Phuket Travel Forum

Hi , we will be down in Phuket in early May and we'll be staying at the Best western in Karon Bay. Any idea whether we should ask for a hotel pick up or should we just get a taxi from the airport?

Will there be a price difference? And also , from what I've read , taxis tend to bring you to many different stops ( jewellery stores , tour agencies..etc) before actually bringing you to the destination you want.If I were to get a hotel pickup , will they still do the same? Cause I don't want to waste time going to places I don't want to go.

Any advice will be great!

Thanks!

Hi
Get a private taxi to get where you are going..
I did that when I needed to get back to the Airport from Patong Beach..
When I first got to Phuket I didn't know what I was doing and so I caught a van (taxi)????with all these other people .. And sure enough we stopped a lot of places before I got to where I was going..
The price of the Taxi is worth it..which I don't remember..Sorry.. if you want to get somewhere fast...

A hotel transfer will cost slightly more, but you are likely to get a nicer car.

John

You can hire a private driver, who will greet you with a name board, so no floundering around looking for a car. Mai is a great guy, whom I always recommend. He is reliable, friendly and speaks english pretty well. He is cheaper than most hotel transfers, usually 600 baht. If you'd like to make a booking, email him on; hknuch@hotmail.com

If he isn't available, I can arrange another driver for you if you wish.

I am sure Tina will correct me if I'm wrong, but I am sure I used Mai once. I will use him again.

Regards

John

Oh yes, Mai brought you to the Royal Phuket Marina, didn't he?

Hi Tina ,

Thanks for the advise for the cab, however , i've emailed mai but sadly he will not be available on the day I arrive. Instead , they (Nuch) arranged for another driver to pick us up , and he quoted us 700baht to our hotel. He said its expensive because petrol has gone up in Thai.Do you think this is a good bargain or do you reckon I can get a better price elsewhere.

Hope you could give me some advise on this, as I will be leaving next week. I can't wait!! I'm so excited..=)

Thanks!

I doubt if you will get a much lower price for a nice car with a reliable driver, the new price is only about 50THB higher than the old one.

Regards

John

SueAnne, petrol has gone up so much here in Australia that I guess it's the same in Thailand. It was 14 baht per litre for fuel 3 years ago, now it's at least 30 baht, so fuel prices have doubled in recent times. Mai is very reasonable compared to most other private drivers, so I guess that price is about right. I don't know the other driver though, so couldn't personally recommend him. The 700 baht is also probably because if the other driver is using Mai's vehicle, it is a van, not a small sedan, which of course, uses more fuel.

What day do you arrive in Phuket?

We will be arriving in Phuket on th 6th of May. However , we don't necessarily need a van to pick us up as we just want to get to our hotel in the fastest, most affordable way.( We are traveling on a budget you see..=) You mentioned in your earlier post that there is another driver you can recommend? Could I have his contact so I can check whether he will be available that day.

Thanks in advance!!

Sueann, the guy I'm referring to doesn't have an email, but I can ask Nuch and Mai to phone him and make your booking for you if you'd like, then you just email them your booking details. The other guy is Koy, he's such a lovely guy, speaks great English and is very reliable.

oh great! I love this part of the forum. Tina, can i get the details of the private driver too? How much does he usually charge from the airport to patong beahc area? im staying at deevana.if pte driver is not available, how much would a cab cost?

Hi, do you mean the details for Mai or for Koy?

Mai's email is; hknuch@hotmail.com

Thanks Tina , but we've decided to stick with the hotel pickup. It'll be easier and more convenient. But thanks so much for your help. =)