One could fly directly from Bangkok to Ko Samui island and be sipping a piña colada on the beach before noon, but what would be the adventure in that when you could spend 18 hours traveling instead?
For the mid-range budget travelers that we are, flying is usually not an option. Plus, the train system in Thailand is so good, 12-15 hours on an overnight train is a very pleasant experience.
Here's our amazing race of a day from Bangkok to Ko Samui.
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| First class cabins. Seat converts into bunkbeds. |
OVERNIGHT TRAIN
The trains in Thailand are awesome. Online booking is very easy through www.thairailticket.com, although you could also walk up to the ticket counter and find a seat on one of the many trains departing daily. For overnight travel, first class private cabins book up very quickly in advance, so we made these reservations about 2-3 weeks prior to our travel date. There is more availability for second class air-conditioned cars; but we would advise you avoid the second class fan-only cars. Besides being hot, the windows are left wide open and offers 'free boarding' for mosquitos.
The overnight express train (express, because it skips stations; but definitely not due to speed) in first class ($43/pp) from Bangkok left at 1930 and was scheduled to arrive at Surat Thani station at 0706 the next morning. This was our third overnight train in Thailand, and we've yet to arrive anywhere on time. The 11.5 hour ride took more like 12.5 hours.
In the past...
...our destination (e.g. Bangkok, Chiang Mai) was the end of the line, so we never had to worry about when to get off the train. This time, our train was briefly stopping at Surat Thani then moving onto a further destination to the south called Na Khon Si Thamarat. To ensure we were prepared to get off at the correct station, we set our alarm clocks for the next morning and we also picked up a timetable from the information booth at the Bangkok railway station. Since there are no announcements on the train, the timetable allowed us to see the prior stops so we knew when our stop was coming up. This is how we knew we were running approximately 45 minutes behind. The cabin crew did come by and give us a 5 minute notice as well, so that was very considerate.
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| Chicken rice porridge for breakfast on train! |
SURAT THANI TRAIN STATION
For being the main railway hub to access the ferry terminals, we felt like we got left in the middle of nowhere. Surat Thani train station is a one platform dinky station about 30 minutes out of town, not to mention about 2 hours inland from the Donsak ferry terminal.
We wondered how we would get ourselves to the ferry, and onto Ko Samui island. We could've taken a taxi to the Seatran ferry office in the city of Surat Thani. From there, there is suppose to be a Seatran provided bus that takes the passengers to the pier. Or, we could've taken a taxi directly to the Donsak pier, but that sounded very expensive. What to do, what to do...
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| Tickets for bus and ferry at 280 baht/pp. Phantip Travel Co., Ltd |
We usually avoid touts at bus stations, train stations, in front of restaurants, tourist offices, etc. at all cost. 99% of the time, they are a bunch of scam artists, promising more than they can deliver, adding hidden charges, and plain annoying. However, due to lack of taxis and the main bus terminal being a ways away, we did entertain a tout's offer of 280 baht/pp for an air-conditioned bus ride that would take us directly to the Seatran ferry terminal, including the price of the ferry ride to Ko Samui. We didn't think we could find a better deal for less than $10/pp, so we let our skepticism go and at least for this time, everything worked out great. The company providing this service was called Phantip Travel Co., Ltd.
BUS
The bus ride from Surat Thani to the new Seatran ferry terminal in Donsak took 1 hour and 45 minutes through some rural countryside. We're glad we didn't have to try and figure out alternate public transportation or pay for a cab.
FERRY
Back in the day, the only ferries going to/from Ko Samui were very sketchy. Usually, a boat loaded down with people, probably filled with at least twice the approved capacity and not enough emergency equipment. These are the ones we hear about sinking from time to time, and are still in operation. However, for us "old" folks who tend to become more risk adverse with age, we are glad to see a very modern, spacious, and safe ferry operated by Seatran.
It was a very pleasant 1.5 hour ride in an airconditioned room with cushy lounge chairs. Amenities included Thai massage and a snack bar.
SONGTHAEW
Last but not least, after our arrival in Ko Samui, we needed to get to our bungalow on the other side of the island at Lamai Beach. There are plenty of songthaews - a pick-up truck shared taxis - in the parking lot across the street from the ferry terminal. Each one usually has a sign with their destinations written. The drivers try to pack as many passengers onto the truck, but we didn't want to sit on top of the roof or hang off the back of the truck, so we waited only a few minutes for new songthaews to arrive and snagged a couple of seats on the bench.
Prices are all negotiable, but remember to do this before boarding! We thought we did pretty good by negotiating 80 baht/pp to get us to the other side of the island, which took approximately 35 minutes.
We didn't know exactly how to get to our place, but when we recognized signs for other nearby resorts, we had to knock on the window to get the driver to stop, and he let us off on the side of the main highway.
WALK
We knew that our place was right on the beach so we just headed towards the beach and about 15 minutes later, we found our place along the beach.
We were enjoying a beer 18 hours after we left Bangkok! Now that was an amazing race. In total, we spent less than $60/pp, whereas a flight would've cost us at around $200/pp.
