Travelled as a family of 4 (two kids, 10 & 13).
Phantip staff in Surat Thani were great. Really helpful and clear. Our bus came on time (10:30) and we were told our trip would be 2 parts, changing buses at Krabi. The first leg (ST to Krabi) was great. Smooth, comfortable, uneventful.
However at Krabi town bus terminal there was a ticket tout who targeted us (a family of 4) and swindled 180 baht out of us for 'getting bus to Koh Lanta to drop us at our hotel). In reality, this was a totally unrelated charge, and the staff at the bus terminal watched the whole thing and didn't intervene or say otherwise. At the time we assumed it was part of the 'service' and all connected, but since realised it was just a scam. Disappointing.
The second leg (Krabi to Koh Lanta) felt much longer, but again uneventful. All good, would recommend overall.
Before the transfer to Krabi, everything is fine. In Krabi, they began to ask everyone where they were on Lanta and take money for delivery to the hotel. This point is incomprehensible - the letter from 12GO somehow does not clearly mention delivery to certain points for free, but this is clearly not the case. The minivan from Krabi was packed with people and luggage so that some had to keep their legs at chest level. And at the same time, the driver stopped and tried to find more passengers. It was good that the minivan drove with the passengers on the ferry and so we quickly found ourselves on the island.
The van from Surat Thani was full and very uncomfortable. On the way the driver stopped for 10 minutes to get some food but nobody else could left the car - strange