Hua Hin to Koh Samui

Lomprayah runs the only through service that starts in Hua Hin rather than picking you up from a Bangkok bus. The coach leaves its office on Phetkasem Road, the main road through town, at 08:30, and drives about 290 km south to the company's own pier at Thung Makham Noi, below Chumphon. The 13:15 catamaran calls at Koh Tao at 15:00 and Koh Phangan at 16:45 and lands at Pralarn pier in Maenam, on Samui's north coast, at 17:30. The standard coach and boat costs ฿1,450 and the VIP coach ฿1,750, and for ฿150 more a van meets the boat and drops you at your hotel at about 18:30.

It's a long day, but it's one ticket and one company from your town to the island, so if the coach runs late the boat is theirs too. Pralarn is walkable from the Maenam hotels and 30 to 40 minutes from Chaweng. Book it at the Hua Hin office, on Lomprayah's own site or on 12Go, and in the December to January peak and around Full Moon parties I'd book a few days ahead.

Lomprayah's night coach leaves the same office at 23:30 and meets its slow ferry at Chumphon before dawn. You reach Koh Tao around 08:15, change onto the catamaran there, and land at Bangrak pier, ten minutes from Samui airport and 15 from Chaweng, at 11:15, for ฿1,250, or at your hotel at about 12:15 for ฿1,400. Boonsiri's Bangkok night coach picks up in Hua Hin at 01:00 and runs the same way through Chumphon and Koh Tao to Bangrak, about 11:30, from about ฿1,566 on 12Go.

The other night buses go the long way, through Surat Thani to Donsak and Seatran's ferry. Montanatip and TravelBusAsia leave from near the clock tower between 22:00 and 22:30 and reach Samui between about 08:30 and 09:30, Montanatip at Nathon on the west coast, for about ฿860–1,000 on 12Go. They're the cheapest tickets, but a September 2026 review describes a scramble onto a van at Surat Thani that only just made the ferry, so I'd keep this one for a tight budget.

All ten southern trains stop at Hua Hin, and all of them reach Surat Thani's station at Phun Phin, but only the late ones arrive at a useful hour. Express No. 85 leaves Hua Hin at 23:47 and arrives at 06:23, Rapid No. 173 leaves at 00:10 and arrives at 06:46, Rapid No. 167 leaves at 00:23 and arrives at 07:16, and the 02:09 railcar No. 39/41, seats only, arrives at 07:50. The earlier sleepers get in between 01:00 and 05:00, too early for the first boats. On 12Go a 2nd-class air-conditioned seat to Surat Thani costs about ฿390–470 and a 2nd-class sleeper berth about ฿620, and the fan seats are under ฿250. A Hua Hin to Surat Thani journey is about half the route of No. 85 and No. 167, so on SRT's booking tiers their seats should go on sale about 30 days ahead; D-Ticket shows the real date for your train.

On the station forecourt the joint bus-and-ferry tickets to Samui start at 05:30. Phantip's 08:00 coach and Seatran ferry reach Nathon at about 12:30 for ฿520, Raja's 07:00 coach and car ferry reach Lipa Noi at about 11:30 for ฿558, and Lomprayah's 09:30 coach and catamaran reach Nathon at 11:45 for ฿750. 12Go also sells the train and ferry as one ticket from about ฿754. The 10:36 day train, No. 43, arrives at 16:20, after the last joint ticket leaves the station at 16:00, so it means a night in Surat Thani. Our Surat Thani to Koh Samui guide has every departure from the station and the ferries from Donsak.

The car ferry runs from Donsak, east of Surat Thani, so a private car drives the whole 518 km there, about 6 hours 20 without stops, then rides Raja's ferry across to Lipa Noi in about 1 hour 30. Raja sails every hour from 05:00 to 19:00, and its vehicle fares include the driver. On 12Go private cars from Hua Hin to a Samui hotel start at about ฿9,100, with a ten-seat van at about ฿9,500, and take about 10 to 12 hours door to door. Split four ways that's about ฿2,300 a head, and you leave when you like, but I'd start by 07:00 to be sure of the ferry.

Lomprayah's 08:30 coach is the same one for all three islands, and the boat calls at Koh Tao first. Mae Haad on Koh Tao is 15:00 for ฿1,250 (VIP ฿1,550) and Koh Phangan 16:45 for ฿1,350 (VIP ฿1,650). The 23:30 night coach and slow ferry reach Koh Tao at 08:15 for ฿850 and Koh Phangan at 10:30 for ฿1,150. Boonsiri also runs a coach from Hua Hin at 08:00 that reaches Koh Tao at 15:00, about ฿1,100–1,250 on 12Go.

By train, Koh Tao is the easy one, because Chumphon is closer than Surat Thani. Express No. 85 from Hua Hin reaches Chumphon at 03:43, and Lomprayah's and Boonsiri's vans leave the station at 06:00 for the morning catamarans, on Koh Tao by about 08:30 to 08:45 for ฿900. Our Chumphon to Koh Tao guide has every boat.

Going back, Lomprayah's catamaran leaves Pralarn pier in Maenam at 08:00 and 12:30, calls at Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, and its coach from Chumphon reaches Hua Hin at 18:00 and 21:45, for ฿1,450 or ฿1,750 on the VIP coach. From Koh Phangan the same boats leave at 08:30 and 13:00 for ฿1,350, and from Koh Tao at 10:15 and 15:00 for ฿1,250, with a 12:30 slow ferry that reaches Hua Hin at 21:00 for ฿850.

The night buses go the other way round, by ferry to Donsak and then north. On 12Go, Montanatip leaves Samui at 14:00 or 15:00 and reaches Hua Hin at about 02:00 for about ฿860, which leaves you looking for a room in the middle of the night. The train is awkward too, because the evening trains north from Surat Thani pass Hua Hin between about 01:00 and 05:00, and the one daytime train, the No. 40 railcar, leaves Phun Phin at 09:00, earlier than you can get there from the island. I'd take Lomprayah's 08:00 boat. A private car back costs from about ฿8,300 on 12Go.