Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Train
When arriving by train you'll actually pull into Phun Phin, a nondescript town 14km west
of Surat. From Phun Phin, there are buses to Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi - some via
Takua Pa, a junction for Khao Sok National Park. Transport from Surat moves with
greater frequency, but it's worth checking the schedule in Phun Phin first - you might be
lucky and save yourself a slow ride between towns.
If you plan on travelling during the day, go for the express railcars. Night travellers
should opt for the air-con couchettes. Trains passing through Surat stop in Chumphon
and Hua Hin on their way up to the capital, and in the other direction you'll call at Trang,
Hat Yai and Sungai Kolok before hopping across the border. The train station at Phun Ph-
in has a 24-hour left-luggage room that charges around 20B a day. The advance ticket of-
fice is open from 6am to 6pm daily (with a nebulous one-hour lunch break somewhere
between 11am and 1.30pm). The trip to Bangkok takes over 8½ hours and costs 107B to
1379B depending on class.
Getting Around
Air-conditioned vans to/from Surat Thani airport cost around 100B per person and they'll
drop you off at your hotel.
To travel around town,
sŏrng·tăa·ou
cost 10B to 30B (it's 15B to reach Tesco-Lotus
from the city centre).
Fan-cooled Orange buses run from Phun Phin train station to Surat Thani every 10
minutes (15B, 25 minutes). For this ride, taxis charge a cool 200B for a maximum of four
people, while share taxis charge 100B per person. Other taxi rates are posted just north of
the train station (at the metal pedestrian bridge).
