How to Book a Longtail Boat Without Paying Twice
A charter for four people to the islands should cost between 1,200 and 2,500 baht for the day. If you are being quoted per person, or told the fuel is extra, you are being quoted the tourist price.
The longtail boat is a wooden hull with a truck engine on the back and a long decorated prow, and it is the most recognisable image in Thai island tourism. Booking one is also the easiest place in Thailand to pay four times what you should, because the price is always quoted to you personally rather than posted.
Last verified 25 September 2026.
What a charter should cost
Small longtail, up to about 10 passengers, half or full day: 1,200 to 2,500 baht for the boat. Not per person. For the boat. This is the number to hold in your head.
Big longtail or a converted speedboat, 15 to 20 passengers: 2,500 to 4,500 baht for the day. These are faster, handle open water better, and are what you want if you are doing Phi Phi or the Koh Tao area rather than a nearby island.
Shorter half-day trips to a single island: 800 to 1,500 baht. A lot of the cheap day-trip packages you see advertised are a small longtail shared between twenty people at 1,200 baht a head, which is a different product entirely and much slower.
The fuel is normally included in the charter price. If someone quotes you a number and then adds fuel separately, you are dealing with someone who wants to make money on the diesel, and you should walk away. The honest arrangement is a fixed price that includes fuel, fuel being the largest cost the owner has.
How you actually book one
Your accommodation is the normal route, and the commission is the problem. A hotel on Krabi or Phi Phi can usually arrange a boat. The price they quote you is the boat's price plus their markup, which is frequently 30 to 50 per cent. It is convenient and it is not the best price. Ask for the boat's phone number and call it directly; a surprising number of captains are perfectly happy to be booked direct.
Walk to the pier. In every port town there is a row of captains, and they all know each other's prices. Ask three. The first two will be high and the third will be the real number, and they will know you have asked three because the third one is being undercut by the second one.
Ask for a specific boat, not a "longtail trip". The difference between a 40-year-old wooden hull and a newer one with a shade canopy is about 200 baht and it is worth every satang in the heat.
The four questions, in order
"Is the price for the whole boat or per person?" The answer is almost always for the whole boat, and asking makes it clear you know that. If it is per person, you now know why it is cheaper and you can decide whether you want to share.
"How many people fit on it comfortably?" A small longtail is rated for 10 on paper and 6 in practice. If you have 4 people, that is a good boat. If you have 8, you want the big one, because eleven people on a hull built for six is a bad day.
"What happens if it rains?" Roughly a third of the day gets cancelled in the wet season. A reputable operator will tell you what their policy is, and most will move your deposit to another day. If the answer is "we cannot refund" before you have asked about rain, assume the worst and find someone else.
"Is lifejacket for all of us included, and do the children have them?" Everyone, every time, including small children. Thailand's boat safety record on small craft is not good and the practical mitigation is to insist. If the boat has no lifejackets at all, that is a different kind of operator and you should think carefully.
What to look for before you step aboard
An engine that is not smoking. A blue tarp or canopy. Lifejackets in a reachable pile, not packed in the bow. A boat with a name and a number on it, which means it is registered and you can complain about it if you need to. A captain who is not in a hurry and does not pressure you to leave immediately.
Also look at the other boats at the pier. If the boats around you look like yours, the price you were offered is consistent with the market. If yours is visibly newer and better maintained than everything around it, someone has marked it up on the assumption you will not notice.
The scams worth knowing
The free snorkel trip that ends at a jewellery shop. A "free" island tour that stops somewhere you did not ask for, where the boat cannot leave until everyone has been offered a discount on gems. This one is endemic and it is not subtle. The tell is that the itinerary is described loosely and the stops are decided on the water.
The 100 baht per stop charge for a national park entry that you did not ask to enter. Park fees are real and are around 200 to 400 baht per person for most marine parks, but they are paid at the park and they come with a receipt. If your boat operator quotes a fee and keeps it, that is a different arrangement.
The departure fee. Some operators add 200 to 300 baht per person on top of the charter, called fuel, harbour, or departure. Sometimes legitimate, sometimes invented. Ask for the total price including everything on the first conversation, not the base price.
One more thing
If you are going to the Phi Phi islands, check the boat you are booking has a shade canopy and that it is the small one rather than the big speedboat, because the speedboat cannot pull in at the pontoons and you will end up swimming ashore with your bag on your back in deep water. Small longtail, no canopy, absolutely fine.
