Khao Lak is not a town but thirty kilometres of separate beaches strung along Highway 4.
There are two ways to take the car. Phuket airport is a named handover point, so you can rent a car at Phuket airport and drive up. Otherwise you set Khao Lak as the pickup point and give the address you are staying at, whether a hotel, a villa or an apartment, and the car is brought to it. Delivery is priced per car rather than included, and that price is shown in the search alongside the rate, the deposit and the mileage terms, in Thai baht. Khao Lak is the longest run of the island's pickup points, at eighty minutes, and one of the few that leave Phuket altogether.
01
How long is the drive up from Phuket airport?
You leave HKT on Route 402 heading north, cross the Sarasin Bridge onto the mainland after about twenty-five minutes, and then it is Highway 4 the whole way: two lanes each side, wide shoulders and almost entirely flat. Eighty minutes is the routed free-flow figure; allow longer with a stop.
Highway 4 carries farm traffic as well as tourist traffic: pickup trucks carrying palm fruit. Overtaking is normal. Stay in the left lane unless you are passing.
Coming back the other way, give yourself longer than the map says if you are catching a flight. The stretch between the bridge and the airport turnoff backs up in the late afternoon. Collecting at the airport rather than in Khao Lak saves the transfer on arrival; if you return it at the airport too, allow for the drive back.
02
Can the car be delivered to Khao Lak?
Yes: the supplier meets you at your hotel rather than at the airport. If you are arriving late, take a transfer in and have the car delivered the next morning. If you are spending the first few days on the beach, you can start the rental on day three and pay for two days fewer, because the rate is daily.
Collecting the car works the same as at the airport: the supplier brings the car at the agreed time, you look it over together, you photograph it, you sign and you drive off. Give the address you are actually staying at when you book, and keep the phone number you gave switched on, because that is how the arrangement is confirmed.
Dropping off works the same way in reverse. For a one-way car rental to Khao Lak, set your return point at the booking stage, because the drop-off point is part of the search and changes which cars are offered.
Cars for Khao Lak, on your dates
129 cars listed for this pickup point today, from ฿400 a day, each stating its own deposit, mileage and delivery terms.
03
Destinations around Khao Lak
Khao Lak proper is Nang Thong and Bang Niang, which have the restaurants and the night market. North of them are Khuk Khak, Pakarang and Bang Sak, and Thai Muang is to the south. All of those are on the same highway and need a car rather than a walk.
The Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park entrance is a few minutes south of Nang Thong, with a viewpoint above it up a short, steep access road. Further inland, Ton Chong Fa waterfall is about twenty minutes off the highway on a narrower road.
Going south instead, Patong on the west coast is close to two hours and Phuket Town a little less. The boats to the Similan Islands leave from Thap Lamu pier, fifteen minutes south of Bang Niang, and the departures are early.
Before you pick a car
The deposit is set per car
About 13% of the cars listed today are taking no deposit at all. Where a deposit applies, check its amount and payment requirements on the listing before you pay.
Cancellation is per car
About 33% of today's listings allow free cancellation. It is set on the car rather than across the board, so the terms are on the listing you choose.
You can finish somewhere else
The daily rate does not change on a one-way; the difference sits in the delivery and return charge, and it is set at the search stage rather than on the day.
How the car reaches you
You can collect at the airport or arrange delivery to your address. Check the available pickup options and delivery price for the car you choose.
04
Fuel and night driving
There are PTT and Bangchak stations along Highway 4 at regular intervals, all of them attended, most of them open late. Say the amount in baht rather than asking for a full tank and pay in cash if you have it. Return the car with the same fuel level as at collection.
Do the long drives in daylight.
FAQ
Renting a car in Khao Lak
Answers on the drive up from the airport and on whether to collect the car in Khao Lak or at the airport.
At the airport if you want the car from the moment you land. In Khao Lak if you are arriving late, or if you plan to spend the first few days on the beach. Both are the same booking; you set the pickup point in the search.
No. Route 402 north, over the Sarasin Bridge, then Highway 4: two lanes each way, flat and well signed. About eighty minutes. Traffic keeps left.
Yes: collect the car at the airport, take it up, bring it back for your flight. If you would rather end the rental in Khao Lak, set the drop-off point when you search rather than asking on the day, because it changes what is available and what it costs.
The rental conditions allow the car only on paved public roads, whatever you rent, so keep to those. Choose a bigger car for luggage and passengers.
Your passport, your home driving licence, your International Driving Permit and, where the car holds a deposit, the cash or card the listing asks for, and the payment card if the listing requires one. The voucher lists anything else the individual supplier asks for. Any additional driver must be named on the agreement and produce the same documents.
See what is free while you are reading
Rates, deposits and mileage terms sit on each car in Khao Lak, in Thai baht, before anything is paid.
Check dates and prices →