Getting to the Thai islands by boat

Practical information about boats to the Thai islands

Thailand has many beautiful islands, and apart from Koh Samui and Phuket, which have their own airports, you have to take a boat to get there: ferry, speedboat, night boat, longtail boat... there are several options. Combined bus + ferry tickets are also available (from Khao San Road in Bangkok, for example)...

arrow_circle_right Book your boat tickets online !

If you are not already in a coastal town near the island you want to visit, you will usually take a combined bus + boat ticket from where you are. In addition to the main ferry and boat companies listed below, you can sometimes travel with locals in their small motorboats, the longtail boats, so called because the propeller is mounted at the end of a long shaft.

Ferries to Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan (which also carry cars and scooters) leave from Donsak, 70 km from Surat Thani; speedboats to the same islands also leave from Chumphon. For Koh Chang, Koh Wai, Koh Mak and Koh Kood, boats leave from Laem Ngop, south of Trat. For Railay, which is not an island but a peninsula only accessible by sea, boats leave from Ao Nang or Chaofa Pier in Krabi. For Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta, boats leave from Krabi, Railay and Phuket, and for Koh Samet from Ban Phe near Rayong... If you have booked a hotel, it sometimes also arranges the boat transfer to the island.

The easiest way to buy boat tickets is from travel agencies or at the boat companies' desks at the pier, or online on this website. Check the companies' websites (see below) to get an idea of prices before you go; some also offer online booking. Be careful during ferry crossings if you are traveling with a combined bus + ferry ticket: don't leave anything valuable on the bus, even in your luggage, as bags are sometimes searched and items stolen during the crossing.

The main islands of Thailand

Koh Chang

Koh Jum

Koh Kood

Koh Kradan

Koh Lanta

Koh Larn

Koh Libong

Koh Mak

Koh Mook

Koh Ngai

Koh Phangan

Koh Phi Phi

Koh Samet

Koh Samui

Koh Sichang

Koh Sukorn

Koh Tao

Koh Wai

Phuket

Main ferry and boat companies in Thailand

Main piers in Thailand

Address

Phone

Koh Loi Pier (to Koh Si Chang)

Koh Loi
20110 Si Racha

Saphan Pla Pier - Boats to Koh Payam & Koh Chang

85000 Ranong