Bangkok To Phuket Drive Time

[Frauke Vilandre]

Howfar is Phuket from Bangkok?Here's the quick answer if you don't sleep at all, or you have a friend with you so each person can drive some of the way, letting you make the entire trip by car without stopping.

This is a pretty long drive, so it's not very realistic to drive nonstop. To get a better idea of how long this road trip would really be, scroll down to calculate how many hours it would take if you drive with stops.

Now let's assume you have a private jet and you can fly in thefastest possible straight line between Bangkok, Thailand andPhuket, Thailand. Because of the curvature of the Earth, theshortest distance is actually the "great circle" distance, or"as the crow flies" which is calculated using an iterativeVincenty formula.

This is a relatively short flight in a private plane, but you might be planning to book a commercial flight. In that case, your travel time would really need toinclude how many minutes to get to your local airport, waitfor security, board and taxi on the runway, land at the otherairport, and get to your destination. Scroll down to see a more realistic calculation that takesinto account all these factors to get a more accurate estimateof your actual flight time.

Let's say you're actually planning a road trip to Phuket, and you want to stop along the way to rest. If it's a real road trip, you might want to check out interesting stops along the way, eat at great restaurants, and maybe even find a hotel to stay overnight. That's what Trippy is perfect for,helping you figure out travel plans in detail.

To give you a better estimate of real-life travel, we'veput together a flight itinerary with actual airports. Eventuallyyou'll be able to customize this plan, choosing your own airportsand flights. But for now, here's an example we've selected togive you an idea of how traveling might work between airports.

So now we can finally get an idea of the total travel time fromBangkok to Phuket including time spent getting to/fromthe airports, an estimated wait time of 2 hours at the airport for TSAsecurity lines and waiting at the gate, and the actual flight itself.

The distance is the same either way if you're flying a straight line (or driving the same roads back and forth). But for a real trip, there can be plenty of differencesso go ahead and check the reverse directions to get thedistance from Phuket to Bangkok, or go to the main pageto calculate the distance between cities.

If your first port of arrival in Thailand is Bangkok, you might feel a little apprehensive about the idea of taking to the highway on a road trip. In the Thai capital, cars are stacked bumper to bumper, motorcycles duel for space with pedestrians and seemingly anything goes when it comes to road rules. But breathe easy: Bangkok is not all of Thailand.

A great taster trip to get you used to driving or riding in Thailand, this circuit through the forested mountains north of Chiang Mai will introduce you to village life and the jade-green rainforest landscapes of northern Thailand. After leaving Chiang Mai, the crowds drop away as you get closer to Nam Tok Mae Sa, a natural swimming pool that makes a lovely picnic spot.

Continue to the Queen Sikrit Botanical Gardens, a collection of plantations, walking trails and greenhouses, with a family-friendly natural history museum. From here, you enter a part of the country that was once used to grow opium poppies before hill tribe farmers were persuaded to switch to fruit and flowers by the Thai royal family.

Experience village life with a detour north to the Hmong community of Nong Hoi, where local restaurants at Mon Cham serve tasty village food and Thai fruit liqueurs in pavilions overlooking the valley. The loop back to Chiang Mai on the 1269 passes Samoeng village and a series of spectacular viewpoints where you can pause for photos, before swinging back into the Northern Thai capital.

Let the coast call you south to Ko Lanta for more time on the sand, then return to the mainland to reach Trang, gateway to its own collection of idyllic karst islands. The final leg south passes through townships that feel almost Malaysian in character. Turn around at Satun and take a couple of days to snorkel and hike on the unspoiled islands of Ko Tarutao Marine National Park before you retrace your steps to Phuket.

Planning tip: The seas off the Andaman Coast can get very choppy from May to October and many ferry routes and some national parks close for the season, so it's best to avoid this time of year.

The next stop is stunning Sukhothai, whose ruined stupas and temples were the hub of a powerful Thai kingdom from the 13th to the 14th century. Break the journey north with a homestay at Ban Na Ton Cham or an overnight (or longer) stop in hip Lampang, where cool cafes throng with more local movers and shakers. Lamphun is another worthy stop before you roll into Chiang Mai and head straight for the night markets to feast.

Detour: To add some contemporary history to the trip, tack on a detour to Kanchanaburi between Bangkok and Ayuthaya. Made infamous by the Burma-Siam Railway, this town on the Mae Nam Khwae Yai river is today a hub for encounters with history and day trips to splash in the waterfalls of Erawan National Park.

A more ambitious road trip from Chiang Mai meanders through the green hills to the southwest, following Route 108 and Route 1095 through the lively traveler town of Mae Hong Son. This twisting loop is famous for having 1864 curves and the Chamber of Commerce in Mae Hong Son issues souvenir certificates for drivers who complete the circuit. On the way, you can swing into some of the most interesting townships in northwest Thailand.

To reach the Lao border town of Chiang Khong, follow back roads through a region that was once notorious as the heart of the opium-growing Golden Triangle. Take your time drifting through villages tucked along forest-cloaked ridges, then stop for a day or two in Chiang Khong to soak up the Lao influences seeping in from Huay Xai across the Mekong River.

Divert south on the 1020 and follow routes 1093 and 1155 through dramatic emerald hills to epic viewpoints such as Pratu Siam and Phu Chi Fa. Pause to enjoy the hot waterfall at Nam Tok Phu Sang before you roll onwards to finish up in leafy Phayao, an overlooked northern Thai town with pretty wooden houses, wetland scenery and a lost-in-time mood that will give you a sense of what all of northern Thailand was like before the arrival of mass tourism.

Hit the trail and meander east through Phanom Rung Historical Park, a striking Khmer temple complex atop an extinct volcano. Track the Cambodian border eastward to reach Ubon Ratchathani, an off-the-tourist-track town studded with handsome monasteries and balanced beside the Mae Nam Mun river. Loop through Yasothon (worth a stop during the rocket festival in mid-May) and lake-centered Roi Et to reach Prasat Puay Noi, a fine Khmer Hindu temple complex from the 12th century. Keep the Khmer theme going at Phimai, a grand temple ruin fusing Hindu and Buddhist motifs, then close the loop back in Nakhon Ratchasima, grazing on Isaan delicacies at RN Yard.

Planning tip: A big part of traveling in Isaan is sampling the food. Essential Isaan dishes to try include laab (a zesty ground meal salad with lime, mint, chili and toasted rice), som tam (a pounded salad of green papaya, green beans, peanuts and shrimp) and sai grok isaan (a sour, smoky, fermented pork sausage).

Thailand officially drives on the left, though be wary of locals flouting the rules, particularly motorcycles, which often ride against the traffic flow on the hard shoulder. Always give way to larger vehicles such as buses and trucks, and watch out for pedestrians. Driving slowly is always sensible. You can hire cars, motorcycles and scooters with a home driving license; take out as much insurance as is available and keep your license and passport (or copies of the identity pages) handy for police checks.

Combining transfer options / Different Pick Up and Drop Off location

Guests picked up in one location can be transferred onward to any other of the above listed destinations at no surcharge, making it ideal for touring itineraries in the South. For example, guests traveling from Phuket to Koh Samui can make a stopover at Elephant Hills between one to three nights. Transfers between the two locations are included in the sales price, ultimately reducing tour package price and logistical problems for you.

Self-drive policy

Please understand that we cannot allow self-drive arrivals or transfers by other companies. As Elephant Hills is a bit tricky to find, guests not arriving with Elephant Hills transfers have in the past often arrived late, thus missing lunch and activities, which is not pleasant for any party involved. This is why we have decided to make our transfers an obligatory part of our tours.

For transfers out to the airport and onward flights, please note our regular check out time is 2pm. From the camps, please calculate the above mentioned time to reach the airport, and book your flights about 2 hours after scheduled arrival at the airport. (E.G. Fly out from Surat Thani: Check out is 2pm. Transfer to the airport is 2hrs, so arrival at the airport is about 4:00pm. Please book domestic flights no earlier than 6:00pm in this case.)

Elephant Hills includes transfers as part of its tour packages; however, if transfers are required outside of our joint transfer times, they will be subject to a surcharge. This is charged per van per way. Please contact our helpful reservations team for inquiries on private transfers and surcharges.

Transfer to Koh Lanta:

The pier for boats to and from Koh Lanta is Baan Hua Hin Pier, south of Krabi. Due to the distance involved and it being beyond our pick-up zone a surcharge will be required. We can arrange transfers to Krabi Airport as included in our package should clients wish, from there hotels on Koh Lanta will be able to pick up guests however transfers onward to the hotel must be arranged with the hotel on Koh Lanta beforehand.

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