My bus left without me as it "was already full"
Booked ticket for 03.01.2026, the bus from Surat Thani meant to be at 5.50. Booked 2 months in advance, has chosen the seat. On 3rd came out of train, found the bus stop. At 5.50 there was no bus. We kept on waiting till 6.30, as the man who sells tickets there told it would be the 1st bus. 6.50 - still no bus. Nice Thai girl (passenger) translated to everyone that the "6.30 bus was full, so it went forward and we have to wait for the next bus" (with no guarantee it won't be full too). What was the point of buying ticket in advance, of noone cares I have booked a seat there? Around 7am a big bus came - and it was really FULL. People were sitting even on the floor. Few local people got in, so I just rushed after them - it would be too much to spend more hours waiting. Got a small space literally on the floor in the end of the bus and was ready to pay again for the ticket, just not to wait any longer. The guy working in the bus was checking my ticket many times, called someone, but let me stay. Still don't know if that was my bus or not, but I reached Phuket after 5 hours. Next time I will book the ticket on another website, as this experience was not nice at all.