Phuket to Koh Samui

Bangkok Airways flies Phuket to Samui nonstop 6–7 times a day, 55 minutes gate to gate. On a mid-October weekday the departures were 09:35, 11:00, 13:00, 13:45, 16:00, 17:05 and 19:30; from the start of the winter schedule on 29 October there are six, roughly 09:45 to 17:30, and in December seven, from 07:30 to about 20:00. It's the only nonstop airline because Bangkok Airways owns Samui's airport and runs almost every flight there, which is why Samui fares are high. The fare includes a checked bag, which closes some of the gap with a budget flight elsewhere.

Fares on the booking sites ran about ฿3,500–5,000 for late October and November dates, rising toward the end of November, and about ฿4,900–5,050 for a mid-December date, so book early for the peak weeks. Some sites also list one-stop itineraries via Bangkok that take 4–6.5 hours and cost more; ignore them. Allow 50 minutes from Patong to Phuket airport and an hour from Kata or Rawai; on Samui the airport is 10–15 minutes from Chaweng and Bophut and about 30 from Lamai.

Every overland ticket is a bus or van across the peninsula to the Donsak ferry pier near Surat Thani, about 290 km, then a car ferry or catamaran to Samui. The budget tickets leave Phuket Bus Terminal 2, north of Phuket Town. Phantip's 08:00 bus connects with the Seatran ferry and reaches Nathon at about 15:30 for about ฿820 on 12Go (a 2024 traveler paid ฿650 at the terminal); Raja Ferry's 07:30 bus reaches Lipa Noi, 8 km south of Nathon, at about 15:30 for about ฿775. Hotel-pickup tickets collect from Patong, Kata and Karon from 06:30 and cost about ฿950–1,020, which saves the 30–50 minute ride to the terminal.

Lomprayah's ticket is the tidiest. Its coach leaves its Phuket office at 09:30 (฿1,300), or collects from hotels in Patong, Kata, Karon, Rawai and Nai Harn at 07:30, or from Phuket airport's gates 1–2 at 10:00 (both ฿1,500), and connects with its catamaran from Donsak, arriving at Nathon pier at 15:45. For ฿150 more it drops you at your Samui hotel at about 16:45. The same coaches carry on to Koh Phangan and Koh Tao.

The last tickets of the day leave at 10:00. Phantip's and Songserm's vans from Phuket Bus Terminal 1 reach Nathon at 18:30 and 17:45, and Lomprayah's airport pickup reaches it at 15:45. Expect a long, plain day, with one or two stops at gas stations, an hour or so at the pier, and a crossing of 1–1.5 hours. On Samui, Nathon and Lipa Noi are on the west coast, 40–45 minutes from Chaweng (฿400–500 by taxi), so a hotel-drop ticket is worth it if you're staying on the east side.

The flights run the same way in reverse, and the overland tickets leave Samui from early morning until 13:10. The Koh Samui to Phuket guide has every departure from the Samui side.