# Where Is Phuket and How Do You Get There? Page URL: https://adadai.com/en/guide/where-is-phuket Phuket is an island in the far south of Thailand, on the Andaman Sea side, roughly 50 km from top to bottom and never more than 21 km across. You can drive onto it — the Sarasin Bridge joins it to the mainland — though most people land at Phuket International Airport (HKT) up in the north. No trains run here; rail travellers get off at Surat Thani and finish the trip by bus. ## Key facts - 50 km — length, north to south - 21 km — width at the widest point - UTC+7 — time zone - 5 km — from the airport to Nai Yang ## Where exactly is Phuket? Look at a map of Thailand and follow the long, thin southern tail down its left-hand side. Phuket is the big island hugging that western coast. Island and province carry one name and one border, which is unusual. The water around it? The Andaman Sea — Indian Ocean, not Pacific. Why care which side it's on? Because the Gulf of Thailand, over on the east, runs on a different weather clock. Koh Samui and Pattaya sit there, and when Phuket gets rain, Samui can be dry (and the reverse). Set your watch to UTC+7. | Phuket | Fact | | --- | --- | | Country | Thailand, the south | | Sea | Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean | | Length, north to south | about 50 km | | Width | up to 21 km | | Link to the mainland | Sarasin Bridge | | Time zone | UTC+7 | | Main airport | Phuket International (HKT), north of the island | *From adadai's Russian guides to where Phuket is and how to get there.* ## How far is the airport from each area? Distance from the airport is what surprises people. The terminal is in the north; most beaches are west and south. Nai Yang? Practically next to the runway, 5 km. Bang Tao is 20 km away. Phuket Town and Kamala, 30. Patong, 35. Kata and Karon, 45, and Nai Harn and Rawai at the bottom of the island, 50 km by road. We list kilometres, not minutes. Traffic changes the minutes every day; the kilometres don't move. Check the table before you pick where to stay — a 50 km transfer after a long-haul flight makes for a different evening than a 5 km one. One more thing about scale. Between the bays the roads go up and over hills, so average speeds are low, and the island is bigger to drive than its 50 km on paper. Going from a northern beach to a southern one for the day is a real outing, not a quick hop. | Area | To the airport, km | To Phuket Town, km | | --- | --- | --- | | Nai Yang | 5 | 30 | | Thalang | 15 | 20 | | Bang Tao | 20 | 25 | | Surin | 25 | 25 | | Kamala | 30 | 25 | | Kathu | 30 | 10 | | Phuket Town | 30 | — | | Patong | 35 | 15 | | Panwa | 40 | 10 | | Karon | 45 | 20 | | Kata | 45 | 20 | | Chalong | 45 | 10 | | Nai Harn | 50 | 20 | | Rawai | 50 | 20 | *Road distances from adadai's area data, rounded to 5 km.* ## How do you fly to Phuket? HKT handles international flights, so most people fly straight in. Coming from abroad, you'd normally change planes once — at a hub in the Middle East, China or South-East Asia, or in Bangkok, where you pick up a domestic flight to the island. Connecting in Bangkok? Check the airport on both tickets. Bangkok has 2, and switching between them means a drive across the city, traffic and all, so give it several hours. Even on a normal international connection, 2 hours is the floor, not a cushion. ## Can you get to Phuket overland from Bangkok? Yes, though most people still fly — the hop from Bangkok is short. If you'd rather stay on the ground, there are overnight buses, and they come straight across the Sarasin Bridge. The railway is the catch. It stops at Surat Thani on the mainland, and the last leg is a bus. Lots of first-timers expect a ferry somewhere. There isn't one: the airport taxi stays on land the whole way, and so does every coach from Bangkok. ## How do you get from Phuket airport to your hotel? Leaving the airport, you've got four ways to go: a transfer booked in advance, the taxi desk in arrivals, a car from an app, or the bus. Our Russian airport guide has one warning about the apps — Grab and Bolt drivers at the airport often cancel. So after a long flight we'd go with the booked transfer or the desk. The bus is the cheap one. It's orange, it leaves from a stop to your left as you come out, and it heads to Phuket Town rather than the beaches: Thalang, the Heroines Monument, Central Festival, the Old Town bus terminal. Fine with a backpack. With kids and suitcases after a night flight, less so, and it doesn't run late. ## When is the best time to go to Phuket? For swimming, go between roughly November and April. That's the dry season, and the west coast is calm. The south-west monsoon runs from May to October; on Patong and Karon that means waves, currents and red flags, and inland around Thalang everything goes green. Panwa, facing east and south-east, is the exception — its good season mirrors the west coast's. Chalong Bay is tucked behind islands and the Panwa cape, so its water stays quiet all year. Staying longer than a holiday? Plenty of people who come for the dry season end up wanting the whole of it. For months rather than weeks, look at a [DTV through a Phuket cooking school](/en/visa/dtv-cooking-school): one class a week, and the school issues the enrolment letter. If you only need a few more weeks, read up on [extending your stay in Phuket and TM30](/en/visa/extend-stay-tm30) before your current stamp runs out. ## Questions people ask ### Is Phuket an island? Yes, Phuket is an island, and also a province of Thailand with the same borders. It's connected to the mainland by the Sarasin Bridge, so you can arrive by car or bus without a ferry. ### What sea is Phuket on? The Andaman Sea, which is part of the Indian Ocean. That puts Phuket on Thailand's west coast, unlike Pattaya and Koh Samui on the Gulf of Thailand. ### Does Phuket have an international airport? Yes, Phuket International Airport (HKT) in the north of the island. Visitors from abroad usually arrive with one connection, either through a foreign hub or on a domestic flight from Bangkok. ### Can you get to Phuket by train? Not directly, because the railway doesn't reach the island. Take the train to Surat Thani and continue by bus over the Sarasin Bridge. ### How far is Phuket airport from Patong Beach? About 35 km by road. Kata and Karon are 45 km away and Nai Harn and Rawai 50 km, while Nai Yang is only 5 km from the terminal. ### What is the best time of year to visit Phuket? The dry season, roughly November to April, when the west-coast sea is calm. From May to October the monsoon brings waves and red flags to beaches like Patong and Karon. ## Read next - [Night markets in Phuket by day](https://adadai.com/en/places/night-markets) - [Phuket viewpoints to visit on your own](https://adadai.com/en/places/viewpoints) - [Central Festival Phuket](https://adadai.com/en/places/central-festival) - [Big Buddha hiking trail](https://adadai.com/en/places/big-buddha-hiking-trail) - [Beach clubs in Kamala](https://adadai.com/en/places/kamala-beach-clubs) - [Living in Nai Yang](https://adadai.com/en/district/nai-yang) - [Living in Thalang](https://adadai.com/en/district/thalang) - [Living in Patong](https://adadai.com/en/district/patong) - [Living in Bang Tao](https://adadai.com/en/district/bang-tao) - [Living in Rawai](https://adadai.com/en/district/rawai) - [Where to live in Phuket without a scooter](https://adadai.com/en/living/without-a-scooter) - [Which Phuket beach is best for what](https://adadai.com/en/places/beaches-by-area) --- Looking for a villa or condo in Phuket? Our housing partner on the island sends options for your area, dates and budget: https://t.me/PhuketDAexpert Written by the adadai.com editors. We are a guide, not an agency or a broker: we do not list properties or handle deals. Source: adadai.com, https://adadai.com/en/guide/where-is-phuket. The canonical version of this page is the HTML at this address.