How to get from Langkawi to Phuket?

score:5

Accepted answer

Please bear in mind that it's a quite long whole day journey.

There are the following option to get from Langkawi to Phuket. I believe the same should work in reverse.

By ferry:

  • Tigerline (~3300-3700 THB)

    Service was launched at the end of 2012. High season route only (operating Nov - April). Check in point located inside the Kuah Jetty (located in Kuah Town) on the Pattaya Beach. Travel Time 10 hrs.

    Bookings can be made in person at a booth on the pier road in Chalong or by various payment methods over the internet. It appears there is no luggage restriction as there would be when flying. The ferry stops and collects at Koh Lipe (immigration clearance), Trang (30 minute break), Koh Mook, Koh Kradan, Koh Ngai, Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi (7 stops in total).

    The Malaysia Immigration & Customs officials are located inside the jetty. If you do not check-in at least 60 minutes prior to departure, you will not be allowed on board of our ferry.

    The Thailand Immigration & Customs officials are located on Koh Lipe.

    Note that if there are not enough passengers, they could cancel or postpone the trip.

By air:

  • Only in-direct commercial flights either by Penang (FireFlyz), Kuala Lumpur (Air Asia) or Singapore (Air Asia). Check Langkawi Airport for further details.
  • Easiest is to fly Langkawi-Penang-Phuket but you have to check schedules work out. If you have extra time in Penang, check the trip to Phi Phi or Khao Lak.
  • By Happy Air. They operate daily flights between Langkawi and Phuket. They have a little box office at the airport. Flights and office hours are on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat-Sun. But I'm not sure how this information is reliable. Please contact them for further info.

By land (public transport):

  1. Langawi - Satun

    • By Langkawi Ferry Service to Satun (~300THB). It takes around 1,5h.
    • By Tigerline ferry to Koh Lipe (1200-1400THB), from there to Satun Ferry Port - Pakbara Pier (600-700THB).
    • There are also pre-organised “tour” tickets that would pick you from your guesthouse in Langawi and deliver straight to the centre of Hat Yai (~RM 70.00). In total it takes around 7 hours.

  2. Satun - Phuket or Krabi (by bus)

    As pnuts mentioned, there is a air-con bus from Satun's bus station to Phuket. Tickets are 400 baht (230 baht to Krabi) and the trip takes about 8 hours.

    Satun's bus station is a few kilometres south of town, but buses can be flagged down on Burivanich Road as they leave. Read more at Travelfish site.

Or:

  1. Satun - Hat Yai

    • By taxi, motorcycle taxis or small songthaews.
    • By van (on an hourly basis).
    • By local bus. It takes around 3-4 hours in total. You can tell the bus driver where you wanted to get off in Hat Yai and he will try to get you as close as he can. It costs around 80 THB.

  2. Hat Yai - Phuket

    • By direct bus (around 7 hours).
    • By train Hat Yai to Surat Thani (for Ko Samui, Krabi). Check seat61 site for trains details. Then road to Phuket. Surat Thani is about 290km from Phuket. This road journey by bus to Phuket from Surat Thani takes about 5-6hrs.
    • By van that goes to Phuket on an hourly basis.
    • By air, check the Hat Yai Airport site for further details.

By land (by car):

  1. By ferry to Satun, from there by car or taxi along the coastal (faster) or inner road.

    Along the coastal road, the next major town, after Satun is Trang (Satun to Trang is about 110kms), which is about 320kms (route distance) from Phuket. After Trang is another town called Krabi, which is about 90kms from Phuket.

There is the alternative of going to Hat Yai from Satun, about 60kms, then taking a domestic flight to Phuket, via Bangkok; fastest available connecting flights makes this flight journey in about 3 hrs 50 mins(via TG). All other flights e.g. Thai AirAsia, One To Go, Nok Air- also fly into Phuket via Bangkok. (source)

Ferry map:

ferry map

Note that Langawi local time is 1 hour ahead of Thai time (GMT+8).

See also:

Upvote:1

There is a direct flight from Hat Yai to Phuket with Bangkok Airways. Takes about 1 hr and costs around 1800 thb. From Satun to Hat Yai you can take bus or train or taxi.

Upvote:1

I've looked into this on several occasions.

Based on my research there was no simple way to travel between the two islands.

The ferry takes too long and is not a direct service. (I also read on other forums that the journey can get quite unpleasant)

Road takes way too long.

Air was the best option but meant laying over for a couple of hours, and via KL or Bangkok.

I referred to the Langaki Airport wiki page and checked with every airline to coordinate flights, and I was unsuccesful in achieving in an ideal timeframe.

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