Chiang Mai to Koh Samui

Bangkok Airways is the only airline flying Chiang Mai to Samui without a stop, and it flies the route once a day. PG242 leaves Chiang Mai at 11:30 and lands on Samui at 13:15, every day through the winter schedule, and from the end of March it shifts to 11:35, landing at 13:20. That's a relaxed start, out of a Chiang Mai hotel by about 09:30 and on the beach by mid-afternoon. Thai Airways sells seats on the same flight under its own number, so don't mistake it for a second departure.

The airline also owns Samui's airport, which is why the island's fares sit well above the rest of the country's domestic flights. For dates in November, December, January and March, 12Go showed this flight at ฿10,049 one way every time, and for a date in May about ฿6,800. A 20 kg checked bag is included, which narrows the gap a little against a budget fare plus baggage. If the nonstop is sold out or too dear, check the one-stop flights in the next section before giving up on flying all the way.

This is the route the Reddit threads and travel-hack videos mean when they say you can reach Samui for far less. Thai AirAsia flies Chiang Mai to Surat Thani nonstop at 08:10, landing at 10:00 after 1 hour 50, every day on the dates I checked, plus a 17:30 on some days. 12Go showed about ฿3,800–6,400 for a November date and about ฿4,400–5,400 for December and February dates. Most other Chiang Mai to Surat Thani flights you'll see change in Bangkok, so look for the 1 hour 50 nonstop.

The combined bus-and-boat counters are in the Surat Thani arrivals hall. From the 10:00 landing, Boonsiri's 11:30 van and catamaran reaches Nathon pier on Samui at 14:15 and Lomprayah's 12:30 coach and catamaran reaches Nathon at 15:45, each ฿850, or ฿1,000 with a drop at your hotel. Phantip's coaches with the Seatran ferry run until mid-afternoon for less. That's about seven and a half hours from takeoff to the pier, against the nonstop's two. The 17:30 flight lands too late for the boats, so it means a night in Surat Thani. Our Surat Thani to Koh Samui guide has every departure from the airport.

Bangkok Airways also sells Chiang Mai to Samui with a change at Suvarnabhumi, on one ticket with your bag checked through. On 12Go the useful ones left Chiang Mai at 10:10 or 12:10 and reached Samui between about 15:00 and 17:00, 4 to 5 hours in all, for about ฿8,100–9,300 on the November to January dates, a little below the nonstop. Avoid the overnight connections the booking sites also list, which leave Chiang Mai in the evening and land the next morning.

You can also build it yourself, a low-cost flight to Don Mueang and one of Bangkok Airways' three daily Don Mueang to Samui flights, but on separate tickets a delay leaves you on your own, so I'd only do it with three or four hours between flights.

No through bus. A bus means Chiang Mai to Bangkok's Mo Chit terminal overnight, a cross-town ride to the Southern Terminal or Khao San Road, and a second night on a bus-and-boat ticket south, about two days in all. The train above is the same time with a bed.

Going back, the nonstop leaves Samui at 08:50 and lands in Chiang Mai at 10:40, and it was much cheaper in that direction on the dates I checked, so the Surat Thani route rarely pays. Our Koh Samui to Chiang Mai guide has the flight, the evening AirAsia from Surat Thani and the train north.