Koh Phangan to Koh Samui

Samui Airport is on the northeast corner of the island, ten minutes by road from the Bangrak piers, so a boat that lands at Bangrak is the one to take. From Thong Sala that means Lomprayah's 10:45, 12:30 and 16:00 catamarans, the Lomlahkkhirin speedboats at 07:30, 13:40, 15:00 and 17:05, Seatran at 10:30 and 16:00 or Boonsiri at 11:00, all 25 to 45 minutes across. Then a Grab from the pier to the terminal is ฿150 to 250 and ten minutes. Bangkok Airways, which flies most of the Samui schedule, closes check-in 45 minutes before departure, and the terminal is small and quick, but the boats do slip: allow two and a half hours between the boat's scheduled arrival at Bangrak and your departure time, and three and a half if your boat lands at Pralarn or Nathon, which are 30 to 45 minutes from the airport by road. An afternoon flight after a 12:30 boat is comfortable; a 13:00 flight after the 10:45 is not.

The no-thinking option is Lomprayah's through ticket from Thong Sala to Samui Airport, ฿500 on its 2026 timetable, sold at the Thong Sala counters and online. The boat lands at Bangrak (or Pralarn on the 08:05, 11:00, 17:00 and 18:30 sailings), a Lomprayah van meets it and drops you at the terminal roughly an hour after you sailed: the 07:30 has you at the airport by 08:30, the 12:30 by 13:30, the 17:00 by 18:00. It costs ฿150 more than the pier ticket plus a Grab, and it removes the one step that goes wrong. A morning flight, before about 10:30, is the hard case: the earliest boat is 07:30, the airport van arrives 08:30, and that is too tight for anything but a domestic flight with hand luggage. For an early flight, sleep in Bangrak or Chaweng the night before; the 17:05 Lomlahkkhirin or the 16:00 Seatran the previous afternoon is the boat to take.

Thong Sala's terminal is the easiest place in the Gulf to be a walk-up passenger. The operators' counters run along the building, each with the day's departures and fares posted or in a laminated binder, and they sell every onward leg as well: Koh Tao, Surat Thani, the night boat, Bangkok by bus, Krabi and Phuket. In a normal week you can buy a Samui ticket 30 minutes before a sailing; for the 07:30 and the morning after a party, buy the day before or online. Check in at the counter with an online booking to get your boarding sticker and a colored luggage tag, then hand the bag to the crew, who stack it at the bow and leave it on the pier at the other end. Keep valuables in your day bag and put a lock on anything checked; the boats are safe, but a lot of people pass through. Lomprayah's sign says 20 kg per person, and nobody weighs a normal suitcase.

Getting to Thong Sala is the part to plan, because Grab does not work on Koh Phangan. The covered songthaew trucks that meet every boat also run the other way: from Haad Rin or Ban Tai it's ฿100 to 200 per person shared and 20 to 30 minutes, from Haad Yao or Chaloklum on the north coast 30 to 40 minutes and ฿150 to 250, and from Thong Nai Pan ฿400 to 600 for the whole vehicle and 45 to 60 minutes on the hill road. Most resorts run a pier shuttle if you give them your boat time the night before, and Lomprayah's ฿500 hotel-pickup ticket (except Thong Nai Pan) does the same as a shared van. The terminal has a 7-Eleven, ATMs and a row of food stalls, so you can arrive early and eat.

If you're in Haad Rin, the Haad Rin Queen sails from the village's own pier, at the western end of the party strip and a five-minute walk from the Sunrise Beach guesthouses. The wooden ferry leaves at 09:30 and 16:00, 50 minutes to the Big Buddha pier in Bangrak for ฿200 cash at the desk; the company's speedboat leaves at 12:30 and 17:00, 25 to 30 minutes for ฿500. Big Buddha is in the same bay as the other Bangrak piers and ten minutes from the airport, so for a Haad Rin-to-airport run the 12:30 speedboat is a good connection. On the mornings after a Full Moon Party the ferry fills; the 12:30 speedboat is the calmer choice.

If you're staying on the Ban Tai or Ban Khai strip, Echo Travel's speedboats leave from the Baan Tai pier for Petcherat Marina in Bangrak, 30 minutes for ฿490, from 08:00 in the morning with departures every two hours or so through the day. They're the most expensive boats on the crossing and the most convenient for that stretch of coast, because the pier is a walk or a short songthaew from most of the resorts and the Bangrak landing is beside the airport. Everyone else goes to Thong Sala.

The day after each party (the remaining 2026 dates are 27 October, 24 November, 24 December and 31 December) is the busiest morning of the month at Thong Sala, because a large share of the island tries to leave on the same handful of boats before noon. The operators add sailings, but the 08:00 and 10:45 still sell out days ahead. The rule that works is to book the return when you book the outbound, and to pick the 12:30 or a later boat rather than the early ones: you get a lie-in, the queue has thinned, and you are still on Samui by early afternoon. If you're flying the same day, that is the one occasion to buy the ฿500 airport ticket in advance rather than chance the pier. Party-morning boats are crowded and quiet; keep your bag on your lap and drink water.

Bangrak's piers sit on the Big Buddha road with taxis and Grab drivers waiting; Chaweng is 15 minutes and about ฿250 to 350 by Grab, Bophut's Fisherman's Village ten minutes, the airport ten. Pralarn pier is in Maenam village, walkable to the Maenam beach hotels and a ฿100 to 150 Grab to Bophut; Chaweng from here is 30 to 40 minutes. Nathon is the west-coast town and the government pier, with songthaews and taxis on the road outside; Chaweng and the airport are 45 minutes and ฿400 to 500 by taxi. If you land at Nathon and are heading east, the shared songthaews along the ring road are the cheap way at ฿50 to 100 a hop. Whichever pier, agree the fare or use the app before you get in; Samui's pier taxi desks quote a fixed price that is usually above the Grab estimate.