Public transportation in Phuket

[cisco999]

I didn't do my homework prior to coming to Phuket for a couple of weeks with a Filipina friend. I was surprised to learn of the lack of buses or bhat busses or any other public transport options. the tuk tuk drives place a premium on their services it seems. The cost of using a taxi or tuk tuk here almost makes it a budget consideration.

 

Thoughts?

[plahgat]

I didn't do my homework prior to coming to Phuket for a couple of weeks with a Filipina friend. I was surprised to learn of the lack of buses or bhat busses or any other public transport options. the tuk tuk drives place a premium on their services it seems. The cost of using a taxi or tuk tuk here almost makes it a budget consideration.

 

Thoughts?

 

During the daytime there are regular public buses and " songthaews" between the main beaches and the town of Phuket,

fare about 20-25 baht only, you can get off and hop on anywhere along the route.

Buses between Patong and the town are conveinient to use if you want to go shopping at the Central Festival, Big C or Tesco Lotus,

only 25 baht one way.

There are no public transport if you want to go directly from one beach to another though, only expensive Tuktuks or Motorbike Taxis,

or you have to take the public bus to the market in town and change for another one to the beach, but it's time consuming!

 

Plahgat

[0069]

During the daytime there are regular public buses and " songthaews" between the main beaches and the town of Phuket,

fare about 20-25 baht only, you can get off and hop on anywhere along the route.

Buses between Patong and the town are conveinient to use if you want to go shopping at the Central Festival, Big C or Tesco Lotus,

only 25 baht one way.

There are no public transport if you want to go directly from one beach to another though, only expensive Tuktuks or Motorbike Taxis,

or you have to take the public bus to the market in town and change for another one to the beach, but it's time consuming!

 

Plahgat

 

Agreed!

 

A few years ago i stayed in Kata for a few days. Had a BG from Patong where i used to stay whenn in Phuket. Saw one of gthe wellknown busses and asked her if we could take that to Patong. No. The bus is going another way to get to Phuket Town. Could take it and change to another bus to Patong (and same same when going back) - cheap but would take just about 2 hours going from Kata to Patong. No Way. 300 Baht in a taxi and 10-15 min.

 

To OP. Take care of the Moto-bike mafia in Patong. They do whatever they can to overcharge BIG time (same same the tuk tuk drivers)

[Hammers24]

Agreed with the overcharging, its excessive. Earlier this month we couldn't get a Tuk Tuk for under 400B between Karon and Patong, 10 minutes at the most for the journey.

 

An alternative transport method was hard to find.