Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TO/FROM THE AIRPORT
Despite what airport taxi touts would like you to believe, a bright-orange
government airport
bus
( 0 7623 2371;
www.airportbusphuket.com
;
tickets 90B)
runs between the airport and Phuket
Town via the Heroines Monument about every hour between 6am and 7pm. There's also a
minibus service at the airport that will take you into Phuket Town for 150B per person.
Services to Patong, Kata and Karon beaches cost 180B if there are enough passengers.
Chartered cars between the airport and Phuket Town cost 500B; between the airport and
beaches is 700B to 1000B. Metered taxis should cost no more than 550B (including air-
port tax) to anywhere around the island.
BUS
You'll find the bus terminal (
Click here
) just to the east of the town centre, within walking
distance of the many hotels. See the Getting There & Away section on
Click here
for more
information on bus services from Phuket.
CAR
There are cheap car-rental agencies on Th Rasada near
Pure Car Rent
( 0 7621 1002;
www.purecarrent.com
;
75 Th Rasada)
, which is a good choice. Suzuki jeeps go for about 1200B
per day (including insurance), though in the low season the rates can go down to 750B.
And if you rent for a week or more, you should get a discount.
The rates are always better at local places than at the better-known international firms,
though you may be able to get deals with the familiar companies if you reserve in ad-
vance.
MOTORCYCLE
You can rent motorcycles on Th Rasada near Pure Car Rent, or from various places at the
beaches. Costs are anywhere from 200B to 300B per day, and can vary depending on the
season. Bigger bikes (over 125cc) can be rented at shops in Patong, Kata, Rawai and
Karon.
SŎRNG•TĂA•OU & TÚK-TÚK
Large bus-sized
sŏrng·tăa·ou
run regularly from Th Ranong near the market to the various
Phuket beaches (25B to 40B per person). These run from around 7am to 5pm; outside
these times you have to charter a túk-túk to the beaches, which will set you back 500B to
Patong, Kata and Rawai, and 600B to Karon and Kamala. You'll have to bargain. Beware
of tales about the tourist office being 5km away, or that the only way to reach the beaches
is by taxi, or even that you'll need a taxi to get from the bus terminal to the town centre (it
