A car ride from Khao Sok to Ao Nang: A traveler review

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A 5-star journey in a private car from Khao Sok to Ao Nang in Thailand. Here’s an insider’s guide of everything you need to know about this experience.

Ao Nang Thailand

Our time at Khao Sok National Park was complete and it was time to head onwards to another interesting part of Thailand: Ao Nang, near Krabi, is a popular place for tourists to stay because of its great proximity to the beach and longtail boat pier.

Booking the private car

We went online to search for our ride from Khao Sok to Ao Nang, to continue our trip throughout southern Thailand. To our delight, they had some great options to Krabi, specifically Ao Nang beach, with a private transfer. We decided to book a private 5-seater car for the 2-hour journey as we were just two people and unfortunately, there wasn’t an option to book a shared mini-van or bus.

Private car from Khao Sok to Ao Nang

It was as simple as inputting our pick-up point (the Khao Sok Hostel) and our end destination in Krabi (the J Mansion Hotel), with the choice of pick-up times ranging from 6 am onward, every hour on the hour. 12 pm was booked, our confirmation email was received, and we were ready to depart the following day.

Leather interior, air conditioning and pop music

The next day, our driver had arrived 15 minutes early, which was fantastic. We would have hated to sit waiting, worrying that the car wasn’t going to show up as we had already checked out of our hotel. It was raining heavily when we loaded the car with our bags.

On the road to Ao Nang

We quickly escaped into the car, operated by Andaman Taxi, where we were welcomed with open arms by the leather interior, air conditioning and pop music. We separated ourselves with the pull-down armrest and began some quality time with our electronic devices.

A rainy drive to Ao Nang

The journey was luxury to say the least. Leg room was so generous we could bounce our legs with excitement. The choice of music from our driver was stellar: 100 best movie hits! Unfortunately, the rain was so bad, it drowned out most of the sound of the music, but not the sound of the driver singing along.

Not to mention, the rain beat down on the windows so furiously, it was impossible to see anything out of the windows. I don’t know how our driver managed to see through his windshield, but kudos to him for getting us from A to B safely.

More rain and scenery

Two hours went by. We made a toilet break half way through. The rain calmed down and we noticed signs for Ao Nang less than a kilometer (.6 miles) away. We saw misty mountains in the distance. Winding roads with palm trees scattered by the roadside. Just when we were starting to enjoy the scenery, we had arrived at the door of our hotel, J Mansion.

Rainy drive from Khao Sok to Ao Nang

Would you believe us if we told you it started raining again as soon as we were ready to get out? We raced out of the car to grab our bags from the trunk, with the help of our driver, and walked the remaining 5 metres to our reception desk to check in.

Overall, the 5-star journey was dampened by the rainfall which continuously fell throughout 90% during the 155 km (96 mi) drive. What we saw of the nature was lovely, but it made us wonder what beauty we had missed out on.

Pro tip: Choosing a private car over a coach or minivan is worth the upgrade if your budget allows it. Its flexibility allows you to book whenever and its convenience allows you to stop wherever.

We’re so glad Bookaway offers this service.

Posted January 9, 2020
image of blog writers Katie and Jake
Katie and Jake of Untold Wanderlust
Nature enthusiasts who love nothing more than traveling to off the beaten path destinations around the world. Budget travel is our thing. Currently aiming to travel to every country in the world and write about it on our blog Untoldwanderlust. When we’re not on the move, we’re hunting down a bargain, sampling local beers or chillin’ in our pjs tucking into a film.
image of blog writers Katie and Jake