So, we arrived in Phuket at 00:30 on the morning of the 27th, after leaving Koh Tao at 10am on the 26th. In the interim we've taken a catamaran from Koh Tao to Chumpon, a mini bus from Chumpon to Ranong, stopped off in Burma on the way past (to give us more time in Thailand - Visa Run), taken a local bus from Ranong to Phuket and wandered the streets of Phuket town looking for a place to stay.

We bought our tickets for the Visa Run (everything up to Ranong, including the trip over to Burma) from Sunny Travel in Mae Had, Koh Tao. Can fully recommend them, the trip went really smoothly, without a hitch. They're on the left side of the street going from 7-11 to the Diver's Emporium in town there.

Can't really say that we've been in Burma though. You stamp out of Thailand, get on a boat and go over to this luxury island resort/casino where the beers cost 3 times as much as anywhere in Thailand, get stamped in by Burmese immigration (who hold onto your passport since you haven't got a visa to be there and can't stay more than 3 days, but for those prices who would want to stay anyway), wait for an hour for the next boat, head back to Thailand and get a new stamp for 30 days.

Our first experience with the new visa rules was interesting - the immigration official had problems counting, so evidently we've already been in Thailand for 55 days - go figure. You're now only allowed to be in Thailand for 90 days in a 6 month period without a visa - in blocks of no more than 30 days. Previously you could just grab a 30 day stamp and when it ran out, just leave the country and come back for another 30 days - and do that for ever if you wanted. They still have tourist visas and things, but if you're doing it without a visa then it's something to be aware of.

Anyway, buses from Bangkok to Phuket go through Ranong twice a day - once at around 6am and once at around 7pm (+/- 1 hour) & it takes about 5 hours from Ranong to Phuket.

Felt like crap when we arrived, needing to sleep, but glad that we'd made it all the way down in one day, with new stamps, instead of having to stay the night in Ranong, or having leave Thailand later on just to get a new stamp.