Satun and Pak Bara
Pak Bara pier is the mainland gateway for Ko Lipe and the Tarutao islands by speedboat; the Langkawi ferry and the Tammalang pier crossing run only from mid-October to mid-May, and everything downstream of the pier depends on the monsoon.
- Researched
- 29 September 2026
- Reviewed
- not yet
- Ways of moving
- 11, 18 sources
- Not confirmed
- 7
- Fares seen
- 2019–2026
11 ways of moving, each with its rule
We confirmed nine ways of moving to, from or around Satun: six by water and three by road, from 18 sources. Two entries are not a service at all but a rule that decides whether travel happens: a permit, a closure, a border, a season or an authority's say-so. One of them runs only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be.
The fares were seen in 2019 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. Two fares carry no year, because they could not be confirmed and the field says so. We rate 6 of the 11 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 29 September 2026, and ends with seven things we could not confirm.
By water
Pak Bara Pier – Ko Lipe speedboat
Pak Bara Pier, La-ngu district, to the floating pier at Ko Lipe
No ticket office at the pier itself; vendors around the pier entrance sell the same fare for every agency, plus a small pier-entry charge
- When
- several daily departures, mostly morning, in high season
- Takes
- 1 hr 30 min
- Fare 2026
- from 700 baht per person one-way; plus roughly 40 baht to enter the pier
SeasonBundhaya's own booking page lists this leg as running all year, unlike most of its other Andaman routes. Bookingbuy from any ticket vendor near the pier; same price everywhere. Run bySatun Pakbara Speed Boat Club, Bundhaya Speed Boat, Tiger Line and other agencies selling the same boats.
Longtail transfer at the Ko Lipe floating pier
Ko Lipe's pontoon floating pier to shore, a short hop for anyone arriving by speedboat
Speedboats moor at the floating pier; a longtail meets the boat and ferries passengers and bags the last stretch to the beach
- When
- on every arrival
- Takes
- a few minutes
- Fare
- usually bundled into the speedboat fare, not sold separately
Seasonyear-round wherever the speedboat itself runs. Bookingnone, automatic on arrival. Run bynot named in source.
Ko Lipe – Langkawi ferry, with the immigration post
Ko Lipe's floating pier to Kuah Jetty or Telaga Harbour, Langkawi, Malaysia, with a Thai immigration officer stamping passports on the Ko Lipe side
Book through a Ko Lipe travel agent or the Bundhaya/Tiger Line counters; boats from the Langkawi side hold passengers' passports until immigration clears them
- When
- morning and afternoon daily in full season, one trip a day in the shoulder weeks either side
- Takes
- 30 min by the operator's own timing (crossing time only; total door-to-door reporting closer to 1.5-2.5 hours with immigration)
- Fare 2026
- from 1,400 baht per person one-way
Seasonruns 15 October to 20 May by the operator's own listed windows, closed outside that. Bookingbook ahead in high season; passport taken as a boarding condition on the Langkawi-bound service. Run byBundhaya Speed Boat and Tiger Line on the Thai side; Tropical Charters and Telaga Terminal on the Langkawi side.
Tammalang pier – Langkawi ferry
Tammalang pier, south of Satun town, to Langkawi
Take a red songthaew or the Hat Yai-bound van route through Satun town to Tammalang pier; buy the ferry ticket at the pier
- When
- one daily departure reported
- Takes
- not confirmed here
- Fare 2024
- 450 baht (May 2024)
Seasonnot stated separately from the Ko Lipe route's mid-October to end-May window; ask at the pier before travelling in the wet season. Bookingbuy at the pier. Run bynot named in source.
Kuala Perlis fisherman's longtail alternative
Kuala Perlis, Malaysia, up the Perlis river by longtail to the Thai side near Satun
Arranged in Kuala Perlis, reportedly through a hotel; no ticket counter
- When
- not confirmed, described as showing up rather than booking
- Takes
- 45 minutes
- Fare 2024
- 150 baht / RM15 one-way, as last reported
Seasonunclear; the Thai side reportedly told a traveller in May 2024 this was no longer running. Bookingno reservations, just show up. Run byindependent longtail boatmen.
Pak Bara – Ko Tarutao park boat
Pak Bara pier (or Ko Lipe) to Ao Phante Malacca, the Tarutao park headquarters
Same ticket vendors as the Ko Lipe speedboats sell the Tarutao stop; every Ko Lipe-bound boat calls at Tarutao, but a boat only stops there on the way back if the park office reports at least four passengers waiting
- When
- several daily on the outbound leg in high season; return calls are conditional
- Takes
- 1 hour
- Fare 2024
- 600 baht
Seasonthe park itself is usually open November to May. Bookingbuy at the Pak Bara pier or through the park office next to it. Run bySatun Pakbara Speed Boat Club and other pier agencies.
By road
Hat Yai – Pak Bara minibus
Hat Yai bus station to Pak Bara pier
Hat Yai bus station; minibuses to Pak Bara depart from a separate stand than the border vans
- When
- hourly
- Takes
- 2 hours
- Fare 2026
- 220 baht
Seasonyear-round. Bookingnone, pay the driver. Run byprivate minibus operators.
Pak Bara pier onward minivans to Trang and Krabi
Pak Bara pier to Trang, Krabi, Phuket and Hat Yai, timed to meet arriving speedboats
Vans wait at the pier when boats come in; no ticket office, agents nearby sell seats
- When
- within 30-60 minutes of each boat's arrival
- Takes
- about 2 hours to Trang, about 4 hours to Krabi
- Fare 2024
- around 400 baht to Krabi
Seasonyear-round, tied to when boats are actually arriving. Bookingnone, pay the driver at the pier. Run byprivate minivan operators.
Satun town – La-ngu – Pak Bara songthaew
Satun town to La-ngu district and on to Pak Bara pier; a separate red songthaew runs Satun town to Tammalang pier
Tammalang songthaews leave from near a 7-Eleven by the Highway 406/4051 junction, about 750 m from the Clock Tower; some hotel staff wrongly claim none run, so ask more than one person
- When
- fixed departure times, drivers do not wait to fill up
- Takes
- about 25 minutes to Tammalang
- Fare 2019
- 40 baht to Tammalang (2019); Grab, Bolt and Maxim rideshare reported as an alternativeSeen in 2019: a floor, not a price.
Seasonyear-round. Bookingnone, flag down or wait at the stand. Run byindependent songthaew drivers.
Rules, permits and closures
Tarutao national park entrance fee
Charged on arrival at Ko Tarutao or Ko Lipe for anyone entering the marine park
Collected at the park headquarters pier or by park staff; keep the ticket
- When
- n/a
- Takes
- n/a
- Fare 2024
- 200 baht, and the ticket then covers entry to other islands in the park
Seasonyear-round while the park is open. Bookingpaid on arrival, not pre-booked. Run byThailand Department of National Parks.
Southwest monsoon closes the Langkawi crossing and thins the islands
Affects the Ko Lipe-Langkawi and Tammalang-Langkawi ferries directly, and cuts frequency on every other Andaman speedboat route out of Pak Bara
n/a
- When
- seasonal, not a schedule
- Takes
- n/a
- Fare
- n/a
Seasonthe Langkawi ferry runs 15 October to 20 May by the operator's own booking data; Tarutao park is described as usually open November to May. Pak Bara-Ko Lipe itself is listed by one operator as running all year, so the closure is sharpest on the Langkawi leg and inside the park, not the whole route network. Run bymonsoon weather; enforced in practice by the ferry and speedboat operators themselves.
What we could not find out
7 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.
- 01
The brief describes the whole Ko Lipe gateway as closed outside roughly mid-October to mid-May. Bundhaya's own live booking page lists Pak Bara-Ko Lipe as running all year (though the return leg's own season field shows overlapping windows that together cover the full year too, which reads like a display quirk rather than a real closure); the sharp seasonal cutoff confirmed by a source is the Langkawi ferry leg and the Tarutao park itself, not the Pak Bara-Ko Lipe crossing. Correction recorded here rather than overwriting a source with the brief's framing.
- 02
Whether the Tammalang-Ko Lipe direct boat still runs is doubtful and already flagged as such in hat-yai.json: the Ko Lipe article's own arrivals list names Pak Bara, Langkawi, Ko Tarutao, Trang, Ko Lanta and Phuket but not Tammalang. The Tammalang-Langkawi ferry itself is the one confirmed here, sourced only to a May 2024 Wikivoyage note with no frequency; ask at the Tammalang jetty ticket booths.
- 03
The Kuala Perlis fisherman's longtail was reported by the same Wikivoyage source as possibly no longer running as of May 2024; treat it as unconfirmed rather than a real alternative until checked locally.
- 04
No live fare or timetable API was found for Satun Pakbara Speed Boat Club (spcthailand.com) beyond its marketing pages; its route pages (e.g. /location/pakbara/, /location/koh-lipe/) render descriptive text but no visible price without a booking-widget interaction, so fares here rest on Bundhaya's booking page and Wikivoyage instead.
- 05
Duration for the Ko Lipe-Langkawi ferry is inconsistent between sources: Bundhaya's own site lists the crossing itself at 30 minutes, while Ko Lipe's Wikivoyage article gives 1.5 hours door to door, which likely includes immigration processing at Ko Lipe. Both figures are kept in the entry rather than picking one.
- 06
Checked docs/13-api-inventory.md before researching: the Tiger Line (tigerlineferry.com/booking, POST) and Bundhaya (bundhayaspeedboat.com/routes) entries both still resolve as described - Tiger Line's booking endpoint returns HTTP 405 to a bare GET, which is the expected behaviour of a POST-only endpoint rather than a break, and its homepage still lists Koh Lipe, Pak Bara and Langkawi as served destinations. No inventory entries for this place were found stale.
- 07
No fare could be confirmed for the Tammalang-Langkawi ferry's frequency, or for the exact songthaew fare from Satun town to La-ngu district (only the Tammalang pier leg was priced); ask at the Satun bus/songthaew stand near the Clock Tower.
What the planner can route today
The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Satun is this.
- Y
- Scheduled flightsHat Yai (HDY), 59 km
- Y
- Trains and coachesTransitous carries 1 timetable feed for this country, 0 with real-time
- Y
- Ferriesปากบารา, 16 km; sailings estimated
- Y
- Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
- N
- Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
- N
- Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere
Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known.