Phuket Airport to the Old Town by Car

How to drive it

The route is simple. The exit from the terminals brings you onto the main road, you head south past Thalang, pass the interchange at Kathu and enter the town. The signs for Phuket Town are large and duplicated in Latin script, and there are almost no turns to make.

The second option is the bypass and an approach from the east, closer to the waterfront. It is slightly longer but avoids the central traffic lights, and at peak times it sometimes wins.

About the timing

During the day the drive takes around forty minutes. In the morning and at the end of the working day the section from Kathu into town is dense and the time grows. At night you will get there faster, though the final streets will be darker than you expect.

There are two convenient stopping points along the way: a fuel station with a shop roughly halfway, and a large shopping centre closer to town. Both sit directly on the main road with easy access, and either makes a good place to stretch after a flight and draw some cash.

What that means for the car

The main road itself is easy: wide, level, with a divider along most of it. It asks nothing particular of the car, and an economy model feels the same on it as a crossover does.

Everything changes in the old quarter. The streets there are narrow with cars parked along both sides, and passing an oncoming pickup sometimes means reversing. A large minivan in those blocks is an unnecessary source of stress, while a compact car goes everywhere.

Cameras and speed limits. There are controlled sections on the approach to town, and fines reach the rental and are taken from the deposit. Traffic here moves more calmly than on the open road, and standing out from it is not worth doing.

Your first drive

If this is your first trip after landing, remember that you are tired and that the traffic is on the left. Set the navigation while still in the airport car park and adjust the mirrors before you join the main road.

Where to park in the Old Town

There is parking inside the quarter, but the spaces are few and taken from early in the morning. The local logic is straightforward: leave the car on the approaches, along the waterfront, by the market, or in the areas beside shops outside the old streets, and walk in.

The kerbs are marked by colour and that marking is worth believing. Red and white means no parking and removal operates, red and yellow means dropping off only. On weekend evenings, when the street fair runs in the quarter, some streets are closed entirely.

Multi storey car parks exist at the large shopping centres, and that is the calmest option: the car is in shade, there is security, and the old streets are a short walk away.

• Waterfront and market approaches rather than inside the quarter
• Multi storey mall parking for shade and security
• Red and white kerb means removal
• Weekend fair closes streets completely

What to see once you arrive

The Old Town is Sino-Portuguese facades, coffee houses, small shops and street art across a couple of blocks. People walk here, and an unhurried wander takes two or three hours.

The coffee houses inside the old buildings are worth going into specifically. There are many of them and most have kept the original interior with tiled floors and wooden shutters. An hour with a coffee in one of those rooms explains more about the history of the town than any information board.

In the evening the quarter comes alive with lighting, food stalls and music. That is exactly why the parking question is better settled in advance, since after dark there are fewer free spaces on the approaches.

The markets and the waterfront are close by, and they are easy to reach by car after the walk rather than going back into the narrow streets.

The way back

The same route works in reverse, but leaving the quarter takes longer than entering it, because the one way system sends you round in a loop. Hold to the larger streets and get onto the main road rather than trying to cut through the lanes.

A useful habit for the return is to refuel in town instead of hunting for a pump near the airport in a hurry. The car is returned with the fuel level it was given with, and filling up on the way out of town settles that calmly.

If you are driving straight to the airport, leave a margin: the stretch from town to the interchange is dense in the evening hour, and the queue at the terminal entrance has a life of its own.

At night the road is empty and quick. The one thing to watch for is scooters without lights on the verge and people in dark clothing on the approaches to the villages. Message us on WhatsApp with your flight time if you want the car waiting at the terminal, or Telegram if you prefer.