Koh Tao to Bangkok

This is the easy trip. Lomprayah's 10:15 catamaran crosses to Thung Makham Noi pier near Chumphon in 1.5 hours, a bus meets it, and you're at Khao San or Pinklao at 20:30, for ฿1,250 or ฿1,550 with a VIP seat. Boonsiri's 10:00 reaches Khao San at 20:30 for the same ฿1,250. Lomprayah's 12:30 slow ferry takes 2.5 hours to the pier and its bus reaches Khao San at 23:45 for ฿850, which saves ฿400 at the cost of a late night.

The afternoon boats, Lomprayah's 15:00 and Boonsiri's 14:45, reach Khao San at 00:45 and 01:00. That suits a late-night arrival with a hotel booked on Khao San Road, and little else. Lomprayah also runs the 10:15 to the Phaya Thai Airport Link station and Hua Lamphong for ฿1,550, arriving at 23:00.

Both companies sell the boat and a bus that goes on to the airports. Boonsiri's is the better ticket. Its 10:00 boat and bus reaches Suvarnabhumi at 21:30 for ฿1,500, and its 14:45 reaches Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang at 02:00, also ฿1,500. Lomprayah's 10:15 reaches either airport at 23:00 for ฿1,750, or ฿2,050 with a VIP seat.

None of these leaves a safe margin for a flight the same night, so book a flight for the next morning and sleep near the airport, or fly out of Samui instead.

The train is the comfortable way home, because you sleep in a berth instead of a bus seat and arrive in the morning. Take Lomprayah's 15:00 catamaran to Chumphon station, arriving at 17:30 for ฿900, or Boonsiri's 14:45, also arriving at 17:30 for ฿900. Lomprayah's 12:30 slow ferry is the cheap version, reaching the station at 16:00 for ฿600. That leaves a few hours for dinner in town before the trains.

Six trains leave Chumphon for Bangkok between 20:51 and 23:56. No. 86 at 22:19, arriving at 06:10, and No. 84 at 23:18, arriving at 07:05, are the ones I'd book, since they arrive after 06:00 rather than in the small hours. The 20:51 is seats only and gets in at 03:45. A 2nd-class air-con berth is about ฿650–730. Book as early as you can in December and January, when the good berths go fast.

Chumphon airport is the cheap one. Lomprayah's 15:00 boat and van reaches it at 18:00 for ฿1,000, and Nok Air's 19:30 lands at Don Mueang at 20:30, about ฿1,700 on a November weekday. Thai AirAsia's 09:00 needs a night in Chumphon first, and by mid-December it adds a 15:40, which the 10:15 Lomprayah boat (at the airport at 13:00) connects with.

Samui has many more flights, with Bangkok Airways flying to Suvarnabhumi about 20 times a day. The 07:05 speedboat with an airport transfer reaches Samui airport at about 09:30 for ฿950, good for flights from about 11:00, and the 12:30 reaches it at about 14:40, good for flights from about 16:30. Surat Thani airport, with the cheaper flights to Don Mueang, is 11:00 on the 07:05 speedboat for ฿1,200. Our Koh Tao to Koh Samui and Koh Samui to Bangkok guides have the boats and flights in full.

The slow night boat to Surat Thani leaves Mae Haad at 21:00 or 22:00, and the booking sites sell it with a van to Bangkok arriving at about 13:00 to 14:00 the next day, for about ฿1,350–1,450. It costs about the same as the day boat and bus and takes longer, so it only makes sense if you want one more day on the island.