Ko Samui and Surat Thani have international airports and Chumphon's airport serves a few domestic flights.For Ko Samui and Ko Pha Ngan, go to Surat Thani. If you're going to Ko Tao, make your ferry connection at Chumphon. The slowest (and cheapest) is to take a bus from Bangkok to Chumphon or Surat Thani and then take the night boat from there. Factsīasically, the fastest (and, not surprisingly most expensive) way to get to the islands from Bangkok is to fly from Bangkok to Ko Samui and then take a ferry to the island of your choice. From Ko Samui back to the mainland at Surat Thani it's 75 km and from Surat Thani back to Bangkok it's 650 km. Staying among the islands, it's another 50 km from Ko Tao to Ko Pha Ngan and a further 12 km on to Ko Samui. Heading from Bangkok southwards, it's 460 km to Chumphon and Ko Tao is 75 km offshore from Chumphon. In all cases you can get from Bangkok to any of the Gulf of Thailand islands via a straightforward combination of land and water transport. While the distance are substantial, Thailand's rail, bus and ferry networks are well developed, pretty reliable and in the scheme of things, inexpensive.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |