Phuket Travel Costs

Per-person figures, assuming two people share a room. Solo travellers in private rooms add 25 to 40 percent.

Phuket’s room prices follow the beach, and the gap between the cheapest and the dearest area is larger than anywhere else in Thailand. Rates below are for a double room in the November to April high season; Christmas to mid-January runs 30 to 100 percent higher, and May to October 30 to 50 percent lower.

Phuket Town is the budget base by a wide margin: a design-led guesthouse in a restored shophouse on Thalang or Krabi Road costs what a plain room does in Patong, and the food is cheaper and better. The catch is that the nearest beach is 30 minutes away. Patong has the most rooms in every price band and the most competition, so it often has the best mid-range deals outside peak weeks; the noise around Bangla Road is the trade-off. Kata and Karon are the default family choice and price accordingly. The west-coast resort strip from Kamala to Bang Tao is where villas with private pools sit, from about 8,000 baht a night for a one-bedroom.

Booking platforms carry nearly everything. In the low season, walk-in and direct rates at mid-range hotels often beat them; in December to February, book early.

Eating well in Phuket is cheap as long as you eat where locals do. A plate of mee hokkien or khao man gai at a Phuket Town shophouse costs 60 to 100 baht, a bowl of southern curry with rice 50 to 80, and a full meal at a night market such as the weekend market at Naka or Chillva Market in town 150 to 250 baht. The same pad thai on Patong’s beach road is 150 to 250 baht, and a main course at a beachfront restaurant in Kata or Kamala 250 to 450.

Seafood is sold by weight. At the Rawai seafood market you buy fish, prawns or crab from the stalls (prawns about 600 to 1,200 baht a kilo depending on size) and pay a cooking fee of roughly 100 to 150 baht a kilo at the restaurants across the road. Beachfront seafood restaurants in Patong charge two to three times market prices; check the weight before it goes on the grill.

Drinks: a large bottle of Chang or Leo is 60 to 80 baht in a 7-Eleven, 90 to 130 in a local bar and 150 to 200 in Patong’s bigger venues. Cocktails cost 250 to 450 baht in beach bars and rooftop bars, and beach clubs in Kamala and Bang Tao typically set a minimum spend for a daybed of 1,000 to 3,000 baht per person. Bottled water is 10 to 20 baht at a convenience store and up to 60 at a beach chair. Alcohol is not sold in shops between 2pm and 5pm or after midnight.

Daily food budget: 400 to 600 baht at markets and shophouses, 1,000 to 1,500 baht with one beach-restaurant meal, 2,500 baht and up with cocktails and resort dining. Our Thailand food guide covers the dishes.

Transport is where Phuket costs most compared with the rest of Thailand. There is no train or metro, buses cover only a few routes, and the taxi and tuk-tuk trade runs on fixed, zone-based prices rather than meters. A short tuk-tuk hop within Patong or Kata costs 200 to 300 baht, and the fares between beaches below are typical asking prices from taxi ranks, with some room to bargain.

Bolt and Grab both work across the island and are the single best way to cut costs. Bolt is usually the cheaper of the two. At some taxi ranks, notably on Patong’s beach road and outside a few busy hotels, local drivers discourage app pickups; walk a short way up a side street or let the app driver choose the meeting point. At the airport, app pickups are made from the designated area outside arrivals.

The Phuket Smart Bus runs from the airport down the west coast via Patong, Karon and Kata to Rawai, a flat 100 baht for any distance, with a second line between Bus Terminal 2 in Phuket Town and Patong for 50 baht and a free Dragon Line shuttle around the Old Town. Check the timetable on the Phuket Smart Bus site; buses are roughly hourly and stop by early evening. Blue songthaews (open-sided wooden buses) run from the Ranong Road market in Phuket Town to Patong, Kata, Karon, Rawai and Nai Harn in daylight for about 40 to 50 baht.

Scooters cost 200 to 350 baht a day (cheaper by the week), cars 900 to 1,500 baht a day. You need a licence covering motorcycles and an International Driving Permit, and police checkpoints fine riders without helmets or licences; travel insurance usually will not cover a scooter crash without the right licence. Petrol is about 35 to 40 baht a litre.

Boat trips are the big-ticket item on a Phuket budget. Most tours include hotel pickup from the main beaches, lunch, soft drinks and snorkel gear, but national park fees are usually extra and paid in cash at the pier or on the boat. Ask what is included before you pay.

Diving: a two-dive day trip from Chalong to Racha or the King Cruiser wreck costs about 3,500 to 4,500 baht with equipment; a PADI Open Water course 13,000 to 18,000 baht; and a three or four-night Similan liveaboard roughly 20,000 to 45,000 baht plus park and dive fees.

On land: the Big Buddha, Wat Chalong and the Old Town are free. Expect about 200 baht for the Thai Hua Museum, around 3,000 baht for a half day at the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, 1,700 to 2,500 baht for ringside Muay Thai at Bangla Boxing Stadium, 300 to 500 baht for an hour of Thai massage and 1,200 to 2,000 baht for a cooking class.

Thailand charges foreign visitors a separate, higher entry fee for national parks, and most of Phuket’s best boat trips go into one. Typical current rates for foreign adults (children usually pay half):

• Mu Ko Phi Phi (Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park): 400 baht, collected when you visit Phi Phi Leh and Maya Bay, plus a separate 20-baht landing fee at Ton Sai pier on Phi Phi Don.
• Ao Phang Nga National Park: 300 baht, for James Bond Island and the bay.
• Mu Ko Similan National Park: 500 baht, charged per entry, open 15 October to 15 May.
• Mu Ko Surin National Park: 500 baht, same season as the Similans.
• Sirinat National Park (Nai Yang and Mai Khao beaches): 200 baht at the park office, though walking onto the beach from the road is free.
• Khao Phra Thaeo (Bang Pae and Ton Sai waterfalls): 200 baht.

Fees are paid in cash; some tour operators include them in the price, most do not. Rates are set by the Department of National Parks and change from time to time, so check the current figure when you book. A plan to charge all foreign arrivals a 300-baht tourism fee has been repeatedly postponed; check before you go.

Thai ATMs charge foreign cards 220 baht per withdrawal on top of your own bank’s fee, so take out the maximum (usually 20,000 to 30,000 baht) each time. Cards work in hotels, malls, 7-Elevens and most restaurants in the beach areas, but taxis, tuk-tuks, songthaews, market stalls, park fees and many tour desks are cash only. Exchange booths in Patong and Phuket Town give better rates than the airport.

A tourist SIM from AIS, TrueMove H or dtac at the airport costs about 299 to 599 baht for 8 to 15 days of data; eSIMs bought before departure are similar. Tipping is not expected but appreciated: round up taxi fares, leave 20 to 50 baht for good service in local restaurants, and 50 to 100 baht for a massage therapist or a boat crew. Many beach restaurants and resorts add a 10 percent service charge plus 7 percent VAT; check the menu for “++”.

Per person, two people sharing, excluding flights to Phuket.

The day-by-day plans behind the mid-range columns are in our Phuket itineraries. A Bangkok to Phuket flight adds 1,000 to 2,500 baht each way on Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air, Nok Air or Bangkok Airways if booked a few weeks ahead.

• Sleep in Phuket Town: rooms cost half the beach price and the Old Town has the cheapest good food on the island.
• Use Bolt and the Smart Bus: apps save 30 to 40 percent on every taxi ride, and the 100-baht Smart Bus replaces a 1,000-baht airport taxi if you travel light.
• Pick big boats or ferries: a big-boat Phi Phi tour or the public ferry costs half a speedboat tour; one night on Phi Phi Don lets you visit Maya Bay by long-tail for a few hundred baht.
• Travel in May, June, October or early November: hotel rates fall 30 to 50 percent and the weather in the shoulder months is often fine.
• Book tours direct, a day ahead: compare the operator’s own price with two tour desks; desks on the beach road are often 20 to 30 percent cheaper than hotel lobbies for the same boat.
• Drink like a local: 7-Eleven beer on the beach at sunset costs a quarter of a beach-bar round, and happy hours in Patong and Kata run roughly 4pm to 8pm.