Driving in Thailand: a guide to Phuket's roads
Hill roads, scooter traffic, roadside checks and parking rules on Phuket.
The International Driving Permit for a Phuket rental has to be arranged at home before you fly; it cannot be obtained after you land.
Pick a car that suits narrow streets, and check it over before you drive away. What each class actually suits depends on the number of people and the luggage, and the deposit and insurance terms decide what damage costs you.
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Driving and document guides
The permit, driving on Phuket, and the routes to Khao Lak and Patong.
Licences and permits for driving in Thailand
Yes, and it cannot be obtained after you arrive: arrange it at home before you fly.
Phuket to Khao Lak by car
Eighty minutes north from the airport, over the Sarasin Bridge onto the mainland. Check the mileage terms before you book.
Phuket airport to Patong
Forty-five minutes south from the airport and over the Route 4029 hill road into Patong.
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Documents and payment requirements
An International Driving Permit is not optional in Thailand and it cannot be obtained after you land. It has to be arranged at home, in the weeks before you fly rather than the day before. How long it stays valid depends on the pattern your country issues, so read the expiry on the document itself rather than assuming a year. Some suppliers will decline to hand the car over at all without one. It is checked at the handover, together with your licence and the payment card if the listing requires one.
A deposit is required on some cars. It is taken in cash or held against a card depending on the car, and the listing says which before you commit. A cash deposit is paid in baht on collection day; a card hold needs that amount free on the card for the length of the rental. A minority of cars here carry no deposit at all and the listing says that too. Every additional driver has to be named on the agreement and produce the same documents, including their own permit. The deposit figure, the mileage terms and the cover level sit on each car in the search before you book.
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What the roads here are like
The main roads are wide: Route 402 runs the length of the island from the airport, and Highway 4 carries on north over the Sarasin Bridge onto the mainland. The run from the terminal to Patong is about 37 km and takes roughly forty-five minutes. Khao Lak is about 83 km and roughly eighty minutes.
The road into Patong from Kathu is Route 4029, a steep hill road with steady traffic. On the descent, select a low gear on the automatic rather than holding the brakes.
Motorbikes filter down both sides of you and emerge from side roads without stopping. Overtaking is normal. Keep to the left lane unless you are passing. Follow the posted speed limit, which is lower through built-up sections, and there are cameras on Route 402.
Roadside checks are routine on the Kathu side of the Patong hill road, at Karon Circle and on the approaches to Chalong Circle, and they ask for licence and permit together. The drink-drive limit is 0.05%, and it is checked around the town at night.
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Parking, weather and the small print
Check the parking before you arrive in Patong and Phuket Town. In both, yellow and white kerb markings mean no parking, red and white mean no stopping at all, and both are enforced. The streets behind the beach road are narrow, so take the smallest car that carries your luggage.
In the wet season, roughly May to October, expect at least one heavy downpour on any drive of an hour or more. They cut visibility and usually pass within the hour: slow down and put the lights on.
The minimum chargeable period is 24 hours, so a rental of less than a full day is charged as one. Mileage is unlimited on some cars here and capped on others, and it is set per vehicle rather than across the fleet, which matters on a return run from the airport to Khao Lak of roughly 166 km before any local driving. And standard cover excludes the wheels, the glass, the interior and the underside. Walk round the car with the supplier before you sign and photograph both bumpers, all four wheels, the windscreen and the fuel gauge.
Keep the permit with the licence rather than in a bag in the boot: roadside checks ask for both together.
