By car to Surat Thani and URT airport

Twenty-four cars — crossovers, minivans, SUVs and comfort sedans — from ฿1,000 to ฿4,000 per day, with weekly rates from ฿6,000 and monthly from ฿21,000. We deliver the car to any address on Koh Samui and to Samui International Airport (USM), and the address, date and time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

Why travellers book car rental in Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani

Here is why travellers plan a self-drive hire on Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani rather than buying the crossing as a package.

What a car adds to the mainland crossing

Raja Ferry Port sails Don Sak ⇄ Lipa Noi every hour from 05:00 to 19:00 — 15 departures a day — and a passenger ticket bought with the bus leg fixes you to that bus. From Don Sak pier the machine-measured runs are 26.5 km / 30 min to Khanom, 66.1 km / 61 min to Surat Thani centre and 94.0 km / 91 min to URT airport, all without traffic. Driving yourself keeps the whole hourly window open instead of one coach. Our fleet on this page is 24 cars, and the address, date and time of hand-over are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

Who this route suits

• Anyone with an early or late flight: an hourly sailing beats a fixed departure, and URT handled 1,516,470 passengers in 2025 alone.

What the crossing to the mainland involves when you rent a car in Koh Samui

The crossing is a two-part journey: an island ferry leg and a mainland drive.

The ferry leg with a hired car

Raja Ferry Port runs Don Sak ⇄ Lipa Noi every hour from 05:00 to 19:00, 15 sailings a day, about 1 h 30 min each way, at ฿640 for a four-wheeled car and ฿200 per passenger. The tariff is fixed by provincial order for Surat Thani, so the car rate is the same whether you drive a Honda Civic or a Jeep Wrangler from our fleet. The 05:00–06:00 and 12:00–16:00 windows are the peaks, and extra sailings are added when the queue fills. Seatran Ferry also serves Don Sak, with Nathon and Bang Rak on the island side, and offers queue booking for cars and large motorcycles. One detail worth knowing: the online booking form shows a passenger ticket at ฿210, while the provincial tariff states ฿200.

The last leg from the pier

Those figures are machine-measured without traffic, and the mainland highway is a different road from the island ring road — allow extra time on the URT run if the ferry docks in the 12:00–16:00 peak.

Car rental in Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani fleet choice

On this page we keep 24 cars across four classes, from ฿1,000 to ฿4,000 a day, and every one of them is automatic. For a Surat Thani crossing the real question is not engine size but how many people and bags the car has to swallow before you reach Don Sak pier.

Classes and what each one is for

• Comfort: three sedans — Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Nissan Teana — 5 seats, petrol, front-wheel drive, 1.8–2.0 L, from ฿1,000 a day.
• Crossovers: eight cars — Nissan Juke, Nissan Kicks e-Power, Honda CR-V, Toyota Corolla Cross, Peugeot 2008, Mazda CX-3, Toyota Yaris Cross, Honda HR-V — 5 seats, from ฿1,350 a day.
• Minivans: seven cars — Toyota Avanza, Toyota Sienta, Honda Mobilio, Honda BR-V, Mitsubishi Xpander, Toyota Innova, Toyota Veloz — 7 seats, from ฿1,200 a day.
• SUV & 4x4: six cars — Isuzu MU-X, Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Land Cruiser FJ, Jeep Wrangler — 4 to 7 seats, from ฿1,700 a day.

Seats, luggage and the ferry deck

Seat count matters in the cabin, not on the ferry: the ฿640 Raja Ferry Port tariff is the same for a four-wheeled car, jeep, van or pickup.

Fuel, gearbox and what the island actually sells

Every car in the fleet is automatic, and transmissions are the one thing you never choose here — the whole fleet is automatic. Fuel splits three ways: petrol for most of the fleet, diesel for the Isuzu MU-X, Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuner, and hybrids for the Nissan Kicks e-Power, Toyota Corolla Cross and Toyota Yaris Cross. Island pumps carry E20, 91 and 95, and most stations take cash rather than cards, so fill up before the pier rather than hunting for a station on the mainland side.

Prices for car rental in Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani

Longer bookings are charged at weekly and monthly rates, which cut the cost per day.

What the daily rates look like

• Comfort: 3 cars from ฿1,000 per day — Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Nissan Teana, all sedans with 5 seats and petrol engines.
• Minivans: 7 cars from ฿1,200 per day — Toyota Avanza, Toyota Sienta, Honda Mobilio, Honda BR-V, Mitsubishi Xpander, Toyota Innova, Toyota Veloz, all 7 seats.
• Crossovers: 8 cars from ฿1,350 per day — Nissan Juke, Nissan Kicks e-Power, Honda CR-V, Toyota Corolla Cross, Peugeot 2008, Mazda CX-3, Toyota Yaris Cross, Honda HR-V.
• SUV & 4x4: 6 cars from ฿1,700 per day — Isuzu MU-X, Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Land Cruiser FJ, Jeep Wrangler, up to ฿4,000 per day.

VAT 7% is included in the prices shown, and weekly and monthly bookings are lower per day than the daily rate. A bank card in the main driver's name is used for the security hold, with the amount set out in the rental agreement; the deposit itself and any excess are agreed when booking.

Weekly and monthly rates

Weekly rates start at ฿6,000 and monthly rates at ฿21,000. That works out as the daily rate multiplied by six for a week and by twenty-one for a month, so the saving grows with the length of the booking.

Car rental in Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani paperwork

What you need to carry

• International Driving Permit: the 1949 Geneva Convention permit, recognised together with the national licence; section 42 bis of the Motor Vehicle Act requires it for foreign visitors.
• ASEAN nationals: drivers from ASEAN member states may drive on their national licence, with no permit needed.
• Passport: carried with you, not left in the car — it is the document that identifies you if the police stop you on the mainland.
• Bank card: a card in the main driver's name, used for the security hold, with the amount set out in the rental agreement.

Police fine for driving without the permit is ฿500–1,000, and an insurer may refuse a claim after an accident — which is why the permit is worth arranging at home rather than at the pier.

Insurance on the mainland run

Compulsory motor insurance, Por Ror Bor, is attached to every registered car and covers injury to third parties. First-class insurance covers damage to the car itself, and its terms and the excess are set out in the rental agreement. What we cannot do is promise how a claim will be handled on the mainland: a breakdown or an accident on the far side of the water is expensive to recover, and that cost is exactly why most companies on Koh Samui do not let their cars off the island at all.

Rules that change once you are on the highway

Traffic keeps to the left and every car in our fleet is right-hand drive, on the island and on the mainland alike. Seat belts are compulsory for every passenger, including the rear row. Children under 6 must travel in a child seat built to the TISI standard, and anyone below 135 cm needs a belt or a special seat — the fine runs to ฿2,000. The alcohol limit is 50 mg% in blood, dropping to 20 mg% for drivers under 20 and holders of temporary licences; refusing a test is treated as an admission, and the sanction reaches a year of imprisonment, a fine of ฿5,000–20,000, or both, plus a licence suspension of at least six months.

Booking car rental on Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani with a manager

You tell us the plan, we confirm what is possible, and only then is the booking fixed.

What we need from you before the booking is fixed

• Travel dates: the day you want the car and the day you bring it back, since the weekly rate is the daily rate times six and the monthly rate is the daily rate times twenty-one.
• Delivery address: we deliver to any address on the island and to Samui International Airport (USM); a delivery fee, if any, is agreed when booking.
• Vehicle class: the class and model you want from the 24 cars on this page, from ฿1,000 to ฿4,000 a day.

What the manager confirms with you

The delivery address, the date and the time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

Documents are passport, home driving licence and an International Driving Permit unless you hold an ASEAN licence, plus a bank card in the main driver's name for the security hold; the amount is set out in the agreement. The minimum driver age is 21, and conditions for drivers under 25 and for premium classes are set out in the agreement. The deposit or excess, if any, is also set out there.

One practical note from our side: the 05:00–06:00 and 12:00–16:00 sailings are the peak windows, and extra departures are added when the queue fills.

When to plan car rental in Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani

The mainland run is governed by two calendars at once: the island's rain and the ferry's peak windows. Book the vehicle around the first, and time the crossing around the second.

The dry window and the mainland run

February to April is the driest stretch on the island — the rainfall norm drops to 64.3 mm over 4.3 rainy days in February, against 444.6 mm over 16.5 days in November. October to early December is the other extreme: flooded sections and slippery asphalt are a real risk then, and the 94.0 km run to URT is the last place you want them. If your flight out of URT is fixed, work backwards from it rather than forwards from your arrival.

Ferry peaks, holidays and demand

Raja Ferry Port sails every hour from 05:00 to 19:00 in both directions — 15 sailings — but 05:00–06:00 and 12:00–16:00 are the peak windows. Extra sailings go on when the queue fills, and from 30 December to 30 April extra sailings are added when cars queue. Demand follows the same curve: the high season on the island runs 20 December to 31 March, with the low season from 1 April to 19 December. Cross-reference your travel dates against both before you pick a day.

• Avoid the 12:00–16:00 ferry window: aim for a mid-morning or late-afternoon sailing with a loaded car.
• Holiday period: from 30 December to 30 April extra sailings are added when the queue justifies them.
• Leave a buffer before a URT departure: the 94.0 km from Don Sak pier is a machine-measured run without traffic.

What we need from you, and when

Tell us the travel dates, the number of passengers and whether the car crosses to the mainland, and we will confirm which of the 24 cars is free for that window. The delivery address, the date and the time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed, so the earlier that conversation happens, the wider the choice of class.

Renting a car in Koh Samui for a trip to Surat Thani final tips

The crossing works on a rhythm: the ferry sails every hour from 05:00 to 19:00, the drive from Don Sak pier to URT airport is 94.0 km, and a car handed over on the island removes every timetable except your own.

The season shapes the mainland run as much as the island.

One practical note from our side: the delivery address, the date and the time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed, and the car arrives clean with a full tank. A delivery fee, if any, is agreed when booking, and the terms of the security hold are set out in the rental agreement. Fuel on the island is E20, 91 or 95, and most stations take cash.