Never go to Khao Sarn Road at all.

I have taken buses many times from K-road to samui and there has never been a problem. Never lost stuff. Just two disappointments, once a driver wouldn't stop to let anyone on the bus get out and pee, we had to complain to him before he stopped. Next, smelly feet of a sleeping Iatalian behind me who put his feet up around my seat, pong!

Good beer in this road

I had a mobile phone stolen from my bag in the luggage compartment of a bus from khoa sarn to samui. Unbelievable the thief removed the sim card and left it in my bag........amazing thailand.

it is correct for idea to avoid that area because they got many people from around the world....

kowsan is jaded

the busses are searched every time and the luggage is stolen, half cigarette carton from my girlfriend dissapeared, it happens every time, only help is: take it in a small bag with you

Or just take the train from bangkok to surat thani, 1st class tickets are like 1100 baht or so - for that kind of money you get to sleep in a bed. Just make sure you don't buy any food or beer as it's insanely overpriced, even though they will tell you it's free.

Taken into it. Bought joint ticket from Bangkok to Phi Phi Island from travel agent in Sawasdee Bangkok Inn. Lost 30,000 THB on night bus traveling from Khaosan Rd to Surat Thani. Didn't realize it until noon because they don't take all the money. Still don't believe it. The money were in the envelopes, were in the purse, was in the my GF handbag.

Use government bus for saver trip.

same thing happened to me, from surat thani to bangkok just after full moon party at start of this year, someone on board, caught a guy going through all our luggage, and alerted us all to it, apon checking my luggage realised i had 1300 au (30000 baht or so) stolen from my bag, another french girl onboard had 5000 euro taken, bus pulled up just out of bangkok as we were phoning police, and guy did the runner with all our cash, very organised, and been going on for long time from what i can tell, I even bought the vip bus ticket off duty policeman in surat thani, still in uniform. You live and learn i guess, and i had actually read about this scam before i took this route, which annoys me more, should of been smarter than that, one or two people running the bus were arrested but i highly doubt anything was actually done about it

watch for the guy that climbs into the baggage compantment carrying a flashlight

travel lite, keep your bag in sight ( or touch) at all times

I really wanna warning all of the tourist in khaoran rd. who think a cheap ticket is could save them budget it's not truth,think too much if someone offer you a really cheap ticket .this is a gang team of scam ,it will be happend and happend again !!in the end with out responsible for no one ..

Take the local buses from the normal government bus stations, you can buy tickets from the bus station terminal ticket office, I regularly travel 12 hour Journeys from Pattaya and Bkk to Udon and Chang Mai, never had a problem. Never , never , never carry large amounts of cash in Thailand. Use travellers cheques or pre paid credit cards, if you carry cash, keep all ur belongings, passport, cash, bank cards in a money belt on your person. Never accept food or drink from a strange friendly Thai. Good luck all and enjoy.

he desire to see its tourism sector flourish and the gains of a thriving economy, were the two major reasons why Dubai’s skyline grew so frantically in the last two decades.
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Travel Agent Help

Use your common sense to travel everywhere is scam...no only Thailand. Be careful about your stuff and money. Cheap ticket maybe you pay more!:-) Government bus route much better.

on 6/12/11 I took a bus from Khao Sang Road to Chiang Mai. I had to meet someone from the bus company at 6pm at my guesthouse. Firstly, we had to walk a long way, collecting other passengers. The bus hadn't arrived by 7pm. 2 mini busses and a taxi took passengers to the main bus station.
while we were waiting, 2 Aussies came and told us that their luggage had been tampered with by the same company and that there are 3 drivers who work together. They had also stolen a lot of money to a degree that they hardly have anything left to eat, and all their debit and credit cards. They actually used their credit card/money to fill the tank. They took some photographs and the driver was furious and smacked him with a newspaper. I then took all my luggage upstairs, and eventually fell asleep after the first fuel station. At around 5:20am I woke up and it was very dark, I couldn't switch the lights on, another passenger had woken up feeling someone touching him. It was very dark, that he had to use his lighter to see what was happening. One of the drivers was crawling around on the floor opening everyone's bags while they were asleep, he then ran downstairs. When we arrived at another fuel station, where taxis were collecting us - we asked all the passengers to check their bags which were kept downstairs - they had all been opened!! We asked the drivers for identification, but they started getting nervous. when the one passenger stood in front of the bus, it was accelerated and they would've killed him if he hadn't moved out of the way. I demanded their names - one of the other drivers almost kicked my teeth out!!
This has been reported to the police and is now connected with the case in Bangkok. Please be very careful, always keep valuables on you, not in a bag on the floor, as it will be tampered with. If suitcases must be kept downstairs (not under the bus) the driver has access from the front, although they lock it so passengers can't get it in. BEWARE!!! registration no.
always take a photograph of the bus company's logo, registration number and drivers.