How to go to Ko Samui by land?

Ko Samui is located at the Gulf of Thailand, around 1 hour south of Bangkok and 1 and a half hour from Kuala Lumpur by flight. It is surrounded by a handful of beautiful and stunning island. The most popular aside Ko Samui are Ko Tao and Ko Phan Ngan.

So how to get to the island if you are in Kuala Lumpur at a lower cost? Though Ko Samui is served by connecting flight from cities around Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or even China, the price of an adult ticket could easily reach over USD 200 depending on where you fly from.

This is how I reach Ko Samui, low cost though at the expense of time.

Read on.

I live in the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur at a town called Klang. So in spite of cheap Airasia ticket, I opted for buses and train.

Nearest to me is the KTM train so I uses Touch n Go card to pay for tickets to the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS). Touch n Go card is a convenient card in Malaysia which you can use to pay for toll, train, LRT and certain buses at a discounted rate in spite of cash and token. From TBS, I bought a one way ticket to Hat Yai at RM 55. The journey will take 7 and a half hour but if you chose wisely the bus company will give free bottled mineral water and some bus operators also provide plug for you to charge your electronic gadgets.

Once I reached Hat Yai, I head straight forward to the Haadyai Train Station which is 15 minutes by walking. From there I bought the third class train ticket to Surat Thani town at 55 Baht. You can opt for more comfortable second or first class couch for around 100 or 200 Baht, which won't set you back a lot in term of budget but do check if there are suitable schedule with the train personnel or check this site: http://www.railway.co.th/checktime/checktime.asp?lenguage=Eng&StationFirst=Don%20Muang&StationLast=Bangkok

The train is scheduled at 10:58 am but it arrives at 12.15 pm. From there it is another 7 and half hour ride. Chuk chuk chuk!

So I reached Surat Thani at 7:30pm at night. To save 1 night of accomodation I decide to Couchsurf and found a host near the Surat Thani hospital. There I slept one night and in the morning I pay 50 Baht for pick-up taxi to Seatran Couch Services company. Seatran is a transport company which provide transfer from Surat Thani to Ko Samui. One way ticket is 220 Baht. It took 1 and a half hour to reach Donsak Pier. Then another 1 and a half hour for the ferry to reach Nathon Pier at Ko Samui.

At Nathon Pier you can rent a bike or car or take minivan to your hotel. Depend on your hotel location, it will be 30 to 40 minutes if you stay at near Lamai Beach and Chaweng Beach.