Moving to the capital

Saying goodbye to Samui

I said goodbye to Samui last  night after a good cheap dinner in the open-air markets nearby.  For a change, food was good and also good-value..  A very meaty chicken panang was only THB70 with rice and a meaty chicken kebab only THB40.  Juices were only THB45.

To avoid getting ripped off for our transfer to the ferry I had used LINE messaging and Google Translate to organise a taxi at THB400.  Street pricing was THB500  but negotiable.  It would mean having to take our bags a short way to main road though.

After our final breakfast on the beach during which it rained (for the first time here), we departed for the port at 0935.  The driver was a little early.  We were at Lipa Noi pier at 1000 for our 1100 departure.  Time went quickly with a tea and internet because we had to board at 1040.

For today’s journey we had booked the ferry-bus-flight combo through AirAsia rather than assembling the ferry/bus and flight tickets ourselves.  It appeared the airline wasn’t placing a margin on booking the ferry/bus ticket unlike Nok Air who seemed to have placed a big margin.

In case you weren’t already aware, flying out of Koh Samui is expensive because the airport was bilt and owned by Bangkok Airways.  No other airline operates here domestically, and very few internationally.

(1)  Ferry from Samui to Donsak Pier

The ferry actually left about 7 mins early.  It was another pre-loved Japanese (?) ferry.  Quite a bit smaller but still plenty big.  This time, the air-conditioned was in use so it was a more pleasant 1h30 journey.  It was very overcast the whole way but fortunately there were no storms and the water was calm.

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(2)  Transfer at Donsak Pier by van to Nakhon Si Thammarat airport

Upon arrival we were missed by whoever was meant to be spotting for us at Donsak Pier to go into the van bound for Nakhon Si Thammarat airport.  While most Koh Samui travel is via Surat Thani airport, Nakhon Si Thammarat worked out much better for us schedule-wise.

We made our way to the ferry terminal building for a quick toilet stop but were hastily dragged to the vehicle.

I did check that we were bound for the correct airport before we departed for the 1h30 ride through a few showers.

(3)  Fly from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Bangkok Don Mueang

We arrived at the airport 2h30 before our Thai AirAsia flight for Don Mueang scheduled for 1630.  We waited for about 30 minutes before bag-opened before heading upstairs to one of the two large restaurants.  For a small airport, there is certainly good food around!

Curious observation during boarding was that ground staff wheeled out a rack of umbrellas for people to use as parasols for the walk from the terminal to the aircraft. In Malaysia, this is only available for rain.

Our 1h15 flight left on time and arrived at Don Mueang slightly ahead of schedule.

Arriving in the capital

Looking on the Grab app, a car to our hotel in Khao San Road was over THB600!  I later realised that it had defaulted to a premium large vehicle but a normal car/taxi was only just under THB300 plus tolls, detours and traffic halts.  In any case, I realised that too late, after purchasing the bus ticket at THB150 per head.

It was no biggie as the bus was really handy dropping us a couple of minutes from my now regular hotel.  It is my third stay at Lucky House Khaosan.  As it was already 1900 when we checked-in, we headed out for dinner straight away.

In haste, and I guess with no way of knowing, we ended up with very small but delicious meals in a simple restaurant on Khao San Road.  We would have been better off eating on the streets at Khao San or nearby Soi Rambuttri.  The latter is more “grown up” with plenty of restaurants that ooze atmosphere; it could be my favourite street in Bangkok.

We sat down for an iced tea after dinner.  Again, it was disappointing.  Rather week and not milky enough for my liking.  Not  our night for eating and drinking I guess, until we struck it lucky with an awesome mango sticky rice topped with coconut milk and peanuts.