Getting from Krabi International Airport to the city

The bus

• Krabi's airport bus is provincial route 8415, run by Pichet Transport Company Limited and registered with Thailand's Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning.
• Its route runs: Krabi Airport, the old market, Krabi City Hall, Ban Sai Thai, Ban Ao Nang, Nopparat Thara Beach, Ban Koh Kwang, and the same in reverse.
• That it reaches Ao Nang directly is the important part. Most visitors are heading for Ao Nang or Railay, not for Krabi town, and this saves the change.

The stops that matter

• Krabi town, at the old market and the provincial hall, is where onward minibuses to Koh Lanta, Trang and Surat Thani leave, and where you get a songthaew to the Klong Jilad pier.
• Ban Ao Nang is the beach strip, with the hotels and restaurants.
• Nopparat Thara Beach is immediately beyond Ao Nang, and its pier is where the longtails and ferries to Railay and the islands go from.

Practical

• The airport is about 14 km east of Krabi town and roughly 30 km from Ao Nang. Allow the better part of an hour to Ao Nang.
• Shared minibuses and private cars are sold at counters in arrivals and are the common alternative; they will drop at your hotel.
• For Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta or Phuket, buy a through ticket. Combined bus and boat tickets are standard here and much less trouble than arranging each leg.

The airport

• Krabi International is the mainland gateway to the Andaman coast, and the alternative to flying into Phuket and driving three hours.
• It handles direct flights from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and a seasonal European charter network.
• The terminal is small. Immigration queues on the international side can be long when several flights land together, so do not plan a tight boat connection.