Transport to Koh Samui

Taxi

There are a lot of taxis on Koh Samui, but compared to the mainland resorts of Thailand, it costs a lot more: it's almost impossible to get from beach to beach for less than 500 baht, and prices have been constantly rising in recent years. Taxi cars are equipped with meters (taxi meter), and it is most profitable to use them, but taxi drivers on the island are very fond of offering trips without a meter, at a contract price, and it is safe to say that such a trip will cost you one and a half to two times more expensive. If you have already decided to use a taxi at a contract price, then you should bargain twice as much as the price originally named by the taxi driver.

If you take a taxi from Koh Samui Airport, it's better to use an official taxi at the airport counter, although prices there can't be called humane either.

A cheap alternative to a car taxi on the island is motorcycle taxi.

Transport rental

This is the most convenient way to move around the island. You can rent a car and a motorcycle on the island. In Thailand, Russian national rights of the appropriate category apply without restrictions (for more information, see the article renting a transport in Thailand), but for renting a motorcycle, it is important to have an open category "Ah", otherwise there will be problems.

Traffic on Koh Samui is very calm, so you will not experience any special problems about this. The whole island is surrounded by a good ring road with a length of about 50 kilometers, there are signs duplicated in English everywhere, free maps are available in all tourist places.

Motorcycle rental will cost from 150 baht per day, for a long time they make a discount up to 100 baht. You can find a motorcycle for rent almost anywhere, even at Nathon Pier, where most tourists arrive by ferry. Therefore, you can immediately rent a motorcycle after arriving on the island, and return it when you leave.

Rent a car will cost a little more than on the mainland (from 1000 baht per day). You can rent a car at the airport or at Chaweng Beach. Inexpensive car rental can be found near Nathon Pier. To drive a car in Thailand, tourists no longer need to obtain an international driver's license (IDP). On May 1, 2021, the long-awaited event finally took place - Thailand ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, which it initially joined back in 1968. And now in Thailand, theoretically, it is possible to manage rented transport using ordinary Russian rights.. However, so far in Thailand there has not been a practice of adopting national VUS on the roads by police officers, therefore, in order not to punish our rightness every time, we still recommend that you additionally issue an IDP. For more information read about renting a transport in Thailand here.

You can find and book a car for rent using the search form and compare prices from different rental companies:

Minibus (Songteo)

This is the only public transport on the island, and the most inexpensive way to get around the island without your own transport, however, their route network is very limited. In addition, in the evenings they begin to work as a taxi, transporting tourists at a higher contract price.

They are trucks converted for passenger transportation, plying between the main settlements of the island. They have no stops, and they stop anywhere along the route. There are three main regular routes:

• Nathon Pier – Lamai Beach (goes south of the ring road)
• Nathon Pier – Chaweng Beach (goes north of the ring road past the beaches of Menam, Bophut)
• Nathon Pier – Bang Rak Beach (Big Buddha) - Chaweng Beach (goes north of the ring road past the beaches of Menam, Bophut, Bangrak)

In addition to these routes, there are other irregular ones, for example, you can also leave the Raja Ferry pier by minibus, but only when the ferry arrives. There is no permanent route between Lamai and Chaweng beaches, but cars still come across.

The fare for all three routes since 2014 is 100 baht (at least that much is required from tourists). It is possible to travel cheaper for shorter distances, but you should coordinate the price with the driver before traveling. Keep in mind that, like everywhere else in Thailand, songteo drivers like to take tourists as a taxi, so as soon as you talk to them about the price or destination, they can offer you to go anywhere, but, of course, at the price of a taxi.