How to get from Surat Thani to Koh Samui easily

By
Tanya
– February 5, 2012

Catching this songteaw was our tenth leg of transport from Langkawi to Koh Samui

Surat Thani. What a place. The train station is situated fifteen kilometres from Surat Thani town, so in reality, the train station is in the middle of nowhere. Although it involves a bit of jumping from trains, to buses, to ferries and, depending on what time you arrive at Surat Thani train station, getting to Koh Samui isn’t all that difficult.

This is how we got to Koh Samui after arriving at Surat Thani train station at 9:30pm at night. We quickly decided that trying to find transport at that time wouldn’t be practical. Plus the ferry wouldn’t be running. That pretty much meant we had no choice but to spend the night. We stayed in the Queen Hotel near the train station. Its very basic and very cheap at 350b. That’s really all there is to say about it.

The local bus from Surat Thani train station to Seatran Ferry Bus Station in Surat Thani

Leg 1 – Local Bus from Surat Thani train station to Seatran Ferry Bus Terminal

At 5:30am, we got up and walked back to the train station as there were local buses that would take you into Surat Thani town. After some initial confusion about which bus to take and where we wanted to go we eventually found our way onto what we were fairly sure was the correct bus. The bus trip took a little over 30 minutes and took us into Surat Thani town at a cost of 20 Baht each. We had asked the bus driver to drop us off at a ferry company and he helpfully dropped us right at the door off at the Seatran Ferry Bus Terminal.

Inside the local bus from the train station to Seatran bus station

At this stage I would like to point out that there are a few different companies that offer a ferry ride from Surat Thani to Koh Samui. Most “tour companies” from Surat Thani (or vice versa) will try to sell you a package deal to get from Point A at Surat Thani to Point B on Koh Samui. They may seem good value but the smaller ferries they send you on are often hideously over packed with people and their baggage! Boats jammed with huge numbers of smiling scantily clad tourists do look fun but they’re often uncomfortable due to overcrowding and the safety of these boats is questionable. There’s a reason we chose Seatran but we’ll get to that soon.

Seatrean Ferry Bus Station and Ferry Timetable

Once we got to the Seatran Ferry Bus Terminal in Surat Thani we could see why the local bus driver dropped us off here. This is the ferry he would have chosen to go to Koh Samui. Thank you Mr Bus Driver!

Seatran Ferry Bus from their bus station in Surat Thani to the Donsak Pier

Leg 2 – Seatran Bus from their terminal in Surat Thani to Donsak Pier

The Seatran Ferry company were very professional when dealing with us and other people buying joint bus / ferry tickets to Koh Samui. A lot of local Thai people were buying tickets from here which always helps reassure you that you’ve made the right decision.

We were to be on the next bus from their terminal to their pier at Donsak. 7:30am. This cost us 230 Baht each including the ferry ticket to Koh Samui. It would take 90 minutes from the bus station to the pier. The ride was very pleasant with a lot of countryside to look at outside the window. Very relaxing at this time of the morning.

Moving pictures on the bus to the pier

Leg 3 – Seatran ferry from Donsak Pier, Surat Thani to Nathon Pier, Koh Samui

Ahhh the Seatran Ferry, how I loved seeing you for the first time! The ferry was so large and took both passengers and vehicles across the ocean to Koh Samui. Seriously, if you are heading to Koh Samui from Surat Thani, please take this ferry!

Seatran Ferry from Donsak Pier in Surat Thani to Koh Samui

The ferry was pristine inside, had large reclining seats to lay back in, televisions with Thai love comedy shows playing, very very clean toilets, a cafeteria selling everything you could ever want at Thai prices and you could even get a foot massage while you relax!

Inside the Seatran Ferry

Seatran Ferry provides a foot massage service

Seatran Ferry also has a very cheap cafe selling everything you could imagine

Yes, I really loved catching the Seatran Ferry. The ferry was so big that it didn’t feel like we were on the ocean. So clean, so nice, so gooood! From Donsak Pier to Nathon Pier took about 90 minutes in total.

Leg 4 – Songteaw from Nathon Pier, Koh Samui to Pantai Chaweng, Koh Samui

We were relieved to finally reach Koh Samui. Catching a songteaw from the pier was our tenth leg of transport from Langkawi in Malaysia all the way up to Koh Samui in Thailand. When you arrive at the pier on Samui walk all the way out the front to the main road. Then go up to a songteaw (ute/pickup truck with benches for seating in the back) driver and say that you are going to Chaweng (or wherever you are going). They will demand a ridiculous price. You counter offer 60 Baht. They tell you to go away and point you towards the local bus which is another Songteaw that waits until its mostly full then heads off to do a lap of the island picking up and dropping off people as it goes. If you really want dropped off right at your hotel then feel free to negotiate with the first Songteaw driver. The local bus songteaw will tell you when you reach Chaweng as this is where most tourists get off.

Yay!
Link to Seatran Ferry Timetable (all written in Thai)

Update: I have further information on how to travel from Surat Thani to Koh Samui easily…

From the Surat Thani train station you can take a taxi either to Surat Thani train station or to Donsak Pier. The taxi stand that is just to the left of the station has a sign with locations and prices marked on it.

Surat Thani Train Station to Surat Thani town = 230 Baht one way
Surat Thani Train Station to Donsak Pier = 1200 Baht one way

Hope this helps!

The local bus from Surat Thani train station to Seatran Ferry Bus Station in Surat Thani
The local bus from Surat Thani train station to Seatran Ferry Bus Station in Surat Thani
Inside the local bus from the train station to Seatran bus station
Inside the local bus from the train station to Seatran bus station
Seatrean Ferry Bus Station and Ferry Timetable
Seatrean Ferry Bus Station and Ferry Timetable

Seatran Ferry Bus from their bus station in Surat Thani to the Donsak Pier
Seatran Ferry Bus from their bus station in Surat Thani to the Donsak Pier
Moving pictures on the bus to the pier
Moving pictures on the bus to the pier
Inside the Seatran bus from Surat Thani to Donsak Pier
Inside the Seatran bus from Surat Thani to Donsak Pier

Seatran Ferry from Donsak Pier in Surat Thani to Koh Samui
Seatran Ferry from Donsak Pier in Surat Thani to Koh Samui
Seatran Ferry takes cars and motirbikes as well as passengers
Seatran Ferry takes cars and motirbikes as well as passengers
Inside the Seatran Ferry
Inside the Seatran Ferry

Seatran Ferry provides a foot massage service
Seatran Ferry provides a foot massage service
Seatran Ferry also has a very cheap cafe selling everything you could imagine
Seatran Ferry also has a very cheap cafe selling everything you could imagine
Moving pictures on the ferry to Koh Samui
Moving pictures on the ferry to Koh Samui

Andrew on the ferry over to Koh Samui
Andrew on the ferry over to Koh Samui
Tanya on the ferry over to Koh Samui
Tanya on the ferry over to Koh Samui
Clean and expansive deck to sit on
Clean and expansive deck to sit on

First views of Koh Samui
First views of Koh Samui
Catching this songteaw was our tenth leg of transport from Langkawi to Koh Samui
Catching this songteaw was our tenth leg of transport from Langkawi to Koh Samui


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About Tanya

Tanya is a TEFL teaching farmer’s daughter and writes most of the posts. She is also an experienced IT person, a fantastic organiser and an awesome cook. She left a free-beer-providing IT job in a brewery for life on the road. That is commitment!