Krabi Transportation

The Ao Nang Princess is the main ferry from Ao Nang to Phi Phi Don. The busiest being the 9.00 leaving from Nopparat Thara Pier. The Princess holds just under 200 passengers, has seating inside but on a nice day generally out sitting on the deck in the sun. There are toilet facilities on board and someone comes round selling drinks.

The journey to Phi Phi Don took about 2 hours with a stop in Rai Leh to pick up more passengers. On the way back we took up our spots on the upper level just under the 'driver' but as soon as we left the small bays and hit open water we wished we had sat inside. The sea was quite rough and the wind had picked up and whenever the boat hit a wave we were hit with cold water. There were quite a few green faces when we got back to Ao Nang. A horrible journey back, so my advice would be to sit inside when travelling late afternoon as the sea and wind are generally stronger at that time, especially if you're like me and don't have very good sea legs...

We booked the return journey at our hotel and cost us 800 bahts each. This seemed quite a lot so it will probably be cheaper to buy at the pier. Timetable in the link below.

Train travel in Thailand is a very economical and easy way to get around.

We took a sleeper train over 600kms from Surat Thani into the centre of Bangkok (see the accommodation tip!) and for the equivalent of about £10 each including agents fees arrived refreshed and raring to going without having wasted any of our daytime for other activities...

We travelled in 2nd class and the journey seemed safe with plenty of authorities in evidence both on the train and at the stations - though I have heard stories that these are the ones you have to watch out for!

Although we slept quite comfortably for the majority of the journey, in the morning you were able to watch the countryside roll by and get an idea of rural life in Thailand as the train passed by. At many of the stops hawkers get on to sell delicious food and drinks for rock bottom prices and you are able to nibble away on this 'table service' at your leisure while you watch the changing scenery out of your window as the train makes its way towards its final destination...

The train arrived at the main station in Bangkok, which is right in the centre of town.

This is not the most salubrious of areas and you do have to have your wits about you - more about this on my Bangkok page...

Not bad for a tenner! :-)

If you need any help in arruival at Krabi bus station, go across the road to IX.TOURS, ask for Pieter (Dutch national). who will be glad to assist you. Pieter has settled down in Krabi and knows the region like hiss pocket.

a taxi to aonang is 600 baht from Airport, shuttle is 200 Baht per person.
We were told that our hotel will be the first stop by the sales lady, and the shuttle is leaving at that time, so we decided to follow the Shuttle.

However, we waited for nearly 30mins for the shuttle to get full. and we ended up the last one to get down from the Shuttle, and the worst thing is, the driver didn't know where our hotel was. he dropped us off somewhere about 3 mins walk to the hotel.

but later we found out that if the shuttle would have take the othter way, we will be the first to be dropped off

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Boats to Ko Phi Phi Island leave from the main pier at 10:00 and 15:00, cost 350B one way, which includes transport from Krabi Town to the pier about 3km away. I booked my return ticket from a travel agency place in the hotel I stayed out (The Grand Tower Hotel) where the price was 700B. The trip takes about 1.5hrs and you can sit outside in the sun with your legs dangling over the side.

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It's possible to get a bus/ferry combo ticket to Krabi from Ko Samui. I booked mine through a travel agents in central Chaweng on Ko Samui which cost 500 baht. I got picked up early in the morning from my hotel and we picked more people up and headed towards the ferry pier in Nathon. We then transferred onto an oldish looking bus that then took us south to another pier outside Nathon where we got on to the ferry bound for Dousak. The ferries look pretty ancient and simple with no amenities apart from a small snack shop. We left Ko Samui at just after 8am and arrived in Dousak at 9.40am where we got onto another newer bus that took us to a travel agent office in Surat Thani about 68km away. Here we had breakfast even though it was gone 11am and we then got taken to the main bus station and shown to another bus bound for Krabi. We had to wait some 40 minutes for this bus to leave which it finally did at 12.30pm and we arrived in Krabi at 3.40pm.

As donna12 posted, Krabi Airport offers a regular bus service (white buses as you exit the aiport's terminal to the right but you purchase the ticket at the offices after baggage claim), charging 150bahts/person to get to Ao Nang and 90bahts for Krabi-town which they drop off first before continuing on to Ao Nang. It takes about 20 minutes to get from the airport to Krabi-town and another 20 minutes to one end of Ao Nang and they drop off at various points. The ticket seller or bus driver will also ask you when you buy the bus ticket where you want to get dropped off so they'll know which resorts to 'drop' passengers off at.
If it's more than 3 travelers, then it's more practical to just share the taxi all the way from the airport into Ao Nang since it'll be much faster.

When in Ao Nang, you can take a bus tour. To tour around this way has never appealed to me. I like to walk around, take in the sounds and smells. But if you choose to take a bus tour in Ao Nang, this is what the bus may look like!