Pak Bara Voyage Tips and guide

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Pak Bara is the main ferry hub for Ko Lipe, with ferries running all year. The reality is that it's a crappy little town.

Pak Bara is 237 km south of Krabi, 59 km from Satun, 123 km from Trang, 124 km from Hat Yai (the nearest train station).

Boats run to Ko Bulon, Ko Lipe (two hours), Ko Tarutao (30 min).

Minibuses run to the closest cities, including Hat Yai (2 hr), Trang (2 hr), and Krabi (4 hr).

Travellers come to Pak Bara for one reason: its ferry port. Admission to the pier just to look around will cost you 20 baht (good for five days). There is no ferry ticket office at the pier. All tickets are sold by vendors in the vicinity of the pier. Just walking around near the pier ensures that you will be approached by a ticket-seller. Every agency sells tickets for the same price. There is an additional small charge (around 40 baht) just to enter the pier. Previously slow ferries ran to the islands, but they have been entirely replaced by expensive speedboats. The following times are indicative only. Speedboat services run mostly in the morning.

• Departures from Pak Bara at 11.30, 15:30. Travel time, 90 min. Fare approximately 650 baht one-way, 1,200 baht return (open)

• Departures from Pak Bara at 11:30. Travel time, 30 min. Fare is 600 baht one-way.

• Departure from Pak Bara at 12:30. Travel time, 1 hr. Fare is 600 baht one-way, 800 baht return.

When you arrive back at the pier in Pak Bara, there will be minivans waiting to take travelers to onward destinations such as Trang, Krabi, Phuket, Hat Yai. Vans leave within 30-60 minutes of each boat's arrival in Pak Bara. A typical fare is 400 baht to Krabi.

There are several ATMs in Pak Bara in the vicinity of the pier.

Most travellers will arrive in Pak Bara after a lengthy bus trip and overnight until their ferry the next morning to an off-shore island. Fatigued, hungry, and thirsty, they will look for a place for a meal and possibly a beer. Too bad. There are next to no restaurants open in the evening near the ferry pier. The nearest are several hundred metres up the road to La Nguu. All of them are Muslim restaurants. They do not serve beer, nor do they permit you to bring beer purchased from the 7-Eleven that, mercifully, is near the pier. A better plan may be to stay in the larger town of La Nguu, 10 km distant, overnight and make your way to the ferry in the morning (first high-season speedboat is at 09:30).

• Happy House (One street up from the plaza in front of the pier. Signposted on main road). Adequate place to spend the night while waiting for a ferry. Clean. No services. Free Wi-Fi. 490 baht (high-season). (updated Feb 2016)

• Ko Lipe
• Ko Tarutao