I will stay 1 month in Thailand and my next move is from Bangkok to Koh Tao. I paid 900 Baht (23€), but I have done this ride with other people that have spent less, and more. So, it truly depends on the travel agent where you decide to buy this ride. Despite having different prices, they are all using the same buses and boat and means of transport to do this tour from Bangkok to Koh Tao.
I met with a lot of different people in the same place, and they haven’t bought their tickets in the same agent I did. So, just find the cheapest one and buy your ticket there.
In Thailand, everything is very well organized to transport tourists, at least from my point of view, as I haven’t seen something like this in India or Myanmar. Here the different tour offices seem to be in touch with their competitors and they seem to organize everything together. However, this trip from Bangkok to Koh Tao wasn’t so pleasant. I think I spent more time waiting than actually in the move…
All the tourists were gathering at 6 pm in Bangkok, really close to Khao San road and the final destination: Koh Tao, was reached at 10 am the following day.
First, we took a mini-van from this place near Khao San road to the main bus station in Bangkok. It still a 20min car ride. If I knew the path this tour would take, I would have done it on my own and save a lot of money. This is to conclude that you can easily go to this main bus station on your own and there buy a bus ticket to Surat Thani. Surat Thani is the place where the boats to the Islands depart. You can also reach it by train, but this option is more expensive.
So, this mini-van left us on the main Bangkok bus station and there we waited for 3h, yes 3 hours, for the bus to depart to Surat Thani. That’s why I say that you better do it on your own, and there are so many tourists doing this trip that you just need to follow them. Actually, there were only tourists on this bus, something I haven’t experienced before on this trip.
We reach Surat Thani around 6 am and took another mini-van to the bus station. This bus station is close to the railway station and we actually waited there for around 30 min for the tourists that were coming by train. Again, as I say, everything is connected in this tours for tourists, that’s why I say they are very well organized…
Next step in going by bus to the Surat Thani port. It still takes more than 1h ride. When getting there, we wait again for the boat to depart. This is why I say that we spent more time waiting… I wasn’t able to sleep a lot on the night bus, so I reach Koh Tao very tired.
Luckily I met 3 nice Americans and we were together through this long journey. The boat to Koh Tao still takes a few more hours to get to the Island, so I slept inside, but you can also enjoy the ride outside. That’s what I did on my next boat trips because going downstairs gives me nausea. The boat that is going to Koh Tao is the same for the other Islands, just Koh Tao is the first stop. 90% of the people on this boat were actually tourists. Thailand is such a touristic place, so don’t be afraid of not finding a solution to go anywhere you want.
This time I’m putting a map on the post about this tour so you can check how to get from Bangkok to Koh Tao on your own.
