The Patong to Karon Pass in Phuket

What kind of road this is

The pass links Patong directly with the southern beaches, with no detour through the inland districts. The surface is decent and the markings are there, but the bends are many and they are blind: you see an oncoming vehicle late.

The climb out of Patong is short and steep, then comes the summit with its viewpoint and the descent towards Karon. Cars and scooters usually stand at the top, since the spot is popular, and pulling back into the traffic from there needs care.

Who drives it constantly

Residents, taxis and tour coaches. A coach in a bend fills almost its whole lane and sometimes borrows part of yours, so hugging your own edge is not overcaution, it is the technique.

The section is not long, and in a quiet hour you cross it in a few minutes. High season looks different: a queue builds behind a slow coach on the climb, and cars stopping at the viewpoint narrow an already narrow lane. Then the pass takes three times as long and asks for patience.

What it means for the car

On the climb a small engine in a fully loaded car works at its limit. That is normal: change down, let the revs rise, and do not try to pull uphill in a high gear, because all that does is overheat the engine and the gearbox together.

On the descent the gear decides everything. In an automatic you move the selector into manual mode or the limited range; with a manual gearbox you take second or third. The car then holds its speed on the engine, and the pedal is left for short applications before the bends.

The sign that you are doing it wrong is a burning smell and a pedal that travels further than it should. In that case you stop in a lay by and wait for the brakes to cool, instead of getting to the bottom on willpower.

A scooter on the pass

This is where rented scooters come off most often. Their brakes are weaker, engine braking barely exists, and wet tarmac after rain adds its own contribution. A beginner is better off going round the bottom on the inland roads.

How to drive it, step by step

The sequence is the same in both directions and takes seconds. The important part is deciding before the gradient starts rather than halfway down it.

Before the climb, change down early and hold the revs rather than letting them fall away. Before the descent, select the low range at the summit, while you are still level, and confirm the car is holding itself back on the first few metres.

Through the bends keep to your own edge and assume something wide is coming the other way. On this pass that assumption is right often enough to be worth making every time.

Overtaking

There is nowhere on this pass where overtaking is sensible: the oncoming lane is hidden behind the bend and there are no gaps to escape into. A coach crawling uphill has to be tolerated, and it costs a minute rather than half an hour.

New arrivals should add one more habit. Driving on the left changes where your car sits in the lane, and on a narrow pass that difference shows up as clipping the verge or drifting wide. Take the first crossing slowly and let the position settle.

The viewpoint at the summit

From the platform the whole of Patong bay is visible, and people drive up for the sunset. There are few spaces for cars, they fill by evening, and some visitors then park along the road, which is exactly how the problems on this stretch begin.

Leaving a car in the running lane of the pass is not an option: it is hidden behind the bend, and everyone else has to pass it on the oncoming side. If the platform is full, the sensible move is to go down and come back later.

In the morning it is empty, the air is clearer and the view is cleaner. Anyone who wants photographs without a crowd should come before breakfast.

A word about photographs taken from the verge. People step out of cars straight into the lane, stand with their backs to the traffic and cannot hear an approaching vehicle over the wind. Slow down through the viewpoint more than feels necessary, because a pedestrian on a pass appears suddenly.

The way round and the alternatives

There is no direct alternative to the pass, only a long detour through Kata and the inland roads. It takes noticeably more time, but the terrain is gentle, and for the first few days a newcomer is right to use it.

At night the pass is a different road: no street lighting, bends readable only by the barrier, and oncoming headlights blinding you inside the blind curves. Anybody coming back from the south late should allow more time and use a low gear in both directions.

In the rain the detour wins twice over: water runs down the lane on the pass, and blind bends inside a wall of rain become a lottery.

Once the pass stops being frightening it becomes the most convenient road between Patong and the south. All it takes is getting used to the gradients and to driving on the left, and that comes after a handful of crossings.

If your accommodation sits on one side of this pass and your plans on the other, say so when you book. Write to us on WhatsApp with the dates and where you are staying, or Telegram if that is easier, and we will suggest a class of car that climbs it without complaint.