Travel info
Visa and arrival card, the airport, getting around, boats, money, health, weather and plugs.
Where we could, we checked facts against official sources: the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai embassies, the official arrival-card site, the airport operator and the government's emergency numbers. National park fees come from the local press, and climate averages are Thai Meteorological Department figures. Where only guides or companies give a figure, we say so; where sources disagree, we give the range or leave the figure out.
Prices and timetables change: we last checked everything on this page in November 2026.
Check whether your nationality has the 30-day visa exemption, fill in the free arrival card (TDAC) online in the three days before you land, and plan how you will leave the airport: it is in the far north of the island. Do not ride a scooter without a motorcycle licence, swim only between the two red and yellow flags that mark the watched area, and never when the red flag is up, which means swimming is forbidden; and carry some cash in small notes.
| Time zone | UTC+7 all year, no daylight saving |
|---|---|
| Currency | Thai baht (THB) |
| Visa exemption | 30 days for 60 countries and territories since 15 September 2026 |
| Arrival card | TDAC, free, online, within 3 days before arrival |
| Emergency | 1669 ambulance · 191 police · 1155 tourist police |
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz |
Since 15 September 2026, citizens of 60 countries and territories can enter Thailand for tourism without a visa for 30 days; the rule replaced the 60-day exemption, which many websites still quote. France and Belgium are on the list. The stay can be extended once, by up to 30 days, at an immigration office, with form TM.7 and a fee of 1,900 baht, at the officer's discretion. Airlines sometimes ask for a ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days at check-in.
Since 1 May 2025, every foreign visitor must fill in the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online, free, in the three days before arrival, once per entry. The only official site is tdac.immigration.go.th: other sites that charge for it are not official.
| Visa exemption | 30 days, extendable once by up to 30 days (checked November 2026) |
|---|---|
| Extension | Form TM.7, 1,900 baht, at the officer's discretion |
| TDAC | Free, within 3 days before arrival, tdac.immigration.go.th |
Phuket International Airport (HKT) is at Mai Khao, at the northern tip of the island, about 32 km north of Phuket Town. It has an international and a domestic terminal. By road, Patong is about 40 to 50 minutes away outside rush hour, and, according to one 2026 guide, the drive can take 30 to 45 minutes longer between 4 and 7 pm.
Grab is allowed to pick up at the airport, at designated zones shown in the app; Bolt was not, as of March 2026, and its drivers wait outside the airport grounds. The Grab app shows the fare before you book.
Counters in the arrivals hall, after customs, sell fixed-price rides; one 2026 guide says prices are displayed behind the counters. 2026 guides quote about 700 to 800 baht to Patong and about 900 to 1,000 baht to Kata or Karon for a sedan; there is no official price list online, so check the price at the counter. Metered taxis add a 100-baht airport fee.
A flat 100 baht from the airport down the west coast through Surin, Kamala, Patong, Karon and Kata to Rawai; children under 7 ride free. It leaves from in front of exit 3 of the domestic terminal, takes about an hour and a half to Patong and stops on the main road, not at hotels. Pay in cash or with a contactless Visa or Mastercard; QR payment needs a Thai bank app. It runs regularly through the day until the evening; sources disagree on the timetable, so check phuketsmartbus.com.
An orange public bus to the old bus station in Phuket Town, about every hour from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm, taking about an hour and a half. It stops at the end of the domestic terminal.
Cheaper than a taxi, but it waits to fill up, drops at each hotel in turn, and may stop at a travel agency on the way, according to one guide.
Songthaews. The blue pick-ups with bench seats run from Ranong market in Phuket Town to one beach and back, roughly every 30 minutes from 6 am to 6 pm, for about 30 to 50 baht. They do not link the beaches to each other.
Grab and Bolt. Both work across the island. Guides find Bolt often cheaper, with fewer drivers at night and in quiet areas. Tuk-tuks sometimes block pick-ups at hotel entrances and on Bangla Road: walk to the main road.
Tuk-tuks. No meter: agree the price before you get in. The province set maximum fares in 2013 and, as far as we know, has not updated them; guides in 2026 describe prices two to three times a Grab fare.
In Phuket Town. The Dragon Line, a free electric shuttle, loops through the Old Town about every 15 minutes.
Hire car. Thailand drives on the left. You need your national licence and an International Driving Permit.
Many visitors hire a scooter, and road accidents fill Phuket's emergency rooms. From January to March 2026, 54 people died on Phuket's roads, and more than half of the emergency cases at Vachira Hospital were road-related. In 2025 the provincial police recorded 26,515 offences for driving without a licence; 1,442 of the foreigners fined were French.
To ride legally you need your national motorcycle licence and an International Driving Permit that covers motorcycles, according to guides and rental firms, which also say a car-only permit does not cover a scooter, even a small one. Helmets are compulsory for rider and passenger, with fines of up to 2,000 baht. The compulsory insurance (Por Ror Bor) covers injuries to third parties, not the bike or its theft, and travel insurance may refuse to pay if you had no valid licence for the vehicle. Do not leave your passport as a deposit: leave a copy and a cash deposit instead.
The pier depends on the island: Rassada for the public ferries to Phi Phi and Krabi, Chalong for Racha, Coral Island and dive boats, Bang Rong for Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai, Ao Po for Phang Nga Bay, and Thap Lamu, on the mainland in Phang Nga province, for most Similan Islands trips. National park fees are often, but not always, charged on top of the trip price, so check what yours includes: for a foreign adult, 400 baht at Phi Phi and 500 at the Similan Islands (national parks department rates, unchanged as far as we could find in November 2026); 300 in Phang Nga Bay according to two guides, as we could not read an official page. The beaches of Mai Khao, Nai Yang and Nai Thon are in Sirinat National Park (park fee: 200 baht for a foreign adult).
Cash machines. Most Thai banks charge foreign cards about 220 to 250 baht per withdrawal, on top of your own bank's fees.
Conversion. When a machine or a card terminal offers to charge you in your own currency, choose baht instead.
QR payments. The PromptPay QR codes on stalls are meant for Thai bank accounts. Apple Pay and Google Pay work on contactless terminals, not on QR codes.
Small notes. Markets, songthaews and small restaurants are easier with cash in small notes.
Vachira Phuket Hospital, on Yaowarat Road in Phuket Town, is the province's main public hospital, with a 24-hour emergency department; Bangkok Hospital Phuket, also in Phuket Town, is private, with 24-hour emergencies.
There is no recent official statement that tap water is safe to drink across the island: drink bottled or filtered water. At the beach, the danger is the sea: from May to October rip currents drown people every year. According to the local press, most drownings happen after 7 pm, often after drinking.
| Ambulance | 1669 |
|---|---|
| Police | 191 |
| Tourist police | 1155 |
| Accidents at sea | 1196 |
| Tourism Authority call centre | 1672 |
The beaches, and when it is safe to swim
In Phuket Town, February is the driest month (about 24 mm of rain on average) and September the wettest (about 361 mm), according to the Thai Meteorological Department's averages for 1981 to 2010; March has the highest average maximum, 34 °C, with April close behind. December to March is the driest stretch, November and April are transition months, and the southwest monsoon brings rain and rough seas from May to October. The airport station, further north, records about 250 mm more rain a year than the town.
Plugs. 230 V and 50 Hz. Almost all sockets are hybrids that take flat and round pins. French and Belgian plugs (types E and F) fit, but the earth is not connected and the pins can stay live when half pulled out: for a laptop or anything with an earthed plug, bring an adapter with earth.
SIM cards. According to one guide, AIS, DTAC and True have counters in the international arrivals hall. A passport is required to register any SIM. eSIMs are sold on the AIS and True networks and by travel resellers, to install before you leave.
Time. Thailand is on UTC+7 all year, with no daylight saving: six hours ahead of Paris and Brussels in winter time (late October to late March), five in summer time.
Things to do · the beaches
Phuket's beaches line its west coast, from an empty 11 km strand by the airport to small coves reached on foot or by boat. The one thing they share is the sea: calm from December to March, and dangerous on many days from May to October.
Things to do · the islands
From Phuket you can reach many islands in a day: Phi Phi and Maya Bay, the Racha islands to the south, small Coral Island, the Khai islands, the Similan far to the north-west, and the quiet Koh Yao islands in Phang Nga Bay. They are not reached from the same pier, and they are not all open all year.
Things to do · Phang Nga Bay
North-east of Phuket, Phang Nga Bay is a sea of limestone towers, mangroves and hidden lagoons, much of it protected as a national park. A day there usually combines James Bond Island, a stilt village and a canoe ride into the hongs. Sheltered on three sides, the bay can be visited almost all year; James Bond Island is crowded around midday.
Things to do · the Old Town
A grid of painted shophouses built on tin money, a food culture that earned Phuket a UNESCO City of Gastronomy title, and a Sunday market that fills Thalang Road: the Old Town is the part of Phuket that is not about the sea.
Things to do · temples
A white marble Buddha on the hill above Kata, reopened in 2026 after a deadly landslide; the island's best-known Buddhist temple, at Chalong; Chinese shrines in the Old Town; and a golden Buddha half-buried in the ground at Thalang.
Things to do · Patong
Patong is Phuket's busiest resort: a 3 km beach in a bay on the west coast, a town of hotels, malls and markets behind it, and Bangla Road, the island's nightlife street. It is convenient, loud and very easy to enjoy if you know where its rules and its traps are.
Things to do · the south
The south of Phuket ends in a cape where crowds gather every evening for the sunset. Around it are Nai Harn, a bay with a lake behind it, the small cove of Ya Nui, Rawai with its longtail pier and seafood market, and Chalong, whose pier is the island's busiest for boat trips.
Things to do · night markets
Phuket's markets run on a weekly rhythm: the Old Town's Sunday Walking Street, the weekend market at Naka, container stalls at Chillva from Monday to Saturday, and markets every evening in Patong and Kata. The food is the reason to go, and the day you are on the island decides which one you can see.
Where to stay
Kata and Karon for a first trip, Patong for the nights, the Old Town for the food, Mai Khao for the airport: the area you sleep in decides your beach, your evenings and your drives.
Phuket is on Thailand time, UTC+7, all year, with no daylight saving: six hours ahead of Paris and Brussels in winter time (late October to late March), five in summer time.
Since 15 September 2026, citizens of 60 countries and territories, including France and Belgium, can stay 30 days without a visa, extendable once by up to 30 days. Every foreign visitor must also fill in the free TDAC arrival card online in the three days before arrival.
By fixed-price taxi from the counters in the arrivals hall (about 700 to 800 baht according to 2026 guides), by Grab, or by the Phuket Smart Bus for 100 baht, which takes about an hour and a half.
There is no recent official statement that it is safe across the island. Drink bottled or filtered water.
Most sockets take European two-pin plugs, but without earth. For devices with an earthed plug, bring an adapter with earth.
Not legally, according to guides and rental firms: you need a motorcycle licence from home and an International Driving Permit that covers motorcycles. Without them you risk a fine, and your travel insurance may not pay after an accident.