There are different ways to go from Phuket to Koh Lanta and I chose the one by land, which means minivan. From Phuket, you can actually go to Koh Lanta by speed boat which is much faster, but also more expensive. I was looking for the cheapest option.
I didn’t search if there are any tours to go to Koh Lanta from Phuket, but probably there are. But that was not my purpose… I wanted to stay in Koh Lanta for at least a month.* I am a remote worker at this time
I was living in Patong, the most touristy and busy area in Phuket, and I already know that different tour operators can have very different prices. One useful tip in case you are trying to save a few pennies for the same service provided by other operators: tip number 1 is to not buy it near the busiest street. Usually the closest they are to the busiest street, the more expensive they are. And sometimes you don’t even have to get further more than a few meters to find better proposals.
The other tip is to not go to fancy places with a nice facility, aircon inside, etc. The cheaper ones will be the small counters in the open air where the person has nothing else but a chair to sit on. But again, the more you distance from the busy center, the higher the chance of a better deal. That’s what happened to me.
As always, I went to different places just asking for prices from Phuket to Koh Lanta and after 4 approaches I found mine. For exactly the same service I was quoted: 1500bh; 1050bh; 1000bh and 850bh. Obviously, I chose the last one!
The thing is that you pay different prices for exactly the same service that was a minivan trip from Phuket to Koh Lanta that includes pick up and drop at the hotel. I can go in the same minivan and have another passenger that has spent more or less than me. That’s how it works.
850bh- about 24€- was the best price I found from Phuket to Koh Lanta. But there can be cheaper options…
Another thing that I could have done is go to the bus terminal number 2 in Phuket town and from there get on the bus to Koh Lanta. But, this is all happening during Covid times and I was actually the only person willing to go from Phuket to Koh Lanta by bus.
The whole trip was long, not for the trip itself but because of all the waiting. But I deeply believe this was all because there are not enough people traveling in Thailand right now that could fill the demand, so they found a way of getting me to Koh Lanta even though I changed minivan several times. so, The journey had different stages:
From Patong to Phuket town
First, they pick everyone from Patong and that sometimes can take a while. It depends on your spot on the list. If you are the 1st being picked up, the journey will be even longer as they will have to pick up all the other passengers after you. So if they don’t show up in time don’t worry. It is super normal as sometimes the passengers are not ready and we have to wait a while until we can proceed on to the next one. So, don’t panic.
Then this minivan dropped us off somewhere in Phuket town, near the main street where another minivan picked us up 1h later!!! Yes, we waited for 1h… and this was one of the cons of covid. We were just 3 people waiting and the other two were going to Krabi. I’m the only one going from Phuket to Koh Lanta. On the same minivan that proceeded with its journey, there were people going to Samui, Khao Sok, and other places. But again, the influx of tourists at this time was very low.
From Phuket town to Krabi
So, when finally we got on the minivan to Krabi, it was not the last change we had to do before arriving at the bus station in Krabi. We changed minivan once more, a minivan just for the 3 of us, and then finally we were dropped off at this very “foreigner-like” minivan station that they have nearby Krabi town. It is a small place next to houses where they have several minivans leaving, but I only see tourists there. I think this is where they have all the tourists going, and then from here, they take us to the final destination. (no this was not Krabi bus terminal, it is somewhere else)
From Krabi to Koh Lanta
From this point on I waited about 30 minutes for the minivan that is going to Koh Lanta and this was the last vehicle change. Being in Asia for so long sometimes is still useless. I think I was scammed right away haha. When I left the minivan I was approached by a man that was looking for the person that was going to Koh Lanta. He was super nice, very friendly, and smiley and asked if I want to buy already the drop-off to my hotel. At that time I didn’t know that the drop-off at the hotel was included. I had this huge backpack with me along with some pain, so I accepted his offer. First, he asked me for 100bh and I said no immediately. I said I would find something later then. He took out a handful of money started counting and finally asked me for 50bh. Well, for that price I accepted his offer even though I had to pay 0 extra to be dropped off where I wanted to. Whatever… sometimes you can’t escape these schemes… Now I think he was gathering money for himself, that’s why the money counting before dropping the price to half haha. I can’t stop feeling stupid sometimes for falling into these schemes, but they really know how to do it. They are just so extra nice that sometimes it is hard to say no baaaaaaaaaaa Whatever, it was less than 2€.
This minivan from Krabi to Koh Lanta takes about 3hours, but it can depend on the ferry. Koh Lanta isn’t connected to the mainland. They have a project to build a bridge, but I think that will take some time to be true. Meanwhile, there is a ferry service that carries all the cars, minivans, trucks, buses, motorbikes, and everything possible to the other side of the sea. The ferry is very effective and doesn’t take long to cross the water, maybe about 15 minutes. The thing is that it depends on if you are lucky to arrive when the ferry is about to leave, or if the ferry had just departed. If the ferry had just departed and you are the 1st in line waiting, then your journey will be a bit longer. That happened to me once and even that way we didn’t wait for longer than 20 minutes to get on the next ferry.
Then, once in Koh Lanta, the driver is dropping off the passengers as he drives to the south of the island.
Check the places worth a visit on the island HERE!
