Bangkok to Koh Phi Phi

Krabi is the better airport for Phi Phi. Klong Jilad, the ferry pier in Krabi Town, is about 20 km and 30 minutes from Krabi airport, and Krabi Town also has two speedboat piers, Kong Ka and Krabi River Marina, with boats until 16:00. Rassada, Phuket's pier, is about 35 km from Phuket airport, 40 to 55 minutes by car, and its last speedboat leaves at 15:30. So from Krabi you need less time on the road and you get half an hour more at the end of the day.

Phuket wins on flights. About 50 a day leave Bangkok for it against about 18 for Krabi, so it's easier to find one at the hour you want, which matters most when you're connecting from a long-haul arrival. The Rassada ferries also barely change between low and high season. I'd book whichever airport has the better fare for a flight that lands by early afternoon, and if they're close, Krabi.

About 18 nonstop flights a day leave Bangkok for Krabi, Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion and Nok Air from Don Mueang, and Thai Airways, Thai Vietjet, Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia from Suvarnabhumi. The flight is about 1 hour 25, and budget fares booked a few weeks ahead are usually ฿900–2,000.

From the airport, a taxi to Klong Jilad takes about 30 minutes. The ferries leave at 09:00 (Songserm and Andaman Wave Master, ฿490), 10:30 (฿450) and 13:30 (Andaman Wave Master, ฿490), with an extra 15:00 in December, and take about two hours to Tonsai. If you land too late for the 13:30, the speedboats from Kong Ka pier and Krabi River Marina leave until 16:00, 50 minutes to an hour for ฿790–1,300. A pre-booked car takes the price haggle out of it when you're aiming for a particular boat.

The easiest version is one ticket. 12Go sells a Thai Vietjet flight from Suvarnabhumi at 07:00 to Krabi with a van and ferry that leave the airport at 09:30 and reach Tonsai at 12:30, about ฿3,100–3,500 for November and December dates, and a later Thai AirAsia version that leaves at 11:35 and lands you at 17:00.

About 50 flights a day leave Bangkok for Phuket, Thai AirAsia, Nok Air and Thai Lion Air from Don Mueang and Thai Airways, Thai VietJet, Bangkok Airways and some Thai AirAsia from Suvarnabhumi, in 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 35, from about ฿1,000 booked a few weeks out.

Rassada pier is about 35 km from Phuket airport, 40 to 55 minutes by car, and the pier's taxi counter charges about ฿800 for the same run the other way. The big ferries take about two hours to Tonsai, leaving at 08:30, 08:45, 11:00, about 13:30, 13:45 and 15:00 for about ฿500–700, and the speedboats take about an hour for ฿750–850, roughly hourly until 15:30. A flight that lands by about 13:00 makes the 15:00 ferry with time to spare.

Later than most advice says. The boats don't run after dark, but the last ones leave Krabi Town's speedboat piers at 16:00 and Rassada at 15:30. Allow 30 minutes from Krabi airport to the pier, or 40 to 55 from Phuket airport, plus time to collect bags and find the counter. In practice, a flight that lands in Krabi by about 14:30 or in Phuket by about 13:30 still gets you to Phi Phi the same day, on a speedboat.

Land later than that and you sleep on the mainland. Krabi Town and Ao Nang have the morning boats (the first ferries leave Klong Jilad at 09:00 and Ao Nang's Nopparat Thara pier at 09:30), and Phuket Town is 10 minutes from Rassada, where the first boats leave at 08:30.

The overnight combos are one ticket all the way to Tonsai. Most leave the Khao San area between 18:45 and 19:00 and land at Tonsai between 10:30 and 12:30 the next day, 15 to 17 hours, for ฿1,330–1,890 on 12Go, with Montanatip, Raja Ferry, Jarinthon, Nara, Sapthaweephol and others. Nopjira Trans leaves Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal at 18:40 and 18:50 and lands at about 10:40 and 11:00, for about ฿2,100–2,630. There are also vans from Don Mueang at 15:30 and Suvarnabhumi at 17:00 that join the same run and land at 12:30, ฿2,015–2,210, which helps if you're landing in Bangkok in the afternoon.

The cheaper way is two tickets. Lignite Tour's 18:40 from the Southern Terminal reaches Krabi bus station at 05:40 for ฿715, and the 09:00 or 10:30 ferry from Klong Jilad is ฿450–490, with a short taxi across town in between. It saves a few hundred baht and costs you a transfer at dawn. Either way, it saves a hotel night and costs a night's sleep.

No railway reaches Krabi or Phi Phi. The rail route is an overnight sleeper from Krung Thep Aphiwat to Surat Thani's Phun Phin station, then a bus to Krabi and the ferry. No. 85 (19:50 to 06:23) and No. 173 (20:10 to 06:46) arrive at the right hour, a second-class berth is about ฿750–900, and Phantip's buses and vans from Phun Phin reach Krabi in 2.5 to 4 hours for ฿180–360. That makes the 13:30 ferry from Klong Jilad or an afternoon speedboat, about 18 to 20 hours in all. It's the most comfortable way to do it overland and the slowest. My Bangkok to Krabi guide has the full train table.

Almost every boat lands at Tonsai pier on Phi Phi Don, where you pay a ฿20 island fee in cash as you step off. There are no cars, so you walk to hotels in Tonsai and Loh Dalum, and take a longtail to the beaches farther out. If you're staying at Laem Tong in the north, pick a boat that continues there.

Maya Bay, on Phi Phi Leh, is in the national park, and the park fee for foreign adults is ฿400, paid on the boat or at the park. It closes every year from 1 August to 30 September.

Going back, take the boat to Krabi and fly. The 10:30 ferry from Tonsai reaches Klong Jilad at about 12:30, and the ferry-and-van tickets to Krabi airport get there about three hours after leaving Phi Phi, for about ฿790–1,090. Speedboat-and-van tickets take an hour and a half to two hours for about ฿1,170–1,800, until the last ones reach the airport around 18:15 to 19:00. Flights from Krabi to Bangkok run from about 08:15 to 20:35, so a morning ferry suits an afternoon flight. 12Go also sells the 15:30 ferry and van with a Thai Vietjet flight at 20:45 that lands at Suvarnabhumi at 22:10.

Through Phuket, allow about five hours from the boat's departure to your flight. The ferries leave Tonsai at 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 14:00, 14:30 and 15:30, so a 09:00–11:00 ferry suits an afternoon flight and a 14:00–14:30 boat is the latest for an evening one. Rough seas cancel speedboats first, so in the monsoon months I'd take an earlier boat than you need.

The overnight combos run back too. Ferry-and-bus tickets leave Tonsai at 09:00, 10:00, 13:00 and 13:30 and reach Khao San Road between 05:00 and 07:00 the next morning, for about ฿970–1,890 on 12Go.