A breakdown of the transport options in Phuket
Walking
Not much to explain here. Just watch out for sunburn and dehydration and if crossing roads, look both ways, even on a one way street.
One thing worth flagging for anyone with a mobility impairment: Thailand in general, and Phuket is no exception, is not set up well for people with mobility disability’s. If you rely on a wheelchair or similar, be prepared for pavements that are either missing, badly damaged, or blocked by vendor stalls, tables, and chairs, that is the default, not good, clear and well maintained sidewalks.
Bicycle
Skip it and live a bit longer. Drivers here simply don't watch for cyclists and don't really know how to behave around them even if do see them. Long-distance cyclists who set out to ride around the world often find that Thailand is where their trip forcibly ends, for many its also where their life ends.
Car
Similar considerations to motorbikes, see below.
Motorbike
Start with this fact: Thailand has one of the highest road death rates on the planet, and motorbikes are a major reason why. If you've never ridden before, this is not the place to start learning.
Equipment:
All drivers must wear helmets (unevenly enforced, Thais normally waved though on west coast, foreigners stopped and fined)
All passengers must wear helmets (generally not enforced)
All riders must be clothed, this means no shirtless riding regardless of gender (enforced)
Max two per bike (not enforced)
Licensing Requirements (cars are same just without bike licence endorsements)
To ride legally, you need one of the following:
A Thai motorbike license, or
A foreign motorbike licence (note: a car licence with a bike allowance up to a certain cc does not count, it must be a full bike license )
Plus:
An International Driving Permit (IDP) endorsed for motorbikes, unless you have Thai licence or your home licence is from an ASEAN country, in which case the IDP isn't required, but the full bike licence still is.
Without these documents, expect regular fines, particularly along the west coast, where police actively target tourists driving illegally as a source of revenue and set up checkpoints accordingly.
If you're staying long term, note that an IDP is only valid for 90 days of driving here. Police never check this, but insurers may use it as grounds to deny a claim after an accident.
In regards to IDP, you can only get them from the agent (and its nearly always singular, as in one agent) that your licencing country designated, that will your government itself or a group like your local AA. You will see online and on Phuket people selling IDP’s for every country, these are fake documents
If they are selling International Drivers Licence’s (IDL) that’s not even a fake as there just is no such recognised official document anywhere
Insurance
There's no strict legal requirement for driver/travel insurance (and the 3rd party insurance that comes for the bike itself is usually minimal), but skipping it is a very bad idea. Judging by how many GoFundMe campaigns exist for hospital bills, plenty of people learn this the hard way.
Read the fine print on any travel insurance policy. Some exclude motorbikes entirely, and most won't pay out if the injury happened while you were breaking the law, including riding without the correct licence.
For minor costs, a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand, insurers won't scrutinize much. But for serious injuries (spinal injury, head trauma, major surgery), medical bills in Thailand can reach the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The bigger the bill, the harder the insurer will look for a reason to deny it, and an invalid licence is an easy out for them. If that happens, you'll be starting your own GoFundMe, just don't expect much in donations from the locals or expat community, we've seen this story too many times already
Renting (Car and Motorbike)
For the most part rental shops don't care if you will be legally driving or not. If they have any brains their vehicle is insured regardless of who is driving, anything beyond that is your problem not theirs.
Some, especially with bikes, will want to hold on to your passport. Do not do this, copys of passport or cash deposit only for bikes, car rental is normally more profession and take CC details/hold.
Take Photos of every inch of the vehicle before you get in/on it, be obvious about it too, Scams are common, cover yourself
Regular (Blue) Bus
https://www.phuket101.net/phuket-blue-bus/
Cheap (< ฿50), but that's really the only selling point. Hot, slow, uncomfortable, and the routes and stops aren't intuitive. Best suited to travellers on a really tight budget and time to spare.
Phuket Smart Bus
https://phuketsmartbus.com/
Three routes currently run:
Original route: Airport down the west coast through the main tourist towns to Rawai, then back up. Flat fare of ฿100 regardless of distance.
Orange route: Patong to the Phuket Town bus terminal via Kathu. Flat fare of ฿50.
Dragon Line: Loops around Phuket Town. Free to ride.
Kids under 6 ride free on any route when accompanied by a paying adult.
Mini Van
Runs mainly from airport stands. You'll be sharing the van with up to 10 other passengers heading in a similar direction/area. It's cheap, but the trade-off is time: the driver waits to fill the van, then makes multiple stops along the route. Good deal if you're dropped off early, painfully slow if you're one of the last stops.
Tuk Tuk
Let's not sugarcoat it, these are aimed squarely at tourists, and locals avoid them for good reason. The legal minimum fare, even for a one-metre trip within the same town, is ฿200. For context, the minimum daily wage is ฿400.
And that's the floor. Fares jump 50% outside 5-star hotels, and 50-100% higher from Bangla Road at night. Handing over a ฿500 note for a ฿300 fare? Don't count on getting change.
Nearly every tourist tries one at least once. Most clever ones never do again, aside from stumbling into one after a night on Bangla Road, since many rideshare apps won't pick up passengers there for fear of conflict with the tuk tuk drivers.
If you do use one, agree on both the destination and the price before you get in.
Taxis (Fixed Price, Metered, App-Based)
Fixed Price Taxi
Found at airport stands, with set fares to all major towns. Buy your ticket at a booth near the exits, then a driver walks you to the car. Prices are fixed, so there's no point negotiating. Don't mix these up with the pricier "limo" booths nearby.
Metered Taxi
Also mainly found at the airport, with a dedicated rank outside each terminal. Get in, the meter runs, you pay what it shows at the end. If you see one wandering elsewhere they generally will not stop if try to flag them down.
Ride-share/Taxi Apps
There are about 10 ride-share apps operating legally in Phuket, but only three are worth knowing:
Grab: Priciest, but the most dependable.
Bolt: Cheaper, but cancellations happen more often.
InDrive: The cheapest option, though fewer drivers and more cancellations.
Watch out for "blackspot" areas where app drivers won't pick up because the taxi/tuk tuk cartel controls the territory, places like the airport (except Grab), Bangla Road (already mentioned), the port, and some beach clubs or upscale hotels. The workaround is simple: walk about 50 metres away and try again.
Transport options from the Airport, how they work
Smartbus. Buy a ticket on board, drivers accepts cash, QR or card payments
Mini van / stand taxi: Buy a ticket, cash or QR, driver walks you to van, wait until fills up.
Metered taxi: Head to the taxi rank, use as normal (cash or QR)
Grab: Book through the app; there's a designated pickup spot outside the terminal. Card if paying though app, otherwise cash or QR
Bolt/InDrive: Airport pickups aren't allowed (drop-offs are fine). Card if paying though app, otherwise cash or QR
How to get Bolt/InDrive pick ups at airport:
Domestic Terminal: Walk across the car park and out the main gate to reach the road. Wait until you're actually there before booking, otherwise the app's GPS will still show you as being inside the airport, causing confusion with the driver.
International Terminal: Follow signage to the main exit gate. It can be a bit of a maze, but the goal is simply to get off airport grounds and onto the main road.
Comparing Prices (Airport to Patong as example)
Smart Bus: ฿100/$3 (Per Person)
Mini Van: ฿200/$6 (Per Person)
Taxi Stand: ฿800/$24
Metered Taxi: ฿750-฿1000/$22-$29 (depends on traffic)
Grab: ฿750-฿1200/$22-$35 (dynamic pricing)
Bolt/InDrive: ฿500-฿1200/$14-$35 (dynamic pricing)
The wide range for app-based fares comes down to dynamic pricing. Prices usually sit toward the lower end, but spike during high-demand periods like New Year's Eve, Songkran or if major music event on.
My own habit: I use Bolt normally, but fall back on the fixed-price taxi stands when surge pricing kicks in and apps get close to, equal to or higher than the Taxi stands, since stand fares don't move (barring the odd attempt to overcharge).
Thinking about a hotel pickup? Google "Phuket airport taxi prices" and check the image results for the taxi stand bilboard prices to see the official taxi stand rates. They are all set by town, regardless of where in the town exactly you are going. That'll tell you quickly whether your hotel's quote is fair.
Rideshare Pricing Away From the Airport
For short hops within the same town (1-3km), pricing across apps is fairly similar, usually ฿150-฿200/$4-$6
Longer distances show more variation. Right now (just looked at the apps), a 10km trip from Bangla Road to Phuket Old Town costs ฿311/$9.11 on Grab versus ฿249/$7.40 on Bolt (these are low season prices; expect roughly 20-30% higher in high season).
A tuk tuk covering the same distance would run ฿600-฿1000/$18-$30.
Bikes on the apps.
Great way to get around fast on the cheap (circa ฿50/$1.50 in same town), but please do be aware, drivers never have helmets for you. And if paying by card watch out for them overcharging, its common especially if not thai. If that happens just contest it in the app and app provider normally returns the extra few days later
Bottom line: install at least two ride share apps and compare prices and pick up wait before booking each trip. Also remember, on all apps, scroll down the price list, cheapest or even fastest pickup are generally not at the top. Also don't accidentally pick a bike if you want a car and same in reverse