Ko Samui & the Lower Gulf - Thailand - page 1196

Post Office ( 0 7728 1966, 0 7727 2013; 8.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri, 8.30am-12.30pm Sat) Across from
Wat Thammabucha. The local One Tambon One People (OTOP) craft house is inside.

Taksin Hospital ( 0 7727 3239; Th Talat Mai) The most professional of Surat's three hospitals.
Just beyond the Talat Mai Market in the northeast part of downtown.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT; 0 7728 8817; [e-mail]; 5 Th Talat Mai; 8.30am-4.30pm)
Friendly office southwest of town. Distributes plenty of useful brochures and maps, and
staff speak English very well.

Getting There & Away

In general, if you are departing Bangkok or Hua Hin for Ko Pha-Ngan or Ko Tao, con-
sider taking the train or a bus-boat package that goes through Chumphon rather than Sur-
at. You'll save time, and the journey will be more comfortable. Travellers heading to/from
Ko Samui will most likely pass through. If you require any travel services, try Pranthip Co
(Th Talat Mai) - both are reliable and English is spoken.

AIR
Although flights from Bangkok to Surat Thani are cheaper than the flights to Samui, it
takes quite a bit of time to reach the gulf islands from the airport. Air Asia offers a con-
venient bus and boat shuttle with their flights that can alleviate some of the stress. There
are daily shuttles to Bangkok on Thai Airways International (THAI;

0 7727 2610; 3/27-28 Th Kar-

unarat) , Air Asia ( Click here ) and Nok Air ( Click here ) .

BOAT
Various ferry companies offer services to the islands. Try Lomprayah (

077 4277 656;

www.lomprayah.com ) , Seatran Discovery OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 0 2240 2582;

www.seatrandiscovery.com ) or Songserm OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 0 7737 7704;

www.songsermexpressboat.com ) .

Bus-boat Combination Tickets
In the high season travellers can usually find bus-boat services to Ko Samui and Ko Pha-
Ngan directly from the Phun Phin train station (which is 14km west of Surat). These ser-
vices don't cost any more than those booked in Surat Thani and can save you some seri-
ous waiting time.
There are also several ferry and speedboat operators that connect Surat Thani to Ko
Tao, Ko Pha-Ngan and Ko Samui. Most boats - such as the Raja and Seatran services -
leave from Don Sak (about one hour from Surat; bus transfers are included in the ferry