(Series) To get from Bangkok to Koh Samui with Option 4:  Bus – Ferry (2 steps). [farparants tip]

Option 4:  Bus – Ferry (2 steps)

This option is for those who want to be chill and don’t want to make a big journey with the train (in Thailand).

As I already mentioned in the article for Option 3: Train – Bus  – Ferry (3 steps). Traveling by bus for 10 hours is not fun. Because you can sleep on the bus only in the sitting position.

The seat can be inclined backward about 40 degrees. If people are sitting behind, you would set the seat back maximum with 20-30 degrees to the vertical.

Unlike the 1^st and 2^nd class train (sleeper cabinet), you can lay your body completely. But with the train,

you need to be aware of where you are right now and not miss your to-get-off station. The overall advantages of the train sound ok compared to the bus.

Still, there are some advantages to traveling by bus compared to train in my opinion. Number one is, that the views along the roads are much better than along the train platform.

Traveling from Bangkok to the South of Thailand only takes place at night whether by bus or train,

so at night you will see more things beside the roads like the lightning of town, buildings something like that when you cannot sleep well (You definitely will).

Especially when you drive in the cities of each province between Bangkok and Surat Thani (Samui belongs to Surat Thani).

You might see the night markets, street foods, nightlife, fabric, buildings, and houses.

While on the train, only the lower beds have windows, even though, you will see nothing but only fields beside the platform and there is no light to make it visible.

The train will not drive through the cities in most provinces. Also, the train ways are made beside the cities.

The second significant advantage of but is the internet.  On the road, the internet is very much more stable than on the train way.

In my experience, I have no problem with the internet connection entire the way traveling by bus.

But on the train, as mentioned the train way is built along the fields far from town, and more spots are disconnected from the internet signal.

If you look YouTube on Train, the lagging will disturb you almost every 15 min.

The next/3rd advantage is that you can skip the van because the bus from Bangkok will bring you to the ferry pier directly unlike traveling by train,

where you have to take the van from the train station to the ferry pier which consumes 2 hours in extra.

For the bus from Bangkok to Don Sak Pier, I would recommend the VIP class (24 seats) only. The reason is,

normally the VIP class busses have massaging seats, these can help you a lot with 10 hours traveling.

You will think of it when you are on the bus. For me, it can reduce the tiredness of 20 – 30 %.

Compared to the price of the VIP I have to pay more bus it is worth. VIP 24 seats means you will have more legroom and more ability to bend the seat backward.

Be careful, these VIP 24 buses can be fully booked very fast since many locals also hate tiredness, they also love to travel with VIP 24 buses.

The good news is, that there should be plenty of VIP 24 buses in Bangkok/ Bangkok – Surat Thani direction.

However, if you come to book a VIP 24 bus at the terminal directly, you have a look at all bus providers/companies, and no seats are available.

The VIP 32 seats are also okay so far since they contain the massaging seats like VIP 24 but just smaller legroom.

Important, there are plenty of bus providers operating buses from Bangkok to Surat Thani city, but few bus providers operate the buses from Bangkok to the ferry pier directly.

Samui island is not near from Surat Thani city. It takes about 1 hour from Surat Thani city to the ferry pier.

One of the common bus providers (Bangkok to the ferry pier directly) is Panthip.

• Departure

There are 2 bus centers in Bangkok, one is for routes in North Thailand called Mo Chit and one for South routes called Sai Tai.

Since it is too busy in the bus center hall containing many ticket booths for each bus company,

the booth staff are trying to make sales, and imagine there are over 50 booths or providers there.

Hence, I would recommend that you do some homework or study first, which bus company you want to travel with.

To prevent wasting time shopping for bus providers on the spot.

• Destination

To Ferry pier namely Don Sak Pier.

Many Bus providers do offer you a combo ticket, an all-in-one both for bus and ferry.

This option is suitable for those who don’t want to arrange every single ticket by themselves.

Many people questioned, will the ferry be fully booked normally. Yes, for cars. But should always be welcome for people who travel without a vehicle. I never heard that the ferry is full of personal passengers.

Or if you are concerned about this, then book a combo ticket from Bangkok. You can make a comparison of how much would the combo ticket cost more than 2 single tickets.

If you prefer the combo ticket, please check which the bus provider which ferry does he offer, Seatran or Raja.

Some bus providers are partner with Seatran and some are partners with Raja. Seatran ferry will deliver you to Nathon Pier and Raja ferry will bring you to Lipa Noi.

 

Summering table

Vehicle	Ticket price	Duration
Bus	900	10 hours
Transition		20 min. – 1 hour
Ferry	150	1 hour and 30 min.
Sum	1050	Ca. 12 hours – 13 hours

 

Let’s remember it again

Overall, there are 4+1 choices to get from Bangkok to Koh Samui sorted by price and convenience descending. Option 1 has the fellow time consumption and convenience. Option 4 has the most time consumption. The options are as follows.

Fast travel

1. Direct Fly: from Bangkok to Koh Samui (1 step)
2. Fly – Bus – Ferry (3 steps)

Slow and chill travel

3. Train – Bus, minibus or van – Ferry (3 steps)
4. Bus – Ferry (2 steps)

Other issues