To go from Bangkok to Surat Thani by bus I booked a ticket online and you can do the same HERE! Sometimes the bus station is rather far from the center or from the place where you stay, so to save me the hassle and sometimes even money, I bought this ticket online. Yes, it is more expensive than if I buy it directly at the bus station. But, to move to the bus station also costs money and this time it was not worth it.
Getting to Bangkok Bus Terminal Southern
The bus was supposed to depart from the Bangkok bus station called Bangkok Bus Terminal Southern (Sai Tai Mai) at 7.30 am but it departed 10 minutes later. It was fine because I was running late. Don’t underestimate Bangkok’s traffic even before 7 am. A ride that Google said would take 20 minutes turned out to take almost 40 minutes from the Silom area to this bus station by car.
The bus station was super quiet and the stores inside were not even open. There was almost no one there as well as on this bus. The whole journey from Bangkok to Surat Thani was supposed to last 10 hours and this bus is taking 8 passengers!!! Crazy. Is this still the Covid effect? (it was June 2023) Because I have never been on such an empty bus before the pandemic in Thailand!! It was weird, but I had a lot of space for myself this way. The bus was a normal one with WC on board. For that reason, we made one single stop for food at noon. But the bus from Bangkok to Surat Thani stopped several times and I realized it was stopping at checkpoints… It stopped at least at 5 different checkpoints. I am not sure what are they checking but this is something I haven’t seen happening in Vietnam that often.
Once in Surat Thani
The route is through some beautiful sceneries along the way so it wasn’t that boring. And the bus didn’t take much longer than 10 hours to complete the journey.
Already in Surat Thani, the bus stops at the Surat Thani bus terminal which is still quite far from the city center. I wanted to go to Talat area, near another bus station called Tha Kaset 2 Market. My final destination is not Surat Thani but Ba Na, a location about 1h away but with a local bus from Tha Kaset.
To move from the Surat Thani bus terminal to the city center I didn’t see any motorbike taxis whatsoever. Only one local approached me, it was the Songthaew driver. I was the only customer at that time and honestly didn’t see any other potential customers. The place was very calm. First, he asked for 200 bh because I will have to pay for the trip by myself and he has to come back to this same spot. I managed to reduce it to 150 bh, I still think it is expensive but at that time I didn’t see any other way. Plus, he was very smiley and I didn’t even try the Grab app. He dropped me at the hotel where I would stay, so it was perfect.
Where to stay in Surat Thani
Surat Thani welcomed me with a wonderful sunset and a night market full of food options. Yum, Yum! Nice spot! I stayed at My Place Hotel which is very well located, close to the pier where some boats depart to the nearby islands of Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. I inclusively discovered that there is a night boat to Koh Tao departing at 10 pm! I had no idea! Must be cheaper than the regular one and slower.
The next day I was picked up by my lovely host to go to her village Ba Na where I will volunteer with Worldpackers.