There are a couple of options, and over time we've explored most of the them.
The Raja car Ferry is the quickest in terms of basic travel to and from these islands.
The cost is 220 bahts per person each way, and takes a little over 2 hours from shore to shore (Thong Sala Pier on Koh Phangan to the Donsak Ferry Terminal near Surat Thani), but now you've got to figure out how to get yourself into town.
There are speed boats and oversized Catamaran services, but we find them a little pricey, so we'll leave that up to you to research if you're so inclined.
Another option is the Night Boat, at around 440 bahts per person each way. The Night Boat leaves the Thong Sala Pier at 10 PM, and arrives right near the Surat Thani city center at 5:30 AM, and this solves the problem of getting from Donsak into town (a bit over 70KMs) for trains or buses to continue the journey up to Bangkok.
This time, we chose to ride the government bus right from the island straight through to Bangkok.
There are 3 classes of government bus; 24 seat "v.i.p." aircon, 40 seat semi-v.i.p. aircon, and the basic fan bus. We took the 40 seater at a cost of a bit under 700 bahts each to Bangkok.
Next time, I'd opt for the 24 seat bus at around 1000 bahts to Bangkok as this bus would be infinitely roomier for people who are taller than the average Thai person.
Another option from Surat Thani to Bangkok is the train.
The train leaves Surat Thani in the evening and travels overnight up to Bangkok for around 800 bahts each - 2nd class aircon sleeper, or even cheaper for a 2nd class fan sleeper.
After comparing the train against the bus, the train wins hands down, especially if sleep and comfort have any value in your world.

 On the return portion of our last trip up to Laos, the train was nearly full and all we could get was 2 hard seats for the 12 plus hour ride from Nong Khai to Bangkok. Something i would not recommend unless you're a serious masochist. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the experience despite a big case of sore ass and cramped legs.. The "sitting cars" at the back end of the train are not usually visited by tourists, and our voyage on it has brought us both to a slightly greater understanding of this country and her people, the quiet smiles, the patience, the buddhist influence on everyday living and giving..

 

We landed in Bangkok on January 4th, it's now August 13th. and we've eased into the idea of living in Thailand to the point where Canada sounds more like the cousin of an exotic species of sugar cane than the place from whence we came. It seems like we've always lived here. While the flora and fauna still astound, our appreciation and growing understanding of the Thai people and their culture/philosophy puts a perspective on our day to day living.

The euphoria of the tourist, the joys and difficulties of the life within the microcosm of this island, the locals, the expats, the wildness of pets, reveal an insight into human nature, the frailties, the strengths, the innate philosophy, the dreams and wishes of those we've come to know, the loves found and the loves lost, tumbling around on the incoming tide. They are the spice of day to day living on Koh Phangan.

They are universal.

We've recently been invited to perform a series of Moscow fish concerts at the 1/2 moon festival starting in September. So now, we're well into the software that will allows us to fulfill a vision we had for a new musical direction as we were packing up our life in Canada back in December of last year. 

Many of the items necessary for a live show where left behind in Canada. They just didn't fit in our two small backpacks and single suitcase. With help from our new friends on this island, we have found some of their counterparts here, unconditionally loaned to us, a midi keyboard, digital percussion, an electric guitar, a small mixing board etc., which will allow us to do a performance that incorporates our live music, our live loops, and dj technology/software, rolling it all into a live performance art.

We came here, with a nano studios, equipped to explore a new method of making music, to create and refine ideas, and to play with new software. The thought of creating a new way to performing our music was a ways off into the future, with perhaps a trip back to Canada to pick up more gear.

Funny how life works.

Now,  we've been given the opportunity to put some of this into practice - a little ahead of schedule, but I think it's better to bend with what life blows your way, especially if you may have unconsciously wished it.  

I'm also glad that as much as we've been diving into the ocean to look at fishes, we've been learning to crack the 9th dimension of a lot of new software.

So I guess it's all just another day in a beautiful place.

We've got another visa trip coming up at the end of the month. This time it'll be Kuala Lampur in Malaysia, or Venentian in Laos. Rumour has it that right now Penang, Malaysia (the closest place), is being a bit inconsistent with regards to the issuance of visas, so we think we'll avoid it this time around, despite how much as we loved being there the last time. This visa thing can be somewhat complicated, with the rules changing regularly, and the interpretation of said "ever changing rules" is at the discretion of the official holding your passport.

And that too is same same the world over.

Like most people, I think we've just been caught up in life for awhile, and because of that, we have neglected the part of our communication which is this blog.

we've not been lazy / quietly hunting answers / sometimes we find them
 

Gotta post about our trip down to Georgetown in Penang Malaysia....  

We've got some great photos to add to a tale is mostly written.

For now, we'll leave you with a link to an ongoing history that you may be unaware of.

It's the story of how New Cathertonia is now set on total and absolute world domination..

We think it might be a good idea...

And besides, the New Cathertonian flag is pretty damn cool.

 June and July have been comfortably hot, with small bursts of windy tempestuous weather.

Can't imagine being anywhere else.

The steep chocolate-chip-like peaks slide away from the back of the car ferry as we leave the mainland behind and slowly chug across the gulf of thailand back to our island home Koh Pangan. We left 3 days ago to head south to Malaysia on our second visa stamping trip.

We took the sunset ferry to Suratthani and the night train down to the city of Hat Yai.

The second part of our quest while in Hat Yai was to find a specific external 750GB hard drive to hold our video files. Through this quest we discovered much of Hat Yai and were helped by some very wonderful people who mostly spoke a tiny bit of english which smoked our fledgling ability to speak Thai.

One young man frustrated by his inability to give us direction to our 5th computer store, had me jump on the back of his bike and drove me there while Ted stayed in his scooter shop and played guitar jamming with the shop boys. Music crosses most boundaries, especially language. While we never did find the external drive of our dreams, we met great folks. We shunned the expensive Thongsue's and taxis and air-conditioned buses and hopped on the local Thai city buses, we even took the city bus to and from the border some 50klm away much to the dismay of many a taxi driver. The difference in price didn't quite make up for our "overstay" fine but cut the pain of it in half.

On the city bus we met many fine locals, from small children to grandmothers, but nary a white face. The locals would shyly practice the english they possessed, and in turn we would learn a few more words in Thai. The city buses are rich in character. One had an exhaust that was falling off and sounded like a giant tuba played very badly, another we dubbed the "happy bus" as it was extremely colourful on the inside with extra blinking lights wired in, swinging fans, thai music blaring so loud the speakers could hardly contain it, and the driver honking and waving at everyone he passed.

I met a glowing 84 year old grandmother lugging her parcels of melons, squash , mystery thai fruit and veggies, and a bunch of green coconuts still clinging to the vine, all in all it probably weighed 45 pounds. I flexed my arm muscle and pointed at her arms, she smiled with gaptoothed joy and proceeded to tell me what each item was in Thai. She wai'ed Thai style with steepled hands at every buddhist temple we passed until she fell asleep amidst her parcels, the pounding thai tunes, the jostling of the bus, and the days heat blasting the trough the open windows..sweet dreams beautiful grandama...meanwhile..luawn mak mak..very hot! 

At every stop, and there were many, the station platform was alive with vendours selling food and drinks which were passed through the open windows (the windows don't open on the aircon train) in exchange for minute amounts of Thai bahts.

As the train took us back towards Suratthani, the night fell like a stone on red dirt roads that cut through the rice paddys, pineapple groves, and rubber tree farms through which the train rolled slowly north. Trackside shantytowns (the better homes being further away from the rails) gave way to fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. Buddhist temples built majestically high on those steep chocolate chip style mountains that dotted the plains fell behind us and faded into night.