Landed today at 5.30 PM in Phuket. Went to the booths selling minibus tickets in domestic airport. First one : no have. Second one : no have. 3,4,5 no have. But have taxi. Wanted to go to chalong Circle. 1 100  bahts. my turn to say. : no Have. In the end and probably because i speak thai with south accent, find a taxi for 700 bahts.

My question is : where are the minibus ?

5:30pm? Stuck in (mainly construction) traffic.

 

If I was a taxi driver I would avoid the morning and evening rush hours - traffic on Phuket is a nightmare, especially as it is peak season, and so it's not worth the hassle for them.

 

I didn’t know there was a minibus. I know there’s an airport bus every half hour I think , is it called a smart bus . Whatever , traffic is horrendous.

I again thank myself for leaving Patong. 

5 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

I again thank myself for leaving Patong. 

 

But still reading and responding to the posts and identifying with it with your user name - strange!

15 hours ago, London Lowf said:

 

But still reading and responding to the posts and identifying with it with your user name - strange!

 

I visited last Christmas after a 5 year absence.🤪

And how would you like me to change my user name? Please let us know.

The last time I went to Phuket, I took one of those minibuses. They stop mid journey to upsell you all kind of prepackaged c$$p. Do you really want to deal with this? At least in Pattaya you don't have to deal with that and the beaches are cleaner.

 

 

On 12/26/2024 at 6:04 AM, Celsius said:

The last time I went to Phuket, I took one of those minibuses. They stop mid journey to upsell you all kind of prepackaged c$$p. Do you really want to deal with this? At least in Pattaya you don't have to deal with that and the beaches are cleaner.

 

 

Well, saying the beaches are cleaner in Pattaya is going a bit overboard. The beach water on Phuket is a bit cleaner if you can actually find a place to swim it’s so crowded !!! I swim in the pool myself !

6 hours ago, geisha said:

The beach water on Phuket is a bit cleaner if you can actually find a place to swim it’s so crowded !!!

 

Yet another poster who didn't venture out of the main tourist hotspots and assumes, totally wrongly, that all of Phuket is the same as Patong and to a lesser extent Karon/Kata/Kamala/Surin.

 

Phuket is a big island - you need to explore!

 

On 12/23/2024 at 11:29 AM, London Lowf said:

5:30pm? Stuck in (mainly construction) traffic.

 

If I was a taxi driver I would avoid the morning and evening rush hours - traffic on Phuket is a nightmare, especially as it is peak season, and so it's not worth the hassle for them.

 

This is what my taxi driver told me when I got a lift airport-Rawai last year at 10:30pm. He said if he tries to get fares during traffic times he can only get one as he is stuck for hours. Late nights, early mornings, sleeps at peak traffic hours.

I have been to Phuket 13 times in the last 10years - I learnt very quickly to only fly home on a Sunday evening.

 

Two weeks ago I flew HKT-DBX at 23:45 on Sunday evening - the journey from Kamala to the airport was 45 minutes with my painfully slow but safe regular driver.

 

 

On 12/23/2024 at 10:43 PM, Chalong circle said:

where are the minibus ?

?  Not have.

The transport issue / size of Phuket is the main reason it's not my favourite 

Minibus not worth the hassles/time unless you are on the verge of bankruptcy.