Koh Phangan to Phuket

Lomprayah's 11:00 from Thong Sala is the ticket I'd book. The catamaran calls at Samui on the way to Donsak pier, a coach takes over for the drive across the peninsula, and it ends at Lomprayah's office in Wichit, just west of Phuket Town, at 18:30. The ticket is ฿1,400, or ฿1,600 with a 10:00 pickup from your Phangan hotel, which covers the whole island except Thong Nai Pan. From Haad Rin the songthaew to Thong Sala takes 20 to 30 minutes, and from Thong Nai Pan 45 to 60, so the pickup saves an early start.

There's one Lomprayah departure a day in this direction, so book a few days ahead from December to March and for the days after a Full Moon Party. From the Wichit office you'll still need a taxi to your beach, which is why the van versions below are the better buy if you know where you're staying.

Several agencies resell the same 11:00 boat with their own van from Donsak. On mid-November and mid-December weekdays 12Go had drops at Phuket airport at about 18:00 to 18:45, Phuket Town at 18:30 to 19:15, Bang Tao and Surin at 18:30 to 19:00, Patong and Kamala at 19:30, and Kata and Karon at about 19:45 to 20:00, for about ฿1,350–1,600. The vans drop in order around the island, so the south-coast beaches come last.

The 11:30 tickets from Thong Sala ride a ferry instead of the catamaran and still reach Phuket Town by about 19:15 and Patong by about 19:30, for about ฿1,000–1,300. One company, TransBaanTon, collects you from your Phangan hotel at 10:00 and drops at Phuket beach hotels between about 18:00 and 20:00 for about ฿1,080–1,280. Check that your ticket names your beach, not just Phuket.

If you'd like a slower morning, Songserm's 12:40 speedboat from Thong Sala connects with a van that reaches Phuket Bus Terminal 2 at about 19:00, for about ฿1,600. Resold versions go on to the airport at about 19:30 and to Patong, Kata and Karon at about 20:30. It's the last departure that reaches Phuket the same day.

After that, the night boat leaves Thong Sala at 22:00 with mattresses on deck, reaches Surat Thani early in the morning, and a bus takes you on to Phuket Bus Terminal 2 at about 13:00, for about ฿970–1,180 on one ticket. It saves a night's room, though you'll have slept on a boat.

Koh Phangan has no airport, so flying means a boat to Samui first. Lomprayah sells a ฿500 ticket from Thong Sala to Samui airport, boat to Bangrak and a van, at 07:30, 10:45, 12:30, 13:40 and roughly hourly from 15:00 to 18:00, arriving about an hour after you sail. Bangkok Airways flies Samui to Phuket nonstop at 08:15, 11:10, 12:30, 15:05, 15:50 and 18:15 on a mid-November weekday, in about an hour, for about ฿3,500–4,000, with extra flights at 09:20 and 19:00 by mid-December.

Give the flight 2.5 hours from the boat's arrival at Bangrak. That makes the 07:30 boat right for the 11:10 flight, at Phuket airport by 12:10, the 10:45 boat right for the 15:05, and the 13:40 or 15:00 boat right for the 18:15. It costs about three times as much as the boat and bus, but you're in Phuket by lunchtime. Our Koh Phangan to Koh Samui and Koh Samui to Phuket guides have every boat and flight.

Overland, only a late one. The earliest drop at Phuket airport is about 18:00, you need to be there two hours before an international flight, and the boat and van run late often enough that I wouldn't book anything before about 22:00. In the rough season from October to December, when boats can be canceled, don't plan on it at all.

The safer ways are to fly from Samui, where the 07:30 boat and the 11:10 flight have you at Phuket airport by 12:10, or to cross the day before and spend a night in Phuket. Our where to stay in Phuket guide covers the beaches nearest the airport.

Going east the day starts earlier. Lomprayah's coach leaves Phuket at 09:30 and lands at Thong Sala at 16:30. Our Phuket to Koh Phangan guide has every ticket, the hotel and airport pickups, and the flights to Samui that connect.