When deciding on the transportation to Phi Phi Don island, we inquired from the hotel where we stayed for information. It turns out many hotels or hostels on Phuket provide a variety of tour package to the neighboring archipelagos even including trips to Malaysia. Price differs based on the package, also on the vehicle you choose. From 600 THB to 1500 THB per person, you can find your ferry ticket to different islands. Speedboats are much more expensive. Since we set our heart for Phi Phi island we eventually bought the pick-up service in which a minivan trip to the main dock from the hotel and adult boarding pass to the ferry are included at 600 THB each.
It was not until later when we made it half-way of the water-route that we regretted our choice of boat. Priced at 300 THB, the ferry ticket from Phuket to Phi Phi is the cheapest among other options but also takes the longest time to the destination. Boasted two-hour waterway journey is, in fact, two hours and forty minutes. As stunning as is the ocean view along the way, being confined on a ship that is obviously crowded for hours is quite an experience to exhaust any travelers. It appears often there are more passengers than the seats offered onboard, so if you are to make the same water-route by ferry, my piece of advice is to prioritize searching for seats the moment onboard over finding a perfect spot for selfies.
Another piece of advice for riding the ferry from Phuket to Phi Phi is to avoid staying at the fore-deck. Sure, the spot in the front gives away great views but there really isn’t as romantic as the movie poster of Titanic shows. As soon as the boat sails away the bay, waves splash to the fore-deck, turning the exterior corridors into brooks.
I was amazed by the granted mobility to the passengers on the ferry ship in Thailand. When working as an on board translator for an excursion ship on the Yangtze River in my hometown, I was trained to not allow passengers to linger on decks. So basically, in the name of so-called safety, there is a lot of rules and restrictions on where the passengers can put their foot on when it comes to ship on waterways. My experience in China made me compare my memory of how a ferry ride is in China with what I saw on that ferry journey. And I must say, I love the latter, despite the crowd that we needed to endure.
Chinese Corner with Min 