For many people travelling from Penang to Koh Samui is a popular destination if you are heading up into Thailand from Malaysia.
These days you have a choice of travelling by minibus + ferry, train, bus and ferry or flying direct between the two islands.
Firefly is a small budget airline owned by Malaysian Airlines and currently operates three flights a week in either direction on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The flight takes just one and a half hours and are operated by twin turboprop aircraft.
This is by far the quickest way to get to Koh Samui from Penang but not the cheapest with normal tickets costing around RM 370 / 3,700 THB.
However, if you book in advance you may be able to get the cheaper promotional fares which could save you around 30%.
Every travel agent and many guest houses in Penang sell tickets to Koh Samui which include picking you up from your hotel and driving you into Thailand by minibus to Hat Yai.
In Hat Yai, you will then be transferred to another minibus to take you on to Surat Thani, or for the ferry to Koh Samui.
Current ticket prices are:
RM 70 to Surat Thani.
RM 90 to Koh Samui including the ferry.
Departure times are at 05:00 and 08:30.
You can also book tickets from Penang, online on our bus booking page >
You could catch the daily afternoon train from Butterworth on the mainland to Surat Thani in Thailand.
****Please Note: this service now terminates / originates from the border station at Padang Besar.
You will now have to take a KTM Komuter Train to / from Padang Besar to Butterworth.
From Padang Besar, you can then take the train to Surat Thani.
Or travel on to Hat Yai, by train, bus or minivan.
Then take a more regular train from Hat Yai to Surat Thani.
From Surat Thani Train Station you will have to get a bus to the ferry terminal to catch a boat.
Buses from the Surat Thani railway station run to the ferry ports, from the early morning.
If you arrive late, you may want to spend the night here (there is a cheap hotel close to the station on the left as you come out), or catch one of the night boats to the islands.
To check bus times, fares and ferry departures click here >
Another option for travel from Penang to Koh Samui would be to catch the minibus to Hat Yai and then a much more frequent train service from here to Surat Thani.
Or you can catch a regular bus from Hat Yai to Surat Thani or a minibus / ferry combination.
For more information on buses and minibuses from Hat Yai to Koh Samui click here >
If you have plenty of time a nice way to get to Koh Samui from Penang would be to first catch a ferry to Langkawi, then from Langkawi you could do some island hopping up to Krabi or Phuket or catch the boat over to Satun Thailand and continue north on a bus up to Krabi / Phuket.
From here you can catch regular buses over to the east coast of Thailand and the ferry to Koh Samui.