Bangkok to Koh Phangan Travel Prices May 2013

I recently made the trip from Bangkok to Koh Phangan. I stayed one night in Bangkok and then took the Air Asia flight from Don Muang Airport to Suratthani Airport.

The biggest city in the south of Thailand is Suratthani. It is a travel hub. It has an airport, a train station and a port. However, none of these travel options are close to the city part of Suratthani. This means you always have to factor in the time and money needed to get between the city, the port, the bus station, the train station and the airport.

Suratthani is on the main north-south train line. The station is actually in the nearby town of Punpin. It is about an hour away by minibus.

Songserm has a pier in Suratthani; however, the other ferry companies use piers in the Donsak region that is about an hour away by minibus.

All of this means that the Bangkok Airways flight between Suvarnabhumi and Koh Samui remains an attractive, if more expensive, option. It also involves less moving from one form of transport to another.

I took the Air Asia flight to Suratthani and then the Raja Car Ferry from Donsak to Thongsala in Koh Phangan. It takes a few hours more but it saves nearly 2,000 Thai Baht, and makes the journey possible in a day rather than the over-night options of train and boat or bus and boat.

At the airport

I arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday 27th April.2013 at 7.30 pm. I had to wait 1 hour in an immigration queue. Most obvious were large groups of Chinese people on tours. None of them were filling the arrival/departure cards in correctly and this slowed the process down even though 95% of the police immigration desks were open. Queues reached down the ramp into the main concourse. In fairness to the airport staff they set up a snaking queue system that made the process slightly less chaotic.

Prices

Surat Thani Airport to Koh Phangan by bus/raja ferry = 445 THB per person

Suvarnabhumi airport to Central Bangkok by taxi from Kiosk: 400 THB fare, 50 THB service charge, 70 THB toll (total cost 520 THB).

Suvarnabhumi airport to Central Bangkok by meter taxi: Approximately 220 THB fare, 50 THB service charge, 70 toll THB (total cost 340THB). I got the taxi at the kiosk but the guy decided to do it by the meter anyway.

Raja Car Ferry

The Raja Car Ferry is in many ways the life blood of Koh Phangan. It is the only car ferry serving the island. As such it is responsible for bringing in many things to the island which allow it to cater to hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

In 1981 the Samui-Kanom Ferry Co., Ltd was set up. It was only later the company changed its name to Raja. The company found quick success setting up car ferry services between the mainland of Thailand (Donsak) and both Koh Phangan and Koh Samui. The company capitalized on the booming tourist industry developing on both islands with its need for vehicles, motorbikes, imported food goods, furniture, electrical equipment and so on.

Now there are 40 boats in the Raja fleet. They all have plenty of sitting space, a bar, a restaurant, a shop and lots of deck space. You can always find a chair to sit on.

The car rental business in Koh Phangan is still very much in its infancy. It is thus a big advantage to be able to bring your own car to Koh Phangan. Another big benefit of the Raja is that it is a big boat that is more stable in the water. It is the ferry that is least likely to cause you to be sea sick. The Lomprayah tends to bounce through rough waters. The combination of hung-over full moon party people and choppy waters leads to an unpleasant Lomprayah catamaran service.

Raja Car Ferry has teamed up with Air Asia to provide one of several fly and ferry services connecting Bangkok and Koh Phangan. Outside Suratthani Airport there is a bus waiting for passengers disembarking from the Bangkok flight (Don Muang). The combined bus and ferry ticket to Thongsala in Koh Phangan costs 420 Thai Baht. Tickets can be bought in the airport as well as outside by the bus rank.

The 7am flight from Don Muang arrives at Suratthani at 8am. You then transfer to a bus and then the Raja Car Ferry. The boat leaves at 10am and arrives in Thongsala at 12.30. Thus, the trip from Bangkok to Thongsala takes 5 and a half hours. The afternoon Air Asia flight leaves Bangkok at 14.35 and gets to Suratthani at 15.35. This connects with the 18.00 Raja that gets into Koh Phangan at 20.30. There are few taxis waiting to meet this ferry. You will be unable to get a shared taxi to anywhere other than Haad Rin at this time of night.

A good place to stay in Thongsala is Buakao Inn. It is a short walk from the pier and has clean comfortable rooms. Downstairs there is an excellent bar and restaurant.

Overall, Raja is a reliable and comfortable ferry service to Koh Phangan. It is excellent value for bringing small motorbikes onto the island - only 280 Thai Baht. The only drawback to the Raja is that it takes 2 and a half hours to ply the route between Thongsala and Donsak on the mainland. Lomprayah catamarans are much quicker vessels

Raja Ferry Timetable

Koh Phangan		Ｄｏｎｓａｋ
５．００		７．３０
７．００		９．３０
１０。００		１２．３０
１３。００		１５．３０
１７．００		１９．３０

Ｄｏｎｓａｋ		Ｋｏｈ　Ｐｈａｎｇａｎ
７．００		９．３０
１０．００		１２．３０
１３．００		１５．３０
１６．００		１８．３０
１８．００		２０．３０

Prices

Foot passenger - 220 Thai Baht
Monk and student in uniform - 11o Thai Baht
Children under 110 cm - 110 Thai Baht
Bicycle / small motorbike with rider - 280 Thai Baht
Large motorbike with rider - 460 Thai Baht
Car with driver - 620 Thai Baht