Train travel from Kuala Lumpur to Koh Phangan

You can travel by train from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Surat Thani Province in Thailand which is where ferry services to Koh Phangan depart from. The journey has three stages. Passengers need to change trains at the Malaysia-Thailand border and then depart from the train at Surat Thani to board a bus to the ferry port for Koh Phangan.

Stage 1: Train from Kuala Lumpur to Padang Besar

For the first stage of the journey Kuala Lumpur to Koh Phangan you need to take a train from Kuala Lumpur to Padang Besar near the Thailand-Malaysia border.

• Buy train tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Padang Besar.

Stage 2: Train from Padang Besar to Surat Thani

For the second stage of the journey from Kuala Lumpur to Koh Phangan you need to take the single daily direct train service from Padang Besar to Surat Thani in Thailand.

• Buy train tickets from Padang Besar to Surat Thani.

Stage 3: Ferry from Surat Thani to Koh Phangan

For the third and final stage of the journey from Kuala Lumpur to Koh Phangan you can take any of the 8 joint bus and ferry services a day which depart direct from Surat Thani Railway Station and travel all the way to Koh Phangan.

• Buy joint bus and ferry tickets from Surat Thani Railway Station to Koh Phangan.

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station

KL Sentral Station is the main railway station in Kuala Lumpur.

Padang Besar Railway Station

Padang Besar Railway Station is the interchange station between Malaysian and Thai railway services.

Surat Thani Railway Station

Surat Thani Railway Station is located 16 km to the west of Surat Thani city centre.

Koh Phangan Ferry Port

Koh Phangan Ferry Port is located in Thong Sala, which is the main town in Koh Phangan on the south west coast of the island.

About Travel to Koh Phangan

There are no direct trains from Malaysia to Thailand, but there are direct trains to Padang Besar on the border with Thailand. There are also three Thailand train services day which depart from Padang Besar Railway Station. Two of these train services only go as far as Hat Yai, but one train service carries on all the way to Bangkok via Surat Thani Railway Station, which is where you need to leave the train to travel to Koh Phangan. Changing between Malaysia and Thailand train services at Padang Besar Railway Station is simple. There are Malaysian and Thai passport control counters inside the train station itself which you need to pass through in order to get from the platform into which the train from Kuala Lumpur arrives, and the platform from which the train to Surat Thani departs.

The train from Padang Besar is scheduled to arrive in Surat Thani at 23:04. This is too late to travel onward to Koh Phangan the same day so you need to spend the night in a hotel before departing the next day. There are three small hotels with walking distance of Surat Thani Railway Station which are fairly basic. For a better hotel take a taxi from in front of Surat Thani Railway Station. There are good hotels within about 10 km away (near to Surat Thani Airport) which are closer than travelling to Surat Thani city centre. In the morning joint bus and ferry services depart from 07:30 to 09:30. The quickest and most expensive service is with the Lomprayah High Speed Ferry Company at 09:30. This service travels from a port near Surat Thani on a high speed catamaran. The cheapest, but not the slowest, service is with the Raja Ferry Company. Passengers on the Raja Ferry travel 90 minutes by bus to a ferry port in Donsak and then travel on a large car ferry to Koh Phangan.