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Operator Comparison

Phuket Marine Travel vs Phantip 1970

Compare Phuket Marine Travel and Phantip 1970 — routes, service areas, and coverage across Thailand. See where they overlap and where each operator goes its own way.

Operator A Phuket Marine Travel vs Operator B Phantip 1970
Phuket Marine Travel 2.0 / 5 0+ reviews
Phantip 1970 4.3 / 5 7400+ reviews

What travellers say: Phuket Marine Travel vs Phantip 1970

Phuket Marine Travel has only a single review, while Phantip 1970 draws from thousands, revealing a clear contrast in traveller sentiment.

Phuket Marine Travel

The one review for Phuket Marine Travel praised the boat and transfer quality as good but highlighted poor communication, unclear pickup locations such as Laemtong Beach versus the actual pier, and stressful uncertainty around timing despite not minding a delay of an hour.

Phantip 1970

Phantip 1970 earns a 4.27 average from over 7,400 reviews, with frequent praise for smooth coordinated transfers, on-time or early arrivals, flexibility for earlier departures, helpful staff, and good value, though common complaints include reckless driving, poor communication at changeovers, cramped minivans, luggage surcharges, and inconsistent vehicle quality.

Traveller sentiment strongly favours Phantip 1970 for its reliability and scale of positive feedback, while Phuket Marine Travel lacks sufficient data for conclusions; book these operators at ThailandBoatTickets.com and reach their 24/7 Virtual Ticket Assistant via WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Telegram or Facebook for clear guidance.

Pros & cons

Phuket Marine Travel

Pros

  • Boat and transfer quality was good
  • Helpful locals assisted with contacting the company when needed

Cons

  • Poor communication about pickup location
  • Confusing pickup information (listed as Laemtong beach but actual pier on opposite side of island)
  • Late arrival (around 1 hour after scheduled time) causing uncertainty and stress
  • Unclear guidance on where to wait (told to wait on beach then redirected to pier)
Phantip 1970

Pros

  • Smooth well-organised coordinated transfers with staff guidance and destination stickers
  • On-time or often early arrivals with flexibility to switch to earlier departures
  • Good value for money on multi-leg routes
  • Helpful friendly staff at offices and counters
  • Comfortable vehicles and Seatran ferries on good legs (AC leather seats onboard shop)

Cons

  • Reckless driving speeding phone use and unsafe behaviour by some drivers
  • Poor communication and chaos at transfer points piers and changeovers
  • Cramped overcrowded minivans with little legroom and luggage in aisles
  • Luggage surcharges (100-300 baht) and drivers running extra errands/deliveries adding time
  • Longer-than-advertised journeys old dirty ferries (Raja) weak AC and hotel drop-off confusion

Service areas at a glance

Based on currently active routes for each operator.

Routes & coverage compared

Both operators run direct services between Ao Nang and Koh Phi Phi in both directions as well as between Koh Phi Phi and Krabi in both directions. Book these overlapping routes on ThailandBoatTickets.com where our 24/7 Virtual Ticket Assistant (VTA) is available on WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Telegram and Facebook.

Phuket Marine Travel uniquely operates the Koh Phi Phi to Railay and Railay to Koh Phi Phi routes. Phantip 1970 offers a wide range of additional routes including Ao Nang to Koh Phangan, Koh Samui and Surat Thani, extensive Koh Phangan and Koh Samui connections to destinations such as Phuket, Krabi, Koh Lanta, Koh Tao, Hat Yai and Khao Sok, plus services involving Donsak, Surat Thani Airport and Trang. Plan these unique journeys on ThailandBoatTickets.com with support from our 24/7 VTA on WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Telegram and Facebook.

Routes both operators run

Same departure and destination — true head-to-head options.

Price distribution

How ticket prices spread across each operator's routes (THB).

Phuket Marine Travel tickets usually fall between 1,200 THB–2,080 THB (median 1,400 THB), while Phantip 1970 between 530 THB–940 THB (median 770 THB). On the whole, Phantip 1970 offers the cheaper tickets.

0–250
250–500
500–1k
1k–2k
2k+
Phuket Marine Travel — min 740 · median 1400 · max 2960 Phantip 1970 — min 60 · median 770 · max 2740

Which should you pick?

Best on a budget Phantip 1970 — described as a reliable good-value operator across thousands of reviews.
Fastest Phuket Marine Travel — offers explicit speedboat + van combined services.
Most comfortable Phantip 1970 — far higher average rating (4.27/5 from 7,405 reviews).
Most travel options Phantip 1970 — coordinates multi-leg trips using minivan, bus/coach, ferry and van transfers on many routes.

Frequently asked questions

Phuket Marine Travel vs Phantip 1970