Traveling Thailand on a budget? Take the bus.

Amazingly, it costs only about US$20 to get from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket — a XX kilometer trip — by bus. I wanted to go to Koh Samui, however, and that was only about $25 total, including the ferry ride to the island, and the taxi ride to Hat Lamai, the beach where I was staying. On the night bus from KL, I met Nui, who was on her way to Koh Samui to go back to work, and her Dutch boyfriend, Arman, heading to Bangkok for Songkran. Despite Arman being close to a meter taller than her, she was definitely the boss... ;)

Nui (in the bus on the way to Koh Samui)