Nok Air – Cheap Flight from Bangkok to Samui

Nok Air - Cheap Flight from Bangkok to Samui

As many of our readers know, Koh Samui is a stunning island and a place that I used to call home. The women are beautiful, prices are cheap, and you have freedom to do as you please.

If you are coming to Thailand for longer than a weekend, than I recommend you check it out.

However, there is one bad side about it, the cost of airfare!

When you fly inside of Thailand, you can get to most places for 1,000 – 2,000 baht one way (30-60usd). However, if you want to fly to or from Samui, the average cost is 4,500 baht one way (140usd)

Why so expensive? In a nut shell, Bangkok Air owns the Samui airport and has a monopoly on air travel to Samui. Which is why if you try to fly with Thai Air, the price will almost be double what Bangkok Air charges. Bangkok Air owns the market, and they know it.

Two years ago, Nok Air (http://www.nokair.com/) started to compete with this. Although, Bangkok Air won’t let them use the Samui airport, Nok Air found a work around.

1- Fly from Bangkok to Surat Thani airport (1 hour)
2- Take bus from Surat Thani airport to the pier (2 hours)
3- Take speedboat from the mainland pier to Samui (45 minutes)

Total Travel Time: About 5 hours which includes wait time.

Total Cost: Around 2,000 baht

Travel From Bangkok to Samui

When you travel from Bangkok to Samui, you have three options:

1- Bus / Boat
Here to take the bus for 10 hours than a boat for two hours. Costs around 1,000 – 1,500 baht (30 – 45usd)

2- Fly / Bus / Boat
This is the Nok Air route which takes 5 hours. Costs around 2,000 baht (60usd)

3- Fly
Fly with Bangkok Air and arrive within one hour. Costs around 4,500 baht (140usd)

How Was The Experience

After a couple years of hearing about this experience, I finally did it myself last year. Was it awesome? No. Was it cheaper than flying with Bangkok Air? Yes.

Will I do it again…maybe…

See when I flew, it was in the middle of the rain season. And when you are on a high speed boat in the middle of a rain storm, the boat moves from side to side. And when the boat moves like that, people vomit. And when people vomit in a closed space, more and more people throw up.

So if you are unlucky like I was, you may find yourself in a boat for twice as long, which is moving side to side, and get a front row seat to everyone throwing up their lives.

Frankly, it sucked. But on a sunny day, I think the experience would have been pleasant. Personally, I like the feel of going on a boat and arriving to an island. It feels much more like an exotic adventure than just flying in.

And if you’re traveling with a ground and / or on a budget, this may be a good option for you.

Pictures

Here are some picture of my trip. You can see the actual plane from Bangkok, the bus to the pier, the speedboat, and the vomit bag….

nok airplane

bus to pier

nok air boat

inside boat

throwup bag

Posted on Gods of Thailand October 9, 2014 in ,

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