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Thailand answers, getting around

How do I get to Koh Tao from Bangkok in one day?

By DigiTao editorial.

Koh Tao has no airport, so every trip from Bangkok ends with a boat, and the boats stop sailing in the afternoon. A same day arrival is a question of which flight lands in time for which sailing.

The same day options

From BangkokLast useful sailingBoat or joint ticketTime on the last leg
Fly to Samui, taxi to Maenam pier14:30 speedboat, catamarans at 08:00 and 12:30700 THB, or 850 THB with the taxi1.5 to 1.75 hours
Fly to Surat Thani, bus and boat from the airport14:00, after 09:30, 11:00 and 12:301,100 to 1,200 THB4 hours to 5 hours 15 minutes
Fly to Chumphon, transfer to the pier, then the catamaranabout 13:15, the last of three daily sailings from about 05:45about 600 to 900 THB1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours

Work backwards from the sailing, not forwards from the flight. Leave time for bags and the transfer to the pier, and book the boat before the flight.

What does not arrive the same day

The Lomprayah bus and catamaran ticket from Bangkok is the cheap route, from about USD 46 on Bookaway, but the earliest departure is 22:00 and the trip takes about 8 hours 45 minutes. You arrive the next morning. The overnight train to Chumphon works the same way.

Two details

  1. A 20 THB island fee is collected on arrival for everyone aged 12 and over, and it is not in your ticket.
  2. From October to December, when seas are roughest, do not connect a boat and a flight on the same day in either direction. Our answer on whether ferries get cancelled in the monsoon has the rules.

Every route in full, overnight options and the Chumphon train included, is compared in our post on how to get to Koh Tao, Samui, Chumphon or Surat Thani. Once you land, our Koh Tao page covers the first week.

Sources

  1. Koh Tao Complete Guide, getting to Koh Tao (Bangkok Airways to Samui every half hour from 06:00 to 22:00, Samui to Koh Tao 1:30 to 1:45), accessed .
  2. Siam Tickets, Lomprayah Koh Samui to Koh Tao (700 THB, 850 THB with taxi, Maenam catamarans 08:00 and 12:30, speedboat 14:30), accessed .
  3. Siam Tickets, Surat Thani airport to Koh Tao (1,100 to 1,200 THB, Lomprayah 09:30, 11:00, 12:30 and 14:00, 4 hours to 5 hours 15 minutes, 20 THB fee from age 12), accessed .
  4. Direct Ferries, Chumphon to Koh Tao (three sailings a day, first about 05:45, last about 13:15, 1 hour 45 minutes), accessed .
  5. Wonderland Koh Tao, Chumphon to Koh Tao ferry (1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, 600 to 900 THB, October to December cancellation risk), accessed .
  6. Bookaway, Lomprayah routes (Bangkok to Koh Tao bus and ferry from USD 46, earliest departure 22:00, about 8 hours 45 minutes), accessed .

Facts in this answer last verified .

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