It was, in fact, a Siem Riep Airways 717 with Angkor Wat painted on it. On the way there, it was a Bangkok Airways 717 called the “Sukhothai,” with a picture of the ancient city painted on the plane.

I believe we paid 400 Baht (each) departure tax to fly from Samui back to BKK. We paid cash -- ATMs were plentiful on the island. In fact, I would carry as little cash as possible for security, since most places take credit cards. I also went to Khao Lak a few years ago (north of Phuket on the Andaman) and it was little more difficult (but not impossible) to find ATMs there.

We couldn’t figure out a way to earn useful miles on the flights but there was one perk – they did serve us a meal both ways. Oh, and free internet access and snacks in their private waiting area in the BKK airport.