Bangkok to Krabi

Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion, and Nok Air fly from Don Mueang (DMK); Thai Airways, Thai Vietjet, Bangkok Airways, and AirAsia again from Suvarnabhumi (BKK). With this much competition, fares behave. Book around six weeks out and ฿900–2,000 one-way is normal, with lows in the ฿700s on promo days. Peak weeks (mid-December–January, Songkran) still sell out the cheap seats first, and Krabi is one of the routes where early booking pays most.

Krabi's airport sits 15 km northeast of Krabi Town, about 40 minutes from Ao Nang, and your transfer options span a 10x price range for the same road. The airport shuttle bus meets most flights and runs ฿150 to Ao Nang (about ฿90–100 to Krabi Town); shared vans charge ฿150–200 per person with hotel drop-off. The prepaid taxi counter quotes ฿1,200–1,500 per car to Ao Nang. Grab works from the airport at roughly ฿600–900, though drivers sometimes ask you to walk to the car park at busy times. Solo or in a pair, take the shuttle. Three people with bags, and the maths starts favouring a car.

Buses leave Bangkok's Southern Terminal (Sai Tai Mai, across the river in Thonburi, allow 30–45 minutes to get there) between about 17:00 and 20:40, arriving in Krabi from 06:00 to 09:30 the next morning. Lignite Tour is the name brand on the route, and you'll pay around ฿650 for the express and ฿970 for the 24-seat VIP with near-flat recline, blankets, and a meal stop. That dawn arrival is genuinely useful: it puts you at the pier in time for the morning boats to Phi Phi or Railay.

Two practical notes. First, Krabi's bus terminal is at Talat Kao, 4–5 km north of Krabi Town, so a white songthaew (~฿50) or a short Grab finishes the trip to town or Ao Nang. Second, book the terminal operators rather than the cheap 'tourist buses' sold around Khao San Road. I wouldn't risk the latter, they've a long reputation for slow runs and luggage that arrives lighter than it left.

No trains reach Krabi, but the southern sleeper line passes through Surat Thani, 2.5–4 hours away by bus. The play: take train no. 85 from Krung Thep Aphiwat (departs 19:50, arrives Surat Thani's Phun Phin station around 06:23), then a Phantip connecting bus, sold as a through-ticket and boarding just south of the station, for the run to Krabi. Second-class air-con berths cost about ฿750–900, and the bus leg adds roughly ฿180–360. Total: 14–15 hours and ฿930–1,260 all-in, most of it horizontal.

Choose it for the same reasons as any Thai sleeper: you ride the classic line, save a hotel night, and arrive rested rather than folded. Book berths one to two weeks ahead in high season, as lower berths go first, and always as a train-plus-bus through-ticket so a late train doesn't strand you at Phun Phin renegotiating a bus fare.