Thailand's Island Ferries, From the Operators' Own Timetables

Island-hopping in Thailand is simple once you know which sea you are in. The Gulf islands, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, run on one timetable. The Andaman islands, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi and Koh Lanta, run on several, and some of their boats stop for part of the year.

Every fare and time below comes from the operator’s own site or timetable, or from a Thai government body, and was checked on 18 September 2026. Booking sites resell many of these boats, but the operator’s own page is where the season and the small print live. Fares move, so treat these figures as a guide to the right order of magnitude and check the operator’s page before you travel.

Two seas, two weather patterns

The Thai Meteorological Department declared the start of the 2026 rainy season on 15 May. Its statement says the south-west monsoon brings waves of 2 to 3 metres to the Andaman Sea, and that small boats there should stay ashore on those days. It also says the Gulf side of the south keeps getting rain until December.

That is advice, not a ban. What happens in practice is that the province or the Marine Office stops small boats, and the larger ferries judge the conditions themselves. In January 2025, for example, the Surat Thani governor ordered small passenger boats not to leave shore during a spell of strong wind, and Lomprayah suspended its trips to Ang Thong and to Koh Tao and Nang Yuan for two days.

What that means for your plans. On the Andaman side, several of the ferries below run only from roughly November to April, and the operators say so on their own pages. On the Gulf side, the main catamaran timetable carries no season at all. Either way, leave a spare day before an international flight.

The Gulf: Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao

Lomprayah runs the catamaran network that joins the three islands to each other and to the mainland. Its 2026 timetable took effect on 25 August 2026, and these are its own fares for an adult:

Route	Fare	What the timetable shows
Koh Samui to Koh Phangan	350 baht	About 30 minutes, from Pralarn, Nathon or Bangrak pier
Koh Phangan to Koh Tao	600 baht	About an hour by catamaran
Koh Samui to Koh Tao	700 baht	1.5 to 3 hours, depending on the pier and whether you change at Phangan
Don Sak pier to Koh Samui (Nathon)	450 baht	11:00 and 15:00, 45 minutes
Don Sak pier to Koh Phangan	550 baht	11:00 and 15:00
Chumphon (Thung Makham Noi) to Koh Tao	750 baht	07:00 and 13:15, about 1 hour 45 minutes
Surat Thani railway station to Samui, Phangan or Tao	750, 850 or 1,000 baht	One 09:30 bus and catamaran connection
Bangkok (Khao San) to Koh Tao, Phangan or Samui	1,250, 1,350 or 1,450 baht	Bus and catamaran, day and overnight departures

The timetable also lists cheaper slow ferries on some routes, such as Koh Tao to Koh Phangan at 450 baht, and speedboats at fares close to the catamaran’s.

Lomprayah’s rules, in its own terms. Check in at the Lomprayah office at least 60 minutes before departure. Luggage up to 20 kg is included and heavier bags cost 200 baht more. Children aged 2 to 11 pay half, under-twos travel free. Tickets are non-refundable, the first change is free and later ones cost 30 percent. The timetable’s back page says it is “only an estimation and subject to weather conditions.”

The car ferries from Don Sak. Raja Ferry runs hourly car ferries from Don Sak to Lipa Noi on Koh Samui, 05:00 to 19:00, taking about an hour and a half. It also sails from Don Sak to Thong Sala on Koh Phangan at 05:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 18:00, taking about two and a half hours. Its passenger fares are set under a Surat Thani provincial announcement that moves with the price of diesel, and on 18 September its own pages disagreed with each other by 10 baht: 200 or 210 baht to Samui, 270 or 280 baht to Phangan. Seatran Ferry runs a similar service to Nathon on Samui. These are the slow, dependable option, and the way to go if you are taking a vehicle.

Haad Rin by boat. The Haadrin Queen crosses from Koh Samui straight to Haad Rin on Koh Phangan, which saves the drive from Thong Sala if you are staying there. Its website did not publish a timetable when we checked, so we cannot give times.

Our pages for Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao cover where to stay at each end.

The Andaman: Phuket, Phi Phi, Krabi and Lanta

There is no single network here. Several companies sail overlapping routes, with different piers and different seasons, so the table names the operator every time:

Route	Operator and fare	Sailings and season
Phuket (Rassada) to Phi Phi (Ton Sai)	Andaman Wave Master ferry, 700 baht	08:30 and 13:45, about 2 hours, daily
Phuket (Rassada) to Phi Phi (Ton Sai)	Andaman Wave Master speedboat, 850 baht	Four a day, about an hour
Phuket (Rassada) to Laem Tong, Phi Phi	Andaman Wave Master ferry, 800 baht	08:30 and 13:45, about 3 hours
Krabi (Klong Jilad) to Phi Phi (Ton Sai)	Andaman Wave Master ferry, 450 baht	09:00 and 13:00, daily
Ao Nang (Nopparat Thara) to Phi Phi	Aonang Princess ferry, 650 baht	09:30, daily. The return leaves Ton Sai at 14:30 from 1 September 2026
Phi Phi (Ton Sai) to Koh Lanta (Saladan)	Andaman Wave Master speedboat, 800 baht	Daily
Phi Phi to Koh Lanta	Andaman Wave Master ferry, 450 baht	December to March only
Ao Nang to Koh Lanta	Aonang Princess ferry, 700 baht	November to April only. Not running 1 May to 10 November 2026
Krabi or Ao Nang to Koh Lanta	Satun Pakbara Speed Boat Club, 950 or 1,100 baht	One morning speedboat each, no season stated
Phuket to Koh Lanta	Andaman Wave Master speedboat, 1,700 baht	09:15, about 2 hours, daily
Phuket to Koh Lanta, changing at Phi Phi	Andaman Wave Master ferry, 1,350 baht	November to April only

The pattern to notice. None of the speedboats in the table is marked as seasonal. The bigger, cheaper ferries to Koh Lanta stop in the low season. If you are heading to Lanta between May and October, plan on a speedboat or the road.

The road to Koh Lanta. Lanta is two islands. The Siri Lanta Bridge has joined Koh Lanta Noi to Koh Lanta Yai since 2016, according to the Department of Rural Roads. The crossing from the mainland to Lanta Noi is still a car ferry, and the department says holiday crossings can take up to two hours. A bridge to replace it is only just starting: the Government Public Relations Department reported the construction contract being signed on 31 August 2026, so for now the ferry is the way across.

Luggage on the Andaman boats. Andaman Wave Master allows one suitcase up to 25 inches and one hand bag on its ferries, one suitcase up to 18 inches on its speedboats, and charges 300 baht for each extra piece. It asks you to be at the pier 30 minutes before departure, and its fares exclude land transfers in Krabi, Lanta and Phi Phi. Aonang Princess limits bags to 20 kg, charges 100 baht for each bag over, and includes a shared van from Ao Nang, Klong Muang, Tubkaek and Krabi Town.

Two charges you will meet on the Krabi side. Stepping off at Ton Sai on Phi Phi, the local council’s 2011 ordinance sets a cleaning charge of 20 baht per person, and the same ordinance bans eating and drinking on the pier. And if you are going to Railay from Ao Nang, the longtail cooperative publishes its own fare of 100 baht each way, with boats leaving when ten passengers are aboard, 08:00 to 16:00.

Our pages for Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi and Koh Lanta cover where to stay, and the Railay listing has the cooperative’s full terms.

The rules on board

Life jackets. Marine Department Announcement 291/2567, published in the Royal Gazette in January 2025, requires the person in charge of a longtail, a speedboat or any boat without a roof or deck to make passengers wear life jackets for the whole time they are aboard. A skipper who does not can lose their licence for up to two years. The duty sits with the skipper, but the practical point is yours: on an open boat, a life jacket is the law, not a suggestion.

Alcohol. Marine Department Announcement 305/2565 bans drinking alcohol on public passenger piers and on scheduled passenger boats. It applies to everyone, not only the crew.

If something goes wrong. The Marine Department’s hotline is 1199, and it lists it as a 24-hour line.

What we could not confirm

We say where we looked and came up short, so you know where to double-check:

• Haadrin Queen and Seatran Discovery times. Neither operator’s website showed a timetable we could read.
• Tigerline’s 2026-27 season. Its most recent published timetable covered October 2025 to April 2026.
• Train times from Bangkok. The State Railway of Thailand’s online timetable could not be read reliably, so we have not printed train times to Surat Thani or Chumphon. Check at the station or on the SRT’s 1690 line.
• Pier charges at Rassada. The company that runs Phuket’s Rassada pier publishes a per-passenger charge, but does not say whether it is already inside your ticket. We have left it out rather than guess.