chiang mai to ko tao

aido79

just wondering does anyone have any experience of doing this? trying to decide between a few options. not sure if its possible to get a train direct from chiang mai to chumphon and then get the boat. another option would be to fly from chiang mai to surat thanai and get the boat from there to either ko tao or ko samui. anybody got any other ideas?

Grimebox

i got a train from chang mai to bangkok which was very comfortable. Every passenger gets a bed. Also there was a "disco car" which tried to close at midnight but didnt let them... very enjoyable getting the train altogether. It was around 8 hours i think.
Once at bangkok i got a night bus down south where we got a boat across to ko tao. The bus was pretty awful, some american got his wallet robbed from his bag in the middle of the journey as well. So they basically let some guy root through the bags compartment (which you cant get into while the bus is moving...). I heard about these antics before so i had a lock on my bag. The bus itself was pretty modern. Its fairly comfortable for a bus, but buses just arent comfartable! Another 8 hours or so on this, i would not reccomend it.
The boat ride was really nice. We sat up on the deck and got a few sunburns whilst taking in the views. The boat was no longer than 3 hours if i remember correctly.

If i was doing it again i would probably get a plane straight to ko samui and just get a boat across to ko tao.

Fiii

I did similar to this route not 3weeks ago.
We got a day bus to Bangkok (Gov VIP bus...twas grand), that took 10hours. From Bangkok we got a night train (get a sleeper 2nd class) to Surrat Thani, that took 14hours (in my experience the trains always leave on time, but take a few hours more than expected to get to their destination) and from there we got a boat to Koh Phangan.
Took 37hours in total in our case as we missed the first boat in Surrat Thani so had to wait around for hoooours! Twas all good craic though!
If you're short on time, fly, if not travel by land - it's so much more fun and all part of the experience!

Koh Tao is AMAZING. It was my fav stop in Thailand and I would go back in a heartbeat.
Are you doing a dive course? Have you somewhere to stay?

aido79

yeah gonna do the diving course. can anyone recommend a good company to do it with and whats the story with accomodation. i heard some of the companies include it in the price of the course. we're probably not going to bother going to chiang mai due to lack of time. think we're gonna get a bus to chumphon and then get a boat to koh tao.

Glowing

Can I just urge you while you're in Chang Mai, to avoid doing an elephant trek - its a horrible industry and cruelty is rife.

If you're looking for a great elephant experience, I'd highly recommend the Elephant Nature Park - a sanctuary for old and injured elephants who have had a long hard life in the logging or trekking industries. A great cause, and I guarantee you won't regret it!

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

alienhead

ah, koh toa, was there 4 years ago, one of the best places i've been to.

should be back there this year, prob august, when are you there yourself aido?

alienhead

Glowing wrote: »

Can I just urge you while you're in Chang Mai, to avoid doing an elephant trek - its a horrible industry and cruelty is rife.

If you're looking for a great elephant experience, I'd highly recommend the Elephant Nature Park - a sanctuary for old and injured elephants who have had a long hard life in the logging or trekking industries. A great cause, and I guarantee you won't regret it!

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

what about this elephant training course?

http://www.rte.ie/travel/nofrontiers/20080203_thailand.html