Budget Travel on Koh Phra Thong
Koh Phra Thong is in an early stage of tourist development. There are a number of reasons for this. One of them is the relative difficulty of transport from various parts of the country to the long beaches on the east coast of this paradise island.
In more recent years the national bus routes have developed, opening up Khuraburi and other parts of Phang Nga to international travellers. However, after arriving in Khuraburi the passage on to these Andaman coast islands remains difficult and/or expensive.
For a start, there are no tuk-tuks or songthaews in operation in Khuraburi. This means that transport to and from the pier must be by taxi or motorbike taxi. These are easy to find and can be arranged for 300Bt for a taxi and 60Bt for a motorbike taxi. The trip from Khuraburi town to Khuraburi pier is about 15minutes by either mode of transport.
So you can get from most places in Thailand all the way to Khurabur pier with relative ease. Unfortunately it is here that our difficulties arise. The longtail boat ride from Khuraburi pier to the north end of Koh Phra Thong is a beautiful 1 and a half hour ride through the mangroves and along the channel between Koh Ra and Koh Phra Thong. Owing to the length of the ride, the price of this boat ride is relatively expensive compared to the cost of staying on the island.
Economies of scale have not yet crept into tourism to and from Koh Phra Thong and so there is no scheduled ferry boat service to easily allow visitors to share the costs of the boat. This means that when you book your Koh Phra Thong holiday with us we will ask you to pay in advance for the cost of the entire return boat and for your accommodation on the island. (We used to take bookings without advance payment but we have been let down on many occasions and have consequently altered our policy.)
There is a chance that you MAY be able to share the boat with other travellers. The earlier you book the greater the chance that this will happen. If this does occur then we will refund the appropriate amount (incl taxes) in cash during your stay on the island. We continue to look into finding more cost effective methods for this trip.
The longtail from Khuraburi to Koh Phra Thong arrives directly at the homestay village and Mr.Chuoi is happy to give a free transfer to his huts further down the coast.
