GET TO PHUKET ISLAND

AIR

Air Thai operates nearly a dozen daily flights form Bangkok. The direct flight takes and hour and 25 minutes, but some flights stop in Hat Yai for half and hour. There are also regular flights to and from Hat Yai.

Bangkok Airways flies between Samui Island and Phuket Island twice daily (once a week in June and September).

Angle Airlines recently introduced flights to Phuket Island from Bangkok and Singapore. Angle’s office is at Phuket international Airport.

THAI flies between Phuket Island and several international destinations, including Penang, Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei and Sydney. Other international airlines with offices in Phuket are: Malaysia Airline, Silk Air, Singapore Airlines and China Airlines.

Southern Helicopter service at the airport charters a seven passenger helicopter. The service covers all of Phuket Island and Ao Phang Nga beach, including Phi Phi Island. Southern Flying Group does small aero plane charters.

BUS

All direct air-conditioner buses from Bangkok’s Southern Bus Terminal make the journey overnight, leaving at approximately half-hourly intervals between 5.30pm and 7pm and arriving about fourteen hours later. Most air-conditioner buses from Phuket to Bangkok also make the journey overnight, though there are a few departures during the morning. There is no train service to Phuket, but if you can’t face taking the bus all the way from Bangkok, a more comfortable (and less nerve-wracking) alternative would be to book an overnight sleeper train to Surat Thani, about 290km east of Phuket, and take a bus from there to Phuket (about six hours). There are fourteen buses a day between Surat Thani and Phuket, all traveling via Khao Sok, Takua Pa and Khao Lak; and six private minibuses a day from Phuket to Surat Thani. Takua Pa is a useful interchange for local services to Khuraburi and Ranong, though there are four direct buses a day between Ranong and Phuket. As for points further south : seventeen buses a day run between Krabi and Phuket, via Phang Nga, and there are also frequent services to and form Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Hat Yai.

Boat

If you’re coming to Phuket form Phi Phi Island or Lanta Island, the quickest and most scenic option is to take the boat. During peak season, up to four ferries a day make the trip to and from Phi Phi Island, taking between ninety minutes and two and a half hours and docking at the deep-sea port on Phuket’s southeast coast; during low season, there’s at least one ferry a day in both directions. Travelers from Lanta Island have to change boats on Phi Phi Island. Minibuses meet the ferries in Phuket and charge 100B per person for transfer to Phuket town and the major west-coast beaches, or 150B to the airport.

GET AROUND SAMET ISLAND

When you take the boat from Ban Phe to the village harbors (Na Dan), you can walk to Hat Sai Kaew beach, Ao Phai beach or Ao Phut Sa beach, it’s about 1.5km from Na Dan or you can take the local taxi (Songtheaw) to get there in case of you plan to go father down, take many luggage or backpacks.

Set fares for transport around the island from Nadan are posted on a tree in the middle of a square in front of the Na Dan harbors. The list below shows the fee to get to each of beach on Samet Island; 15B(taxi) + 100B to charter for Hat Sai Kaew beach, 20B + 150B to Ao Phai beach or Ao Phut Sa beach, 30B + 200B to Ao Wong Deuan beach or Ao Phrao beach, 40B + 300B to Ao Thian beach and + 400B to Ao Wai beach, 50B + 500B to Ao Kiu Na Nok beach.

There are trails from Ao Wong Deuan beach all the way to the southern tip of the Samet Island, and a few cross-island trails as well. All are heavily rutted and the ones toward the southern tip of the island may be overgrown from disuse. Taxis will make trips to Ao Phrao beach when the road isn’t too muddy.

There are bike motorcycles can be rented in Na Dan or near Ao Phut Sa beach for about 400B per day. You can get around Samet Island by motorcycles.

Go to Samet Island.

GET TO SAMET ISLAND

The mainland departure-point for Ko Samet is the tiny fishing port of Ban Phe, about 200km form Bangkok. There are hourly direct buses from Bangkok’s Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekamai) to Ban Phe pier, departing between 5.30am and 5.30pm., but if you miss those you can easily take one of the more frequent buses to Rayong and then change onto songthaews (small minibuses), which leave Rayong bus station about every thirty minutes and take half an hour to reach Ban Phe pier. Alternatively, you could take one of the tourist minibuses from Thanon Khao San to Ban Phe. From Pattaya, there are hardly any direct Ban Phe Buses so you’re probably best off taking a bus to Rayong and then one of the half-hourly songthaews. There are tourist minibuses from Pattaya as well, which can be booked through most hotels. So if you want to go to one of the other beach, wait and buy your boat ticket at Ban Phe. Coming by bus from points further east, such as Chanthaburi or Trat for example, you’ll most likely be dropped at the Ban Phe junction on Highway 3, from where a songthaew or motorbike taxi will take you the remaining 5 km to the pier.

Once in Ban Phe, you need to decide which beach you want and then choose your boat accordingly. Some boats are owned by individual resorts and ferry both per-paid package tourists and fare-paying independent travelers; others make the crossing as soon as they have enough passengers (minimum eighteen people) or sufficient cargo to make it worth their while. So the best way to get on the boat with the most people and buy your ticket on board rather than from one of the boat-specific booths on the pier-head. All boats charge the same fares.

The easiest place to get to on Ko Samet is Na Dan pier on the northeastern tip of the island, which is the most convenient arrival point for the beaches of Hat Sai Kaew, Ao Hin Kok, Ao Phai, Ao Tub Tim and Ao Nuan, an quite feasible for all the other beaches as well; songthaews meet the boats at Na Dan and will take you as far as Wong Duan, or you can walk to your chosen beach. Boats to Na Dan leave from Ban Phe’s Saphaan Nuan Tip pier, they take about thirty minutes to get to Samet.

There are equally frequent boats to Al Wong Duan, which is also convenient for the nearby beaches of Ao Cho and Ao Thian. Some boats go to Wong Duan direct form Ban Phe’s Saphaan Nuan Tip pier, others stop at Na Dan first – it’s often a question of haw many people there are. Some of the bungalow resorts on the smaller beaches also run boats from Ban Phe direct to their beach. Get to Ao Phrao at different pier, called Saphaan Sri Ban Phe pier.

Reference info. from The Rough Guide

BY AIR

Domestic flights should be booked as far in advance as possible, though tickets can be bought at the airport if available; the domestic departure tax is included in the price of the ticket. Thai Airways is the main domestic carrier and flies to over twenty major towns and cities; Bangkok Airways currently covers just a few routes from the capital, including Ko Samui, Ranong and Hua Hin. All domestic flights leave form Don Muang airport.
The fastest, most expensive way of getting to the airport is by metered taxi, which can cost anything depending on where you are and how bad the traffic is. If you leave the downtown areas before 7am you can get to the airport in half and hour, but at other times you should set off at least an hour before you have to check in.
Every guesthouse and travel agent in Banglamphu, and many hotels elsewhere in the city, can book you on to one of the private minibuses to the airport. Those running form Banglamphu depart approximately every hour, day and night, though you’ll get picked up from your accommodation, you should book yourself on to a minibus that leaves at least an hour and a half before check-in commences as it can take up to 45 minutes to pick up all passengers, after which there’s the traffic to contend with.

BY BUS

Bangkok’ three main bus terminals are distributed around the outskirts of town. Leave plenty of time to get to the bus terminals, especially if setting off from Banglamphu, from where you need at least an hour and a half (outside rush hour) to get to the Eastern Bus Terminal, and a good hour to get to the Northern or Southern terminals. Seats on regular long-distance bused don’t need to be booked in advance, but air-conditioned ones should be reserved ahead of time either at the relevant bus station or through hotels and guest houses. Agencies sometimes provide transport to the bus station for an additional charge.

The Northern Bus Terminal or Sathaanii Mo Chit (departure info for both air-con and regular services) is the departure point for a few buses to the east-coast destination of Pattaya, Chanthaburi and Trat, through there are more regular services Thanon Kamphaeng Phet 2, near Chatuchak Weekend Market in the for north of the city; the fastest way to get there is to take the BTS Sky-train to its northernmost terminus, Mo Chit on Thanon Phaholyothin, which is just a few minutes’ walk from the bus terminal. Alternatively, you can take several city buses to Mo Chit, metered taxi and Tuk Tuk.

The Eastern Bus Terminal, or Sathaanii Ekamai, at Thanon Sukhumvit Soi 40, serves east-coast destinations such as Pattaya, Ban Phe (for Ko Samet) and Trat (for Ko Change). The Sky-train stops right by the bus terminal at Ekamai station, as do city buses, metered taxi and Tuk Tuk.

The Southern Bus Terminal, or Sathaanii Sai Tai Mai is at the junction of Thanon Borom Ratchonni and the Nakhon Chaisri Highway, west of the Chao Phraya River in Thonburi. If handles departures to all points south of the capital, including Hua Hin, Chumphon (for Ko Tao), Surat Thani (for Ko Samui), Phuket and Krabi (for Ko Phi Phi and Ko Lanta), as well as departures for destinations west of Bangkok, such as Kanchanaburi, Regular and air-conditioned buses leave from different sections of the Southern Bus Terminal, and anyone there will be able to point you in the right direction for your bus. To get here, take city buses, metered taxi and Tuk Tuk.

BY TRAIN

All trains depart from Hualamphong Station except the twice – daily service to Nakhon Pathom and Kanchanaburi, and a couple of the Hua Hin trains, which leave form Bangkok Noi Station (also refered to as Thonburi Station). The “Information” booth at Hualamphong station keeps English language timetables, or you can try the State Railway of Thailand website (http://www.srt.motc.go.th/) carries and English – language timetable and fare chart for major destinations. Tickets for overnight trains and other busy routes should be booked at least a day in advance (or at least a week in advance for travel on national holidays), and are best bought from Hualamphong. The clued-up English-speaking staff at VC Travel and Tour on the mezzanine floor of the station concourse (daily 5am – 8pm), above Coffee Bucks, sell all types of rail tickets at no commission, and can also book discounted mid-range accommodation at your destination. Alternatively, during normal office hours you can buy rail tickets from the clearly sighed State Railway advance booking office at the back of the station concourse (daily 8.30am-4pm).