At the moment you need to take 2 trains (and buy 2 separate train tickets per person) to travel from Ipoh to Surat Thani. The first train is from Ipoh to Padang Besar, and the second train is from Padang Besar to Surat Thani.
Train 1: Ipoh to Padang Besar
There are currently 6 train a day from Ipoh to Padang Besar.
- Buy tickets from Ipoh to Padang Besar.
| Train | Ipoh | Padang Besar | Service |
| 9238 | 01:14 | 04:11 | ETS Platinum |
| 9224 | 09:44 | 12:41 | ETS Platinum |
| 9226 | 12:19 | 15:16 | ETS Platinum |
| 9442 | 14:48 | 17:53 | ETS Gold |
| 9428 | 18:04 | 21:01 | ETS Platinum |
| 9214 | 20:04 | 22:50 | ETS Express |
Train 2: Padang Besar to Surat Thani
There is currently 1 train a day from Padang Besar to Surat Thani. The train departs at 17:00 Thai time, which is 18:00 in Malaysian time.
- Buy tickets from Padang Besar to Surat Thani.
| Train | Padang Besar | Surat Thani | Service |
| 46 | 17:00 | 22:47 | Special Express |
Ipoh Railway Station
Read more about Ipoh Railway Station.
Padang Besar Railway Station
Read more about Padang Besar Railway Station.
Surat Thani Railway Station
Read more about Surat Thani Train Station.
About Travel to Surat Thani
Surat Thani is the name of both a city and a province located on the east coast of Southern Thailand. Surat Thani City is not, in itself, a major tourist destination. Lots of leisure travellers do, however, end up going to Surat Thani because it is a transit point between the Thai railway network and ferry services to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, as well bus service to west coast destinations such as Krabi and Phuket.
About The Train Journey
At the present time there are no Malaysian train services which travel into Thailand, and Thai train services travel just a short way into Malaysia terminating in Padang Besar. For this reason passengers wishing to travel by train from Malaysia to anywhere in Thailand need to change at Padang Besar Railway Station from Malaysian railway services to Thai railway services.
Before boarding a train to Thailand, passengers need to visit the immigration centre on the ground floor of Padang Besar Railway Station to complete both exit procedures for Malaysia and entry procedures for Thailand.
Seat Types and Food
There are no sleeper berths available on Malaysian train services on the East Coast Mainline from Ipoh to Padang Besar. There are, however, 1st and 2nd Class A/C Sleeper berths available on Thai train services from Padang Besar to Surat Thani, as well as both A/C and fan cooled seat only carriages.
The Thai train service also has a dining car with seating, as well as numerous food and drink vendors who start boarding the train after it reaches Hat Yai, about an hour into the journey to Surat Thani.
Ferry services to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan depart from Surat ThaniTravel into Surat Thani City
Surat Thani Railway Station is not in Surat Thani City. It’s in a small town called Tha Kham which is 16 km by road to the west of the city centre. Tha Kham has some shops, restaurants, and a couple of small hotels. You could stay overnight in Tha Kham and then the next morning take a joint bus and ferry and service from outside the train station direct to Koh Samui or Koh Phangan. However, most visitors choose to spend the night in Surat Thani City because the hotels are much better.
The train from Padang Besar arrives in Surat Thani late at night (22:47 is the scheduled arrival time). At that time of night public buses from Tha Kham to Surat Thani City will have stopped running, so late arrivals need to take a taxi. There is a taxi booth on the right side of the ticket hall as you exit Surat Thani Railway Station. Fares are displayed on a sign above the taxi booth. Currently the fare from Surat Thani Railway Station to Surat Thani City is 160 THB.
Travel to Koh Phangan and Koh Samui
Most of the ferry services from Surat Thani to Koh Samui or Koh Phangan depart from Donsak, which is a coastal area 65 km by road to the east of Surat Thani City. The only ferry services which depart from Surat Thani City itself are the night boat services (departing at 21:00), and some of the Lomprayah High Speed Ferry Services.
For ferry services from Donsak to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan we recommend using a joint bus and ferry service as taxi services from Surat Thani City or Surat Thani Railway Station to Donsak are expensive, costing over 1,000 THB for the journey.
Follow the links below for departures times of joint bus and ferry services from Surat Thani City to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan:
- Surat Thani City to Koh Phangan
- Surat Thani City to Koh Samui