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Train travel from KL to Phuket (or closest)
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jweston
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Hi. Going to travel by train from KL towards Phuket. Best stop to get off? then what? what is the train like in terms of comfort?
Thanks for any help.
Joan
#1 Posted: 5/10/2009 - 20:23
somtam2000
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There's a general wrap on the Thai train system here. For Phuket the best stop to get off at is Surat Thani (the station is actually a little out of town at a town called Phun Phin). From there it is a straightforward busride across the peninsular to Phuket.
#2 Posted: 6/10/2009 - 07:12
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Thanks a ton somtam2000. How long does the busride take and also, is it air conditioned? Are we better to go by minibus?
Joan
#3 Posted: 6/10/2009 - 08:42
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Hi Joan,
There are both air-con and fan-cooled buses -- I'd definitely lean towards an air-con one. The trip takes around 6 hours by air-con bus, minibuses do it in less -- 4-4.5 hours.
#4 Posted: 6/10/2009 - 09:39
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Hmmm.. Surat Thai is over-shooting it a little. You could try getting off in Trang then working your way to Phuket along the west coast. It should cut down on your travel time a bit and there are more nice beaches between Trang and Phuket (like Krabi ).
The public bus between Trang and Phuket takes about 5 hours. Trang to Krabi is a little less than 3 hours. If you were planning to also go to Koh Phi Phi, you could take the train to Trang, a bus to Krabi, a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, then a ferry from Phi Phi to Phuket.
#5 Posted: 6/10/2009 - 17:24
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Great. Thanks to both of you for all your help.
Cheers
#6 Posted: 8/10/2009 - 09:08
exacto
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hey j,
if you were keen to go by train, then i'm pretty sure your best choice would be to take the train to surat thani/phun phin and bus it to phuket from there.
if you were taking a mini bus, then you have all sorts of options, just like durian says.
if you haven't yet, you could also look into the air asia flights directly from KL to phuket. i think it runs between USD 50 to 100 per person for the flight. not a bad deal all things considered. cheers.
#7 Posted: 8/10/2009 - 10:31
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Thanks exacto. That was our first thought but then we thought the train would be more interesting. I'm not sure how long it takes but we're not in a particular hurry.
Cheers
#8 Posted: 9/10/2009 - 06:59
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KL to Phuket is a long way and train is probably not the best way for the majority of the trip. I don't think you can get a half decent arrival/connection time in Phun Phin anyway.
If you want to go pretty much direct I certainly advise flying, but with time no object there are a number of options - which are best spread out over a few days - including:
Train to Butterworth, ferry Penang to Langkawi and then to Satun, bus to Krabi and then Phuket.
Train to Butterworth, bus to Hadyai, Krabi and then to Phuket.
Fly to Langkawi, then ferry/bus to Phuket.
Etc Etc
#9 Posted: 9/10/2009 - 11:02
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Wow. So many options.
Thanks everyone.
#10 Posted: 9/10/2009 - 12:54
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