How Do You Drive from Phuket to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan?

The shorter way runs over the Sarasin Bridge and through Krabi: Route 402 to the bridge, Highway 4 towards Krabi, then Route 44 to Surat Thani and Routes 401 and 4142 to the piers. From HKT airport it is about 266 km and 4 hours without stops, from Patong about 295 km. The first part of the drive is the same as the road to Krabi.

The other way, via Takua Pa and Khao Sok on Route 401, is about 75 km longer. People take it when they want to stop at Khao Sok on the way. With coffee and fuel stops, allow 4.5 to 5 hours on either road.

Two companies carry cars, and each has its own pier in Donsak, about 2 km apart. Raja Ferry sails to Lipa Noi pier on Samui and to Thong Sala pier on Phangan. Seatran Ferry takes cars to Nathon pier on Samui and also to Thong Sala on Phangan. Put the pier of the company whose ticket you hold into the navigator.

Speed catamarans do not take cars, and Seatran Discovery boats carry passengers only. If your ticket says speedboat or catamaran, it does not include a car.

• Raja Ferry: Donsak → Lipa Noi (Samui), Donsak → Thong Sala (Phangan)
• Seatran Ferry: Donsak → Nathon (Samui), Donsak → Thong Sala (Phangan)

Surat Thani province sets the crossing fare, and it moves with the price of diesel. A ticket for a car, jeep, pickup or minivan already includes the driver; each passenger pays separately. The fares below are one way, from the Seatran Ferry tariff on 18 October 2026; a Raja Ferry passenger ticket costs the same.

Raja Ferry sells tickets on rajaferryport.com, in its app, on LINE @rajaferryport and at the ticket offices at Donsak, Lipa Noi and Thong Sala piers. Through an agent, Raja Ferry adds ฿40 per car per sailing. Seatran Ferry sells online on seatranferry.com and on LINE @seatranferry around the clock, and you can pay cash at the pier office.

In high season and on holidays, buy the car ticket in advance. At Seatran, cars with a ticket bought online use a separate FAST LANE. From 30 December to 30 April Raja Ferry adds sailings when a queue builds up at the pier, and its busiest hours are 05:00 to 06:00 and 12:00 to 16:00. Neither company publishes a return discount.

Raja Ferry sails to Samui every hour from 05:00 to 19:00, 15 sailings each way, and back from Lipa Noi on the same hours. Phangan has fewer: from Donsak at 05:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 18:00, from Thong Sala at 05:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 17:30. Seatran Ferry runs to Samui roughly every hour from 05:00 into the evening, with an extra 04:45 sailing since August 2026.

From Phuket you only make the early sailings by driving through the night, so the usual plan is to leave at 7am, reach the pier around 11:30 and take the 12:00 ferry to Samui or the 14:00 one to Phangan. Raja Ferry and Seatran Ferry publish their timetables online; check them the day before.

• Raja Ferry, Samui: every hour 05:00 to 19:00
• Raja Ferry, Phangan: 05:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00, 18:00
• Seatran Ferry, Samui: roughly every hour from 05:00

Keep the originals of your passport, licence and international driving permit on you, and the rental contract in the car. There are checkpoints on Highways 4 and 44 where tourists get stopped; how a check goes is in the article on police checks. Fill up before the pier; fuel use and prices are in the article on petrol and filling stations.

Seatran Ferry rules do not let you stay on the car deck during the crossing. Take water, documents, money and anything valuable up with you. Bring cash in baht for tickets at the office, cafes by the pier and parking on the islands.

• Original passport, licence and IDP
• Rental contract and your MonkeyCar manager's contact
• Cash in baht for tickets and parking
• A full tank before the pier

Neither Raja Ferry nor Seatran Ferry describes guarded parking for several days at the Donsak piers, and leaving a rental car there for long is a risk. If you will not need a car on the island, it is easier to leave it in Phuket: return it at HKT airport, where return costs ฿0, and fly to Samui on a direct Bangkok Airways flight of about an hour.

Without a car, a combined bus and ferry ticket from Phuket also gets you to Samui and Phangan; Lomprayah and Phantip sell them. If you are going to the islands for 2 to 3 days and coming back to Phuket, work out with a manager which is cheaper: keeping the car or returning it early. How to compare the two is in the article on ferries from Phuket to the islands.