Thailand forum

On many of the long-haul bus routes, the buses either leave early in the morning or early in the evening, with no afternoon/mid-day departures. But I'd expect to see that more on a That Phanom to Bangkok type of route rather than a major destination like Phuket.

I generally try to avoid the overnight buses, but if I had to take one, I think it would be worth waiting for one of those super VIP buses with only 24 seats if at all possible. Expensive but worth it.

It's probably a good idea to head on over to the southern bus terminal anyway to see what is available and to book a seat in advance for that night if you can. Plus, you could always check to see if there is anything leaving for an intermediate destination like Ranong or Surat or such and then catch a local bus the rest of the way to Phuket. Of course, you may have to wind up spending the night and then catching the local bus in the morning, but at least you'd be closer and would get a good nights sleep. Good luck.

yeah, there is an exp diesel rail car that leaves hualamphong for surat at 0805, if your flight arrives in bangkok early enough to make that. but other than that, the daytime trains to surat all arrive at like 1 or 2 am, so you'd be better off just waiting for the overnight sleeper train, if you can get a berth.

takua-pa is nice too, and it puts you close to khao lak, one of my favorites (or at least pre tsunami, but i hear it has fully recovered).

april 9th could be tough to get out of town, because just like you say it is the friday night before the week of the songkhran holiday. good luck!

yes there're morning buses at Sai Tai Mai. but you need to go to Sai Tai Mai, Not to Mo Chit,because Mo Chit is for people who want to go to The North and North-East