Overland travel between BKK PHU and Koh Samui - realistic or not?

[fizzer2007]

Hi all - newbie here with 3 weeks planned in Thailand doing a bit of a tour to get a flavour of Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya. I have booked 4 nights in Phuket but was thinking of taking overnight sleeper to Surit Thani then getting bus to Phuket.

I know this takes about 6 hours, has anyone done it? Is it ok or a bit grim?

I'm looking at booking 6 nights in Koh Samui afterwards and quite fancied getting there by boat from Surit Thani which means going back on that bus trip.

I would fly from Koh Samui up to Pattaya and then bus back into BKK.

However, if I decided to stay in Koh Samui, could I get on a flight back to BKK while I'm there or would that be booked up?

Any comments welcome.

[Dodger]

All of that is possible and an okay way to travel. You can fly to samui and from samui onto bkk. Bus to surat is cheap but does take quite awhile.

Argument could be why waste a day on a bus when your on holiday but then the travelling could all be part of the fun for you, each to their own and no judgement from me.

Also when you take the boat from Koi Samui to Surat do not just jump straight into the bus have a quick word around with other travellers, you can sometime share another persons taxi and whilst a little bit more expensive than the bus, will still work out cheap and faster, probably 4 hours instead of 6.

[fizzer2007]

Thanks for the reply Dodger -

Do you think I'd actually be able to make it from Phuket to Koh Samui in one day, before sundown, by bus or taxi to Surit Thani then by boat to KS? I'd rather arrive in daylight.

Do you know how long the boat trip is?

[Raval]

Hi,

In Patong you can book a shared minibus (incl. boatticket to Samui) from your hotel to the ferry harbour of Samui. On Samui you have to organise transport again. But I remember when I did this.... Leaving Patong early in the morning and arriving on Samui early in the afternoon.

I don't remember the price of the ticket exactly, but somewhere half the price of a planeticket.

Cheers,

Raval

[wylos]

Originally Posted by Raval

Hi,

In Patong you can book a shared minibus (incl. boatticket to Samui) from your hotel to the ferry harbour of Samui. On Samui you have to organise transport again. But I remember when I did this.... Leaving Patong early in the morning and arriving on Samui early in the afternoon.

I don't remember the price of the ticket exactly, but somewhere half the price of a planeticket.

Cheers,

Raval

ticket costs around 450 -600b,depending who u book with.
its nice when it all goes to plan,but expect running around picking people up(pick ups sometimes in karon and kata follow after patong),and then in surathani(thats were all minibus meets and combine and put u on one coach to the port...usually)and it wil take u best part of the day,if not all day to get to samui and sorted.