Cheap ways to get to Samui
By Greg Sommers
Most budget travellers arrive by ferry
There are several different ways to get to Samui, depending on your budget and which other islands you want to visit in the area. On a budget however you might find that flying is a tad expensive since Bangkok Air have a monopoly on the service and offer no really budget flights. Backpackers wanting to get to Samui or Koh Pha Ngan have several other options but they do take all day, and some of the night too. Here’s the low down.
From Bangkok: your best bet is buy an all inclusive ticket from a travel agent on the Khao San Road. It’s a well oiled service on which thousands have been before you. It all starts out with a bus trip that leaves at night and travels down the coast as you sleep. The quickest combination is the one that goes as far as Chumpon, where you pick up the high speed catamaran ferry offered by Lom Praya. It leaves Bangkok at 9pm and arrives early in the morning, so that you’re on the water by 7am. First stop is the diving island of Koh Tao at 8:45, then on to Koh Pha Ngan (10:45) and finally reaching Samui at 11:20. The whole trip costs 1200 baht to Samui. There is also a day service which is quicker, leaving at 6am and arriving at 4:30pm, but there is the risk with this catamaran that sailings can be cancelled in rough weather.
In the busy season this service might be full if you book at short notice so they’ll sell you a ticket via Surat Thani, where the bus takes the long route all the way to this town south of Samui, with time wasted transferring to the pier and more time spent sitting around until finally you get a ferry either directly to Koh Pha Ngan or via Samui. This is slightly cheaper but takes so much longer and if you’re not an easy sleeper the thought of an overnight on the bus isn’t appealing. You’re therefore better off taking the train to Phun Pin station (near Surat Thani) so you have the luxury of a sleeper (if you book in advance), but there is more time wasted getting a transfer to Surat Thani (30 minutes but lots of waiting around) and the train is so much slower, and slightly more expensive.
There are some budget flights at inconvenient hours
All considered, if you’re in a hurry you’re better off hunting online for one of the cheap seats on the early morning or late night flights to Samui, costing about 2500 baht one-way. It does mean you’ll need to sleep one night in a guesthouse near the airport (we recommend Shambala) since it doesn’t connect well with the Koh Pha Ngan ferries. Bangkok air is the only option from Bangkok but there are some good deals on Firely air, from Kuala Lumpur, and flights from Singapore also. From Samui it’s an hour’s ferry ride, departing regularly from Big Buddha beach, to Haad Rin on Koh Pha Ngan. Ferries to Koh Tao however leave from Nathon town.
From Phuket, Krabi or Phi Phi: this is a bit easier, again thanks to travel agents all over the place who advertise direct tickets to Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao. It still takes the best part of a day with lots of connections and sitting about, but everything is arranged for you and there’s always a ‘fixer’ at each point pinning coloured stickers on everyone according to their destination, so they don’t get lost. The cost is about 500 baht, and mostly you will be picked up from your guest house in the early morning, transferred to a bus depot, with some waiting around before being bussed to Surat Thani, two hours away. If you are on Phi Phi you will be put on the morning ferry to meet an afternoon transfer to these islands, or else you should get yourself to Krabi the night before.
Once in Surat Thani, it’s a similar arrangement, with everyone put onto a local bus for the 30 minute transfer to Don Sak pier where the ferries leave from. Invariably there will be more waiting around, with plenty of food vendors on hand, before boarding a ferry that might go directly to Koh Pha Ngan or else via Samui, thus taking up-to three hours.
It’s really not worth trying to arrange it all yourself and get there quicker since this rarely works and you end up making a mistake and missing a bus or ferry. You certainly don’t save much either. It’s best to simply resign yourself to a whole day of travel which can be quite an adventure, with plenty of other like-minded travellers, and some fresh sea air once you’re on the ferry.
For cheap hostels and budget accommodation try hostelbookers for good deals travelling on the cheap.
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