Koh Samui Airfares Rise By 20 per cent
Find The Cheapest Flights to Koh Samui
Book Koh Samui Hotels - Up To 70% Off!
Bangkok Airways have raised the prices of flights to Thai island paradise Koh Samui by a whacking great 20 per cent, to protest from Samui tourist organisations who fear the high prices will scare away visitors
With the recent 20 per cent hike announced by Bangkok Airways, it will now cost an eye-watering 9670 Thai Baht (£150 UKP or nearly $300 US) to fly return from Bangkok to Koh Samui, when you include all taxes. There are discounts on some routes and for booking in advance - but the cost of flying to Samui is much greater than flying to Krabi or Phuket, two of Thailand's other popular beach destinations. Both of those areas can be reached for less than half the price of going to Samui with discount air carrier AirAsia.com
The reason for these huge price differences is because there's only one airline that flies to Koh Samui, and that's Bangkok Airways. The company cleverly realised years ago that Samui would become one of Thailand's biggest tourist destinations - and so they completely self-financed the building of an airport there. As a result, Bangkok Airways have a monopoly on flights to and from Koh Samui.
However, there is a cheaper alternative for those who want to get to Samui without paying so much for the flights - fly to Surat Thani from Bangkok on AriAsia.com and then get the ferry over to Koh Samui or Koh Phangan or Koh Tao, which takes 2 to 4 hours, depending on which island you want to visit.
Even cheaper - but much longer - is to avoid the plane altogether and get the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok's Hua Lumphong station and then catch the ferry.
You can get lots of info about Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao at TripAdvisor, with recommendations and reviews by other travellers about things to do and places to stay.
I'm personally not that fond of Samui because it's over-developed and overcrowded to my mind - and also pretty expensive. (Check Koh Samui hotels for an idea of accommodation compared to Krabi hotels or Koh Tao hotels). Having spent 6 months living there, Koh Tao is my favourite of the three islands - while it's was originally considered a destination only for scuba divers, in the last few years Koh Tao has become a party island with its remoteness keeping the pace of development a little less crazy than elsewhere in Thailand. See my previous article - Koh Tao: It's Not Just For Scuba Divers Anymore - for general info on the island and see Divehappy.com if you're interested in scuba diving on Koh Tao.
Other Travelhappy posts of interest:
- Bangkok To Samui: Thai Airways Begins Flights To Koh Samui
- New Flights From Phuket to Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta and Krabi
- Koh Samui Airport Real Time Flight Arrival And Departure Times
- 10 Baht Domestic Flights in Thailand from AirAsia
- Flying Bangkok To Koh Samui Business Class - Surprisingly Cheap!
