An East Marvel guide. Updated November 2026.
The right way to move is the one that still leaves you able to walk into the temple. A flight, a train, a private car, and a twelve-hour bus can cover the same map. The difference shows up at the door, in how much of you is left.
Four decisions settle a Thailand trip: the airport, the legs between cities, the day inside Bangkok, and the water between islands.
Airport to hotel. A private car, with the driver at the exit and your name. One person, one small bag, and a daytime landing: the Airport Rail Link and the BTS do the same trip.
City to city. A domestic flight, or a private car. The sleeper is the choice when you want to save a hotel night and can take a multi-share berth.
Inside Bangkok. BTS or MRT, plus a boat. With three or more of you and bags on the same stretch, we book the car.
Island to island. A speedboat or a ferry, read against that week's sea. Leave the Andaman from May to October, and the Gulf from October through December.
The two airports
A ticket that says Bangkok can mean Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang. They are different airports, and the three-letter code is the one that matters.
Suvarnabhumi takes most international flights and the full-service airlines. The Airport Rail Link reaches Phaya Thai in about half an hour and meets the BTS there. Don Mueang takes most low-cost flights. The Red Line is there too: a skywalk from Terminal 2 leads to the station, and the train runs to Krung Thep Aphiwat. It is a commuter line, not an airport express into the BTS. The last trains run around midnight, so a landing after that misses it.
We still put a private car on arrival. That is the hour after a long flight, with the bags and the first evening still ahead. The driver is at the exit with your name, and the car is at the door.
From Suvarnabhumi to Sathorn, allow 30 to 45 minutes when the road is clear. Land near eight in the morning or six in the evening and the same ride often runs past an hour. One person, one small bag, and a landing in the middle of the day can take the Airport Rail Link and be on the BTS at Phaya Thai in about half an hour. Two bags, a late landing, or more than one of you, and the car is the arrival we book.
Between cities
In the air, Bangkok to Chiang Mai is about an hour and a quarter, to Phuket about an hour and a half, to Udon Thani about an hour and ten minutes. That is flight time, not the door-to-door day. Bought ahead, the fare is the reasonable one. Bought late, it climbs.
Samui's airport is run by Bangkok Airways. The scheduled flights from Bangkok are theirs. The fare sits above a low-cost hop to Chiang Mai, and the baggage allowance is the one printed on that ticket. The other way in is a flight to Surat Thani and a boat across, which adds about three hours and can pay for itself in the fare. Read both before you choose the airport code.
On the rails, long-distance trains to Chiang Mai and the northeast leave from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal. Hua Lamphong is not the station for those trains. The cars run from a first-class compartment down to a second-class sleeper, air-conditioned or fan, and a third-class bench. Bangkok to Chiang Mai overnight is about 12 to 13 hours. You sleep on the train and wake in the city. In the busy months the berths go weeks ahead.
Our 9-day Bangkok, Khao Sok, and Koh Phangan route uses one night in a multi-share sleeper, not a private compartment. That is on the accommodation line, item by item, and it is on the day sheet. You should see it when we send the plan, not at the platform. The same route's transport list names a minibus and a ferry, so not every leg of it is a private car either.
The private car earns its place on the drives we actually use. Bangkok to Pattaya is about two hours on Highway 7. Bangkok to Khao Yai is about three. Bangkok to Hua Hin is about three. Thailand drives on the left. A visitor who wants to drive needs an International Driving Permit with the home licence and passport. We do not ask you to drive.
A bus from Bangkok to Phuket takes about twelve hours. It saves a hotel night and spends the next morning. On a trip built around temples, a trail, or a quiet day, we do not use it.
Inside Bangkok
The BTS and the MRT are the trips that hold their time. The road at rush hour is the schedule, not a surprise. So the hotel question comes before the rate: which station is it near.
On the 7-day Bangkok and Chiang Mai route the Bangkok hotel is the Eastin Grand Sathorn or similar, a short walk from BTS Surasak. You walk into the station. If the hotel changes, the test stays the same. With three or more of you and the bags, we book the car for that stretch.
The river is the second network. The cross-river ferry at Tha Tien costs a few baht and puts you on the Wat Arun side. Tha Chang, the next pier north, is the one for the Grand Palace. The Saen Saep boat is the one that beats the road along its own canal. A longtail can be hired for the smaller khlongs and stopped where you ask.
A tuk-tuk is a ride of a kilometer or two. Agree the fare before you sit down. In an app, the price is already fixed.
We do not book motorbike taxis. Grab is the app that works across the cities and islands we use. Bolt and inDrive have cars in Bangkok and thin out quickly beyond it. The cheaper app changes by the month. The day should not depend on last week's price list.
Between islands
The boats follow the coast, not a single Thai rainy season.
On the Andaman, Phuket, Krabi, and Phi Phi take west winds from May through October, and crossings are cancelled when the sea is up. At the Phuket station, November still averages about 178 mm, so an early-November boat waits on that week's forecast. On the Gulf, Samui, Phangan, and Tao are wet from October through December. At the Ko Samui station, November averages about 445 mm.
Phuket to Phi Phi by ferry is about two hours. Samui to Phangan is about half an hour by speedboat and about an hour on the larger boat.
If a boat is shared, the day sheet says shared. Day 8 of the 10-day Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket route is a shared speedboat, and the sheet marks it optional. The Ko Tao day on the 12-day Bangkok, Koh Samui, and Chiang Mai route is a join-in boat. Both are written that way before you pay.
What the plan will say
Airport and city transfers on the private trips are private cars. A twelve-hour bus is not how we save a night. A motorbike taxi is not in the proposal. A rental shop that wants to hold your passport is not one we use. A boat is named as shared or private on the day it appears. Where a route carries a minibus or a ferry, the transport list says so.
The itinerary is planned at our U.S. headquarters and led on the ground by licensed English-speaking guides, with hotels chosen for the brief you gave us. Send the dates, the cities, and how much of the trip you are willing to spend in a car. We send a plan and a price. The email quote is the price.
East Marvel has designed private Asia journeys since 1988. Our guides and our proposals work in English. If someone traveling with you is more at ease in Chinese, say so when you write, and we will plan for that.
All Thailand packages are at eastmarvel.com/thailand/packages.html. The places in this piece are Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, and Koh Phangan.
Write to contact@eastmarvel.com with your arrival airport and the coasts you want.
Flight times, train cars, and boat crossings follow the operator's notice for your dates. Rainfall follows Thai Meteorological Department normals for 1991–2020 and will differ in a given week. Road times follow that day's traffic. This page is travel guidance for planning a private trip.