Transport Options Karon

[pegman]

Looking for recommendations Phuket Airport to/from Karon Beach. Same Karon to/from Patong Beach. Thanks folks.

[Phuket Mafia]

Smart bus works for me.

[LivinginKata]

https://phuketsmartbus.com/?lang=en

[ChasingTheSun]

Smart bus is smart if it is just ONE person. 
 

If it is MORE than one person:

-usually smart(less hassle and faster) to hire a taxi/car from patong airport for the fixed price posted.

-use grab taxi app to go back to airport, or try negotiating with a taxi driver for a better rate and pickup time

- use grab taxi app to go to/from Patong.

 

[Phuket Mafia]

I’ve never once taken a taxi/tuktuk in Phuket. I have taken a shared van ONCE after being lied to at the airport about the smartbus operating times by a taxi booth. I will never support those criminals. Grab will eventually end their gravy train.. it’s only a matter of time. 

[Somtamnication]

Grab? They are on that gravy train. They wanted to charge me 458THB for going across the street to the hospital from my apt. Same leopard, same spots!

[pegman]

On 12/30/2019 at 5:25 PM, LivinginKata said:

https://phuketsmartbus.com/?lang=en

My friends are staying at Pacific Club Resort, Karon Beach. They are traveling from Canada so will have some luggage. What is the best transport from the Smart Bus drop off @ Karon Beach to their resort?

[stevenl]

34 minutes ago, pegman said:

My friends are staying at Pacific Club Resort, Karon Beach. They are traveling from Canada so will have some luggage. What is the best transport from the Smart Bus drop off @ Karon Beach to their resort?

That's about a 10-15 minute walk, and up a bit of a hill as well. With luggage and tired I would recommend a taxi from the airport straight to their hotel.

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

That's about a 10-15 minute walk, and up a bit of a hill as well. With luggage and tired I would recommend a taxi from the airport straight to their hotel.

 

Yes, that's the trouble with the Smart Bus. Getting from route drop off to hotel. Fine for fit back packers. Not fine for well loaded tourists. The local taxi bandits will charge near the same as a taxi direct from airport.

 

As another poster mentioned the smart bus is good for single or couple travelers with light luggage.  Not so good with more than 2 and heavily loaded.

[Phuket Mafia]

5 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Grab? They are on that gravy train. They wanted to charge me 458THB for going across the street to the hospital from my apt. Same leopard, same spots!

Yeah they have to keep the same prices as the crooks are used to getting or they won’t drive for them. It’s all about slowly decreasing prices in different regions until the taxis don’t know what hit them. Motorbike taxis in Phuket town are getting down to a reasonable rate. What the taxis don’t realize is if they offered a more reasonable rate, more people would take them and they would make more money.

 

I guess they’re just content with relaxing in those beach bungalows and shouting at passing by tourists. Why work all day when you need just a few rides to make your days pay.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Phuket Mafia

[Kopitiam]

5 hours ago, stevenl said:

That's about a 10-15 minute walk, and up a bit of a hill as well. With luggage and tired I would recommend a taxi from the airport straight to their hotel.

A taxi may not be able to take 4 persons and luggages.  I would suggest booking a luxury SUV or standard mini bus (same price 1199THB) with phuketshuttle and you have the driver waiting for you at the airport and straight to the hotel without the hassle of transfers.  Or the resort may be able to provide the pick up service for the same price.

[stevenl]

55 minutes ago, Kopitiam said:

A taxi may not be able to take 4 persons and luggages.  I would suggest booking a luxury SUV or standard mini bus (same price 1199THB) with phuketshuttle and you have the driver waiting for you at the airport and straight to the hotel without the hassle of transfers.  Or the resort may be able to provide the pick up service for the same price.

Different sizes taxi at the airport. Agree, some people prefer to have someone waiting, but taxi at the airport will be hasslefree as well.

 

Hotels tend to charge considerably more for transfers.

 

Why do you think there are 4 persons BTW?

[farang51]

I am not staying at one of the beaches on the west side of Phuket so I hadn't noticed the smart bus. It seems you can use it between the different beach cities and not only to and from the airport, can anyone confirm that?

Does it only stop at the designated stops or is it possible to hop on and off along the route as with the buses to Phuket town?

Edited January 1, 2020 by farang51

[Phuket Mafia]

24 minutes ago, farang51 said:

I am not staying at one of the beaches on the west side of Phuket so I hadn't noticed the smart bus. It seems you can use it between the different beach cities and not only to and from the airport, can anyone confirm that?

Does it only stop at the designated stops or is it possible to hop on and off along the route as with the buses to Phuket town?

Yeah it starts/ends at the airport and works it’s way down to Rawai stopping at maybe 15 different locations. Designated stops only but you can see all the locations of the busses on the website in real time so you can plan accordingly.

 

170 from the airport to Rawai and shorter distances are calculated based on when you get on and off (ONLY if you have a rabbit card) otherwise you will always pay 170 no matter the distance. 

 

The rabbit card is 300 baht and comes with 200 baht credit. The kicker is you can’t add money to the card on the bus I don’t believe.. you have to visit one of the locations authorized to do it on the website map. You also can’t use the card unless you have at least a 170 baht balance even if you are only going a 50 baht distance.

 

It works by taking 170 off your card when you board and adding back the remaining if you don’t go a 170 baht worth of distance when you exit.

 

Busses are really nice! Charger ports in the seats, ac, and just feels a lot safer when going far distances.

[farang51]

So that means you can get from Karon or Kamala to Patong for 50 baht. I wonder how they managed to do this despite the tuk tuk mafia.

[Phuket Mafia]

22 minutes ago, farang51 said:

So that means you can get from Karon or Kamala to Patong for 50 baht. I wonder how they managed to do this despite the tuk tuk mafia.

We have a meeting Saturday, I’ll ask and report back.

[farang51]

12 minutes ago, Phuket Mafia said:

We have a meeting Saturday, I’ll ask and report back.

I didn't notice your user name 555

 

So, you're the one who told them to stop burning buses? ????

Edited January 1, 2020 by farang51