Thailand forum

The Bangkok to Samui route is notoriously expensive thanks to the monopoly held by Bangkok Air. However, the price difference you describe looks ridiculously expensive.

There are 3 options that I would consider if I were you. The best one depends on how much time you have to muck around vs money to spend:

1. Checkout Bangkok Air website to see what fares you can get online and buy the ticket separately. (This means you probably can't check your bags all the way through, but that shouldn't be a big deal).

2. Checkout Air Asia and get a much cheaper flight from Bkk to Surat Thani . From Surat Thani, get the ferry to Koh Samui. Air Asia will be significantly cheaper. Depending on flight times, you may need to stay the night in Surat Thani then catch the ferry in the morning. You will need to get from the airport (or hotel) to the pier where the ferry departs from, and the ferry takes maybe 2 hours by memory (or 3?). This may use up some some of your holiday time, but it allows you to see another town, and the ferry ride is a great way to arrive. There are several ferries - one of them is Lomprayah (http://www.lomprayah.com/E/route.htm) - this should give you more info.

3. Get a train from Bkk to Surat Thani, then the ferry to Koh Samui. Maybe there is an overnight option worth looking at? Check out http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm for train info.

If you go with Options 2 , don't bother organising your ferry ticket until you arrive in Surat Thani. You should have no problem in doing so once you are there and you can assess your options at that stage.

If you go with option 3 (eg with someone like Lomprayah) you may find that your ferry ticket is included in the price.

I booked Bangkok to Samui and I wait around 410.00 return for 2 people on Air Asia. I was going to do Bangkok to Surat Thani and take the ferry to Samui (which was a lot cheaper) but don't have the time as I have another plane to catch to get to Cambodia.
As do most, Air Asia has a ton of fees. My flight was quoted at 150.00 return. By the time all the fees were added it turned out to to total the above mentioned. I think I paid 15-20 each way for a bag also.
But after checking all services it was the cheapest at the time...

yeah, thought about that after I posted.. I mixed up my Cambodia flight with my Samui flight.. Well, if you plan on going to Cambodia that will help lol.. The flight to Samui was actually a lot more...

Cheers