Surat Thani has become disappointing since the Great Plague with only flights to and from Bangkok from what I can see on the arrivals/departures board online. I specifically want to fly to KUL from Samui and would stomach the ferry ride if Air Asia reinstated the route because the alternative is to fly to BKK and double back. I suppose flying to KL via HKT from USM would also be viable somehow.

Let's not forget that Malaysia's Firefly used to fly to USM direct from KL's other airport in Subang and undercut Bangkok Airways's insane regional fares but they stopped operating the route some years before the Great Plague.

I don't think it's viable for other airlines to fly to USM so I've give up hoping to see other airlines there. Cambodia Airways announced two return flights a week from Phnom Penh in May this year but it's scrubbed from their web site now. I assume that Bangkok Airways didn't think the route was viable so let Cambodia launch the route with crippling landing charges and thus proved their point.

It's not much mentioned but Bangkok Airways does offer a significant discount to Samui Residents on its USM flights and if you can prove residency then you get a special resident card and booking portal. It takes the sting off the fares, particularly ruinous international flights like the SIN one.

Also, when you're paying your absurdly high fare for a domestic or regional flight ex-Thailand you can rest assured that the airline has reinstated hot meals on the USM-BKK route (cold snack still on USM-HKT) and I got five glasses of wine with my hot meal on my recent SIN flight so you can get some added value from the journey.