Malaysia forum

Posted from within Vietnam.

Hi. We did it the opposite way - well from Ko Phagnan to Penang, but still via Surat Thani, so this will give you an indication of the journey (it will just be a shorter ferry journey to Ko Samui).


We got a songthaew / taxi to the boat, had a 2 hour ferry ride to the mainland, then a bus for an hour or so to Surat Thani, then another songtheaw to the office, then an hour's wait before we got squashed onto a minibus which took us to nearer the border, we then swapped onto another minibus which took us through the border and to Penang. It took about 15 hours door to door and cost 1,100 Baht each (bought from our guesthouse in Ko Phangnan).

So it's convuluted and quite time-consuming but possible!

I did this many years ago. Travel agents in Chulia st can arrange - but I reckon most accomm places in Penang can do the same.

Thing is my trip got me to Surathani town pier well before the night boats left for the islands (around 2200 - 2300). Excellent way to get to/back from islands - cut the zzzzs on yer designtated matress and pillow while the boat chugs down-river and across the sea. Have repeated the trip several times since.
Transport waiting at the pier when you hit the island.

Thanks all!

I did a 20 bus ride in Peru and it was exhausting! Stopping in hat yai sounds good. What if we took the 5am train to hat yai, spent the night, and then took a mini bus to Surat thani the next day. Worth it?

If they leave Hat Yai in the morning they should arrive at the pier outside Surat Thani with lots of time for an afternoon ferry and arrival on the island before dark. The night ferry is slower, but you do save on accommodation.

Posted from within Vietnam.

Eek.... I've got a reasonable memory but not sure how precise I can be. Something like this I think (it was last October). Remember I did it the opposite way to your trip:

Left hotel at 6am
Ferry from Koh Phangnan at 7am
2 hours on the ferry (9am)
About 1/2 hour wait at port (9.30am)
Maybe 1.5 hours on big bus to Surat Thani (11am)
Straight into a songtheaw for about 10 mins to the office
Waited at office for up to an hour (12am)
Into minibus to Hat Yai - I really can't remember how long this bit took but probably about 4-5 hours (4pm)
Straight into another minibus and an hour or so to the border (5pm)
Border crossing was pretty straightforward but took around an hour with the waiting for other people etc. (6pm)
Same bus down to Georgetown which took around 3 hours (9pm)

We actually arrived at 10ish so I've lost an hour there somewhere but you get the general idea! I don't remember having many rest stops whilst on the minibus but as the journey was broken up it didn't matter. Hope that helps.

Sounds like we are going to take a minibus to Hat Yai, spend the night, then take a Minibus early next morning to Surat Thani. Its too bad you can't fly from Penang to Samui!

sara- thank you very much for putting in the time and effort!
durin- thanks for all the recommendations! The rojak sounds awesome!