Car rental for trips to the mainland

We bring the car to any address on the island and to Samui International Airport (USM), with the exact address, date and time agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

What a crossing with a Koh Samui car rental to the mainland involves

Two operators run the route, each from its own piers. What follows is the practical side: where a hired car boards, how long the water crossing takes, and how the schedule fits around a drive down to Donsak.

Which piers a hired car leaves from on Koh Samui

Lipa Noi is the island end of the Raja Ferry Port crossing to Donsak; Nathon and Bang Rak are the Seatran Ferry piers. Seatran Ferry works the other pair — Donsak on the mainland side, with Nathon and Bang Rak on the island — and offers a queue booking for cars and large motorcycles.

How long the crossing takes and how often ferries run

The Donsak ↔ Lipa Noi crossing takes about 1 h 30 min, with sailings every hour from 05:00 to 19:00 in both directions — 15 sailings in each direction. Raja Ferry Port adds an extra sailing when the boat fills, and the two windows that fill first are 05:00–06:00 and 12:00–16:00.

What a driver needs to settle before the car boards

• Class of car: the ferry booking form carries a separate EV / HEV / PHEV vehicle category, and its price is not shown in the static tariff.
• Documents: a home driving licence plus an International Driving Permit, unless the driver holds an ASEAN national licence, and a bank card in the main driver's name for the security hold.
• Left-hand traffic: traffic keeps to the left and every car is right-hand drive, which matters most on the first mainland kilometres after the ramp.

We deliver the car to any address on Koh Samui and to Samui International Airport (USM), and the delivery address, date and time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

Ferry crossings for a rental car to the mainland

A car goes onto the mainland ferry as a priced line of its own, separate from the people travelling in it.

What the ferry charges for a car and passengers

The car line is charged once per crossing whatever is loaded on it, while every passenger in the cabin is counted at ฿200, so a family of four adds ฿800 to the ฿640 for the vehicle. Ask for the vehicle line and the passenger line to be quoted separately when you reserve, because the two are calculated on different bases.

The separate ferry category for electric and hybrid cars

The ferry booking form carries a separate EV / HEV / PHEV vehicle category, and no price for it appears in the static tariff. Our electric line has 10 cars from ฿850 a day, from the 44.9 kWh BYD Dolphin through the 63.1 kWh GWM Ora Good Cat to the 60 kWh Tesla Model 3 at ฿1,500, and any of them falls under that category on the crossing.

Permission and paperwork for mainland trips in a rental car

Most rental companies on Koh Samui keep their cars on the island, so the paperwork question comes before the ferry timetable.

Why most cars stay on the island

Most operators do not allow the car to leave, because a breakdown or an accident on the mainland is expensive to handle. Sabai Motors puts it plainly: most refuse, but exceptions exist and are agreed with a manager before booking. Ask about the crossing first, then choose the car.

Documents and cover that travel with the car

• Home driving licence plus International Driving Permit: a foreign visitor needs both, under the 1949 Geneva Convention and section 42 bis of the Motor Vehicle Act; ASEAN nationals drive on their national licence.
• Fine for driving without an IDP: ฿500–1,000, and an insurer may refuse a claim — carry the permit even on a short mainland run.
• Compulsory motor insurance (Por Ror Bor): attached to every registered car and covers injury to third parties, on the island and on the mainland alike.
• First-class (Class 1) insurance: covers damage to the car; its terms and the excess are set out in the rental agreement.
• Security hold: a bank card in the main driver's name; the amount is set out in the agreement.
• Minimum driver age: 21; conditions for drivers under 25 and for premium classes are set out in the agreement.

Mainland trip car rental in Koh Samui with classes and daily rates

Rent-Trip keeps 57 cars on Koh Samui, priced from ฿750 to ฿10,000 per day. The class you pick matters more on a mainland route than for a beach run to Chaweng: Surat Thani centre alone is 66.1 km from Donsak pier. Longer bookings follow the same rule everywhere on this page: weekly is the daily rate times six, monthly times twenty-one.

Which class suits a mainland route

• Electric — 10 cars from ฿850: BYD Dolphin and GWM Ora Good Cat at the lower end, Nissan Leaf, MG 4 Electric and BYD Seal higher up; 40–82.5 kWh batteries, 95–313 hp.
• Crossovers — 8 cars from ฿1,350: Nissan Juke, Nissan Kicks e-Power, Honda CR-V, Toyota Corolla Cross.
• Minivans — 7 cars from ฿1,200: Toyota Avanza, Toyota Sienta, Honda Mobilio, Honda BR-V, Mitsubishi Xpander; 7 seats, petrol, automatic. The practical choice for a group of five or more plus luggage.
• Pickup trucks — 5 cars from ฿1,300: Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50, Mitsubishi Triton; 1.9–2.4 L diesel, 5 seats. The agreement does not permit beach or jungle-track driving.

Rates for a crossing and a longer route

Monthly rates start at ฿15,750 for the cheapest Economy car and at ฿178,500 for a Convertible.

Driving a rental car on the mainland after the crossing

Once the ferry docks at Donsak, the road stops being an island loop.

What changes on the mainland side of the crossing

• Distances: Khanom is 26.5 km / 30 min from Donsak pier, Surat Thani town 66.1 km / 61 min, Surat Thani International Airport (URT) 94.0 km / 91 min.
• Measurements: those figures are machine-measured road distances without traffic — build a buffer into any same-day return to the pier.
• Fuel: island pumps sell E20, 91 and 95, and most take cash only; fill up before boarding rather than hunting for a station after Donsak.

Driving rules that carry over from the island

Thailand keeps to the left and every car is right-hand drive, so the habits you build on the ring road transfer straight onto the mainland. A foreign visitor needs a home driving licence plus an International Driving Permit under the 1949 Geneva Convention and section 42 bis of the Motor Vehicle Act; the police fine for driving without one is ฿500–1,000, and an insurer may refuse a claim. Citizens of ASEAN countries may drive on their national licence. Compulsory motor insurance (Por Ror Bor) covers injury to third parties and is attached to every registered car, while first-class (Class 1) insurance covers damage to the car — its terms and the excess are set out in the rental agreement. Children under 6 must ride in a TISI-standard child seat and anyone below 135 cm needs a restraint or a special seat, with a fine of up to ฿2,000.

Booking and delivery for mainland car rental on Koh Samui

We deliver the car to any address on the island and to Samui International Airport (USM), and the delivery address, the date and the time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

What to settle with the manager before the booking is fixed

• Driver documents: passport, home driving licence, International Driving Permit (unless you hold an ASEAN licence) and a bank card in the main driver's name.
• Delivery point: any address on the island or Samui International Airport (USM) — the exact spot is agreed when booking.

Weekly and monthly rates for a longer mainland run

For a mainland loop the longer rates are the ones that count. Weekly works out at the daily rate multiplied by six, monthly at the daily rate multiplied by twenty-one. Our cars here run from ฿750 to ฿10,000 per day, and the fleet on this page is 57 cars across nine classes — Economy from ฿750, Electric from ฿850, Minivans from ฿1,200, Crossovers from ฿1,350, Pickup trucks from ฿1,300, SUV & 4x4 from ฿1,700, Comfort from ฿1,000, Premium from ฿3,500 and Convertibles from ฿8,500.

Handing the car back after the crossing

Bring the car back with the tank at the level it left with, and build the return sailing into the plan rather than the last morning. Raja Ferry Port runs the Donsak ↔ Lipa Noi crossing in about 1 h 30 min, hourly from 05:00 to 19:00, fifteen sailings in both directions, with extra departures when the queue fills at the 05:00–06:00 and 12:00–16:00 peaks. Miss the last one and the car sits on the mainland overnight. Anything the agreement does not spell out — a delivery fee, the security hold, the excess — is agreed when booking, so ask before you commit to a date.

Koh Samui car rental for mainland trips with rules and insurance

Taking a car off the island changes what you need in the glovebox.

Documents a driver needs on both sides of the crossing

International Driving Permit: the 1949 Geneva Convention booklet, carried alongside the home licence, never instead of it.

Passport: your own, carried with you.

Bank card: one in the main driver's name; the security hold on it is set out in the agreement.

Contract: the document listing every fee and penalty, agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

Drivers from ASEAN countries may use their national licence without an International Driving Permit. The police fine for driving without the correct permit runs ฿500–1,000, and an insurer may refuse a claim, which is the expensive half of that sentence. Traffic keeps to the left and every car in our fleet is right-hand drive — a right-hand-drive car on left-hand traffic is the same arrangement you already know from the island, so the mainland adds distance rather than a new habit.

Insurance that travels with the car

Compulsory motor insurance (Por Ror Bor) is attached to every registered car and covers injury to third parties wherever the vehicle is driven. First-class (Class 1) insurance covers damage to the car itself; its terms and the excess are set out in the agreement. Children under six need a TISI-standard child seat, and a fine of up to ฿2,000 applies without one.