Although a bit tiring, we took the Lonprayah bus to Chomphun and then the fast boat to Ko Pha Ngan via Ko Tao, almost 12 hours together, only interrupted by two food stops. The bus left at 9pm, but checking was earlier, so we queued for good seats and decided to have a bite of noodles before the trip. All of a sudden we saw people from the trip moving down the street as we rush back, everyone had left more than half an hour early. Fortunately we were able to catch up, but it reminded us of the SE time schedule, where departure time means departure time and boarding is done well before.  

The kids did great on this long journey and we even got to sleep a bit on the bus. In Vietnam, you can sleep – lie down – on the bus, and in Malaysia, you travel like first class on a plane, with plenty of space to sleep, but it seems Thai buses only come with reclining seats, good enough for the kids, but I prefer the sleepers. 
We couldn’t see much on the bus trip, overnight, but the boat trip was interesting. The top platform was windy, but fun. Most people seemed to head for Ko Tao (diving place) or Ko Samui. We got off on the third stop.  Lucky for us, Ko Pha Ngan is still quiet, remote, and just beautiful. Definitely worth the extra wait.