Home  Caribbean Southern Thailand
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Introduction
The South of Thailand is completely different from the North. You
will see that accomodation will be more expensive, and a lot of the
middle class hotels will have package tourists spending a week or two
on the beach.
Getting to the South
By air
There are very frequent flights to Phuket with Thai Airways, now costing 2.270 Bht (4/99).
The Krabi airport was opened in 7/99. There's 1 flight a day from Bangkok at 10.15 am with Thai airlines.
For those going to Ko Samui, there are 2 options:
- Fly to Samui directly
- Fly to Surat Thani and take the ferry
- Check out the Samui page for details
Getting away from Phuket airport
Towards Phang Nga/Krabi
There
are no buses stopping at the airport, in fact most people are package
tourists who are picked up by shuttles and brought to their hotels.
So,
you need to arrange your own transport to the main road Phuket-Phang
Nga-Krabi. A taxi will be offered, but these will charge high prices.
So it's better to walk out of the airport (100 m) and wait till you get
approached by someone. We paid 100 Bht for the 5 km ride to the main
road, but this is too much, I guess 50 Bht is fair. After 5 km, you'll
arrive at a T-crossing, there go right for about 200 m till you see the
police highway station on your left side. Get out here, and cross the
road, and wait for the bus coming from Phuket to pick you up. You might
be lucky and get a ride with a minivan, we paid 200 Bht for a ride to
Phang Nga.
Don't get off too early. You'll see numerous
signs saying "Phang Nga bay to the left", but if you want the real
thing, get out at Phang Nga town, not before. From there take a
thongsaew.
Towards Phuket
There are regular shuttle buses charging 80 Bht pp.
To Ko Phi Phi You need to get a shuttle to Phuket, and then take the boat to Ko Phi Phi.
One warning: this posting was on the LP thorn tree: If you arrive at Phuket airport
and you want to make it to Ko Phi Phi, you most probably come to a
company called "Diamond Travel" who most probably will try to cheat
you. The following happens: the official minibus company Royal Tours
will bring you to Phuket for 80 Bht pp. Regardless of what you tell
them, once they know you want to go to Ko Phi Phi, they will bring you
to the Diamond travel office where they sell boattickets to Ko Phi Phi.
They charge 350 Bht single trip, 650 Bht return (1/99). In fact you can
get a single trip in Ko Phi Phi for 250 Bht, and you're not obliged to
take this company. A better option might be the Songserm boat.
By train
There
are 9 trains to Surat Thani, but some of these arrive in the middle of
the night. Price is 107 till 519 Bht depending on the class.
From Surat Thani you need to take the bus to the place you want to go.
By bus
Several possibilities, but very tiresome trip.
National Parks
Khao Sok NP
There are numerous agents
offering 1, 2 or 3 day trips to Khao Sok NP. Unfortunately, we didn't
do this. you can of course also do this on your own, there's plenty of
good accomodation around the park entrance.
Sri Phang Nga NP
This
park is not known at all by tourists for the moment, but it might
change in the future. We met an English couple who were very
enthousiastic about the trip they had made in this park. It is a
mangrove park where you can see plenty of wildlife like the Gibbon
monkey and lots of birds. Their guide was a Thai who had been a
forester in the park but had now retired. you can contact him, Khun
Suthep Prommoon at 78/398 Soi 3 Phuket Villa V, Tambon Vichit, Ampher
Muang, Phuket 83000, tel 01-9583016. A 2-day trip will cost about 4.000
Bht, but longer trips are available.
Important remark
Several
people will put a "Tourist information" sign on their door, while in
fact they are just a travel agent or hotel, and they put up the sign
just to draw your attention. You might be fooled (just like us) by this
the first time.
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