(Solo-male traveler, Canadian)
For the price this trip is a bargain in Thailand. The driver did not speak English but was very friendly and myself amongst other passengers could translate for him. The bus itself is in rough but working order. I was never truly uncomfortable (as you might be on local rural buses). Most importantly the air conditioning always worked, and we were never in physical danger. The first pit-stop seemed to happen pretty early into the trip and was a somewhat long 30-minute stop. The second stop was a 10 minute break at a gas station/convenience store about 1 hour from the reaching the ferry terminal. Both places had restrooms, some food options, and amenities.
Considering the driver will in most cases drop you directly at your hotel, the price is very reasonable and the price margin between this and the next step up is a large gap, unless you have healthy budget and want to travel alone.
Two recommendations: 1: Sit in the first seat directly behind the driver because you'll have maximum leg room and be the first person off-the-bus as pit stops. 2: Wear a mask. Many customers were coughing and a lot of germs spread around. I caught a cold on this bus and had to spend the first 2-3 days on Koh Chang sick in my room.
Very easy way to travel from Bangkok to Koh Chang! Lovely driver, there is not very much leg room in the bus (but I am 6ft so its probably okay otherwise) and they dropped us off right at our resort! Will use again and 100% recommend to anyone travelling this journey!
Confirmation never got me (i bought ticket day before) so i did not knew about timetable changes.. lucky me that only transport in that day was little bit late so i got in to it.. 11:00 from suwarnabhumi was moved to 10🤷♂️
The Driver was excellent - thoughtful for his passengers, explained times clearly. He concentrated on the driving, with very little time spent on his phone while driving
I rated "Great" overall because the van, while good, did struggle over holes in the road
The vehicle was on time and AC was always on too. We took several breaks which was good too. The driver helps you where will you go after you reach the island. I got off at the pier.
On time, very straight forward and nice driver. The bus was tiny so a little uncomfortable but generally an extremely smooth trip! We stopped for lunch 1 hour into journey. Bus goes onto the ferry and driver drops you off on the other side up to a certain point. If you are staying anywhere 15 mins (approx) beyond the pier you will get a taxi for 50 THB which is waiting for you when driver drops you off. ☺️
The minivan we had, was really bad. It was one of the worst 4-5h ride we had from our 6 months travelling.
The minivan had 0 suspension, literally every 2 seconds we were bouncing. We both had an upset stomach.
Also the seat of my gf was loose, not fixed which made her ride even worser + dangerous (as the minivan was full she couldn't change).
** I have a video of the bumpy ride and photo of the loose seat that I could send
Besides that the driver was nice and friendly and the restaurant where he stopped was good.
I also think the bus shouldn't have stopped that much on this short ride. We stopped at least 3 times (15 min after 1h, then stopped 30 min for lunch, and then 1h later again 20 min stop). We could have spared 30 min easily.
Sichere Fahrt mit gutem Fahrer, der eine Raststätte anpeilte, mit verschiedenen Gaststätten. So konnten alle Mitfahrenden etwas nach ihrem Geschmack suchen. Einzig und allein die große Verzögerung bei der Abfahrt stimmte uns unglücklich, da wir doch die Zeit auf der Insel so gut wie möglich ausnutzen wollten. Wir hätten uns gerne ein paar Infos gewünscht, weshalb wir am Flughafen in Bangkok noch fast eine Stunde warteten, obwohl doch alle Mitfahrenden schon im Bus saßen. Hätten wir transparente Infos bekommen, wäre vermutlich mehr Verständnis von den Gästen erwarten zu können.