It was a bit chaotic at every stop. Getting on the bus, getting from the bus to the ferry and getting off the ferry.
Especially getting on and off the ferry and the final destination could be a lot better coordinated. People lining up to get on are in the way of people trying to get off, and when the staff tries to do something about it, it's already wayyyy too late.
Could have definitely been better but I guess it reflects the price. The people could have been more polite, less shouting
Could have included on the PDF how long each transport will take other than keep people guessing how long
Smooth journey. Everything was on time. Bus is comfortable, good AC, gets a little bit too cold but they give you a blanket. Even if communicating could have been better I always got an answer when I had any questions :)
- Arrived in surat thani around 5.15 in the morning
- Transfer to pier around 6, arrived at the pier around 7.45
- Ferry to koh phangan left at 8.30
So the ride was from 19:00- 5:30 at surat thani and then wait for a bus / van to take you to the pier and then the boat to the islands.
The lady at the desk of the agency was super nice . At 18:20 they told us to come to the bus even tho it's supposed to leave at 19. We were waiting inside the bus for 30 minutes . The bus stopped alot but not breaks- just stopped in the opening of a gas station for 10 minutes or so. at 00:30 they let us have a break for 30 minutes to eat and drink and then when we arrived to surat thani no one really told us that we need to get out of the bus , we just saw them ( the people who were awake) taking our bags out. Then we waited for a bus to the different piers for a long time but no one told us how much time we're gonna wait and when the specific bus come ( because there were people going to krabi /phangan/ phi phi and so on.) So we waited for like 1 hour and a half without really knowing what's going on and if we have time to buy food .
At last we were put at the bus and the first stop of the bus everyone was about to go down and we were yelled at the person in the bus to sit down because only people who go to kosamoi going down ( how would we know it's a mix of different people going to different islands when you just separated us?? Also why are you yelling?)
Overall it was an average experience, I felt like I'm back in the army again and everyone is yelling at you - the thing is that I pay money to get somewhere and it should be communicated to the people what's going on at all time . We are not animals you are transfering - rather human beings who are tired like you and hungry like you and in a different country then you.
This was far better than expected. We were provided a small bottle of water a snack and a very comfy blanket. A lot of spacee (comming from someone who is over 6 feet tall) Slept amazing (like 9 hours :)). Had a break at 12am and were divided into different busses at 6am. Arrived right on time on the island.
Bring extra 600mL water & snacks.
Bus stopped after midnight to eat and bathroom break. Seating made for Asian height, taller people have to twist body & legs. Bus driver hurrying people off at 5am. Company at the shuttle bus switch were unprepared for the number of people.. they had to call multiple shuttles and it was a hectic scramble. No other options, just preparing you for what to expect.
The operators were not very clear on which buses were for who at the start of the journey. Also the toilet onboard was extremely smelly and we had to endure this for.10 hours.
Ultimately they got us to our destination on time but not before trying to sell us additional services. Definitely.wasnt the smoothest experience but reflective of the price.
Fand am Anfang alles in Ordnung, obwohl der Bus mit einer Stunde Verspätung ankam. Haben im Bus auch Chips und Wasser bekommen. Dann fing der Fahrer aber an neben bei noch einheimische Fahrgäste einzusammeln und an unterschiedlichen Standorten rauszulassen, die definitiv nicht auf unserer Route lagen.
