We went traveling to Koh Tao (and Koh Samui, as an afterthought) during the covid-19 crisis in mid September 2020. We could not travel internationally, so Koh Tao was another wonderful place in Thailand that we COULD go, so off we went! Ok, maybe not so fast… lol!
We were still nervous about taking a flight anywhere. People seemed to be getting sick on airplanes all over the world and even though Thailand seemed safe from covid now, we still were hesitant to get aboard. We thought about driving, but since the journey was very far and since we would also be leaving the car for 2 weeks while on the islands, it seemed like a poor idea. Instead, we booked a first class room on Thai Railways overnight train from Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat. We would disembark in Chumpon and take the boat from there to Koh Tao.
The train tickets were easy to book and were fairly expensive, at more than the cost of many domestic flights! The trip would take more than 8 hours, with the train leaving at 7:30 PM and arriving around 4:13 AM the following morning. We were told the conductor would wake us an hour before our stop to ensure that we were ready to disembark. Our room would be private, so we did not have to share airspace with others and risk covid-19 in a confined space. It seemed like a good compromise, so we bought the tickets. We also booked our boat to Koh Tao, which now only left once a day at 7AM due to the dramatically reduced number of tourists. We figured 3 hours was plenty of layover time, since the trip from the train station to the pier was short and the boat company would have a driver waiting for us.
We left from Bangkok train station on time and progressed along the route west, then south. The trip was very bumpy and both of us found it literally impossible to get any sleep at all. However, it was still nice to have beds instead of seats, since at least we could rest and not get stiff during the trip. We also had a sink in our room and this was convenient for snacks and washing up. The bathroom conditions were atrocious. Enough said about that…
We soon realized that the train was running late as time passed and the sun came up. It was almost 7AM and we were not yet in Chumpon. Soon, an announcement sounded that we would arrive in Chumpon in several minutes. We were already up and dressed, even though no one had tried to wake us as was promised when buying the ticket. We had already called our boat company and they said the driver left already and the boat was leaving. We asked them to please hold the boat, since we could make it by 7:15 AM and since many others were getting off the train with us to do the same thing. We were told to talk to the representative at the station…
We literally ran to the boat company office at the Chumpon Station and were greeted by hostility and rudeness by the representative. Instead of putting everyone (more than 10 of us now stranded!) in a car and whisking us away immediately to the pier, the representative fought with us, wasting more time! What horrific service! We were all told that since the train was SOOO LATE (losing 3 hours on an 8.75 hour trip…HOW??? WTF?), we would have to stay in Chumpon overnight and take the boat tomorrow. What a terrible solution, since everyone, including us, had expensive accommodations already booked on Koh Tao and NO ONE could cancel on a few hours notice! Terrible customer service!!!
Eventually after making more calls, we were told that we could rent a van (at our expense, which was considerable at 6000 baht!!!) to take us to Surat Thani, 3 hours away and then take not 1, not 2, but 3 different boats to Koh Tao from there, taking 4 hours instead of the 1.5 hours it would have taken from Chumpon. We had little choice, so we acquiesced and felt totally screwed and abandoned by this boat company. After all, a 15 minute delay would not have killed anyone to hold the boat for our group. They had a representative at the Chumpon Station the entire time and knew exactly when the train was coming many hours ahead of its actual arrival. Instead, terrible consequences would follow…
We spent hours in the van, now in a group of others in what we considered unsafe conditions. One guy was coughing incessantly, but still smoking. We felt really bad about this situation and wish that we had simply taken a flight. Eventually we arrived at the pier in Surat Thani and then had to wait hours for the first boat to Koh Samui. The boat was oversold and some people did not get seats. It was certainly not social distancing conditions! Things went from bad to worse…
The first leg of the trip took us 1.5 hours to Samui. Then a wait for passengers to leave and come aboard. More came onboard than left, so now many people were actually sitting on the floor of the boat! This was a joke! An hour later, we arrived in Koh Phangan and had to disembark for an hour to wait for the next boat to Koh Tao. This boat finally arrived and it was bigger, allowing everyone a seat and a tiny bit of personal space. The trip to Koh Tao went by faster under these better conditions and finally we arrived…
What should have been an easy overnight trip of about 12 hours turned into a 21.5 hour nightmare journey that caused poor Adam to suffer really bad complications from his surgery, performed several months before. He suffered for 5 days, getting worse and worse until feeling a bit better and finally getting to enjoy the trip.
We blame the complete inefficiency of the train for our suffering. How can you lose 3 hours on a less than 9 hour trip??? Seriously!!! We also blame the callousness of the boat company to a lesser extent. They did not create the problem, but the actions and poor attitude of their representative at the station certainly made it much worse, when an easy solution was available. All in all, we learned a valuable lesson… Never take the train again and always allow MUCH more than enough time (a whole extra day) when going to the southern islands, since it seems to be a necessary provision when dealing with certain service providers. We loved Koh Tao and will definitely be back! However, we hated the trip to get there and will do better next time…
As an addendum… The trip was so awful that we decided to simply fly home, taking the boat to Samui and a plane back to Bangkok from there, where Adam went straight to the hospital to deal with the lingering consequences of this nightmarish logistical disaster…
While in Koh Tao, we loved the natural environment, spent most of our time in the water swimming, snorkeling and diving and simply enjoying the relaxed island vibes. Koh Tao is indeed a great place to visit and we would really like to live there, as well, for the underwater opportunities… Maybe some day!
Read more about where we stayed and what we did on Koh Tao:
Nang Yuan Resort
Cape Shark Villas
Jamahkiri Resort
See our Koh Tao video series too:
Getting to Koh Tao
Nang Yuan Resort
Cape Shark Villas
Jamahkiri Resort
