Practical Information in Phuket

Visas

You can find full details of Thailand's visa requirements at Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, most visitors do not need to trawl through all this information. All you really need to know is that if you have a passport from one of these countries then you are exempt from visa requirements and will receive a 30-day entry stamp on arrival. You can extend the 30-day entry stamp by a further 30 days at an immigration office in Thailand for a fee of 1900-baht.

If you want to stay longer than 60 days, you have two options:

You can get a 60-day tourist visa before entering Thailand. You can obtain these from a Thai embassy or consulate in your home country. When you arrive in Thailand, enter the visa number on your arrival card and the immigration officer will give you a 60-day entry stamp on arrival. You can extend this by another 30 days at an immigration office in Thailand for a fee of 1900-baht allowing a 90-day visit without leaving the country. It is possible to get multiple tourist visas. These entitle you to two or three 60-day visits. However, between each 60-day visit (and optional 30-day extension) you must leave Thailand and then re-enter the country.

The second option is to do what is known as a visa run. This involves border hopping from Thailand to a neighbouring country and then returning to Thailand to receive another entry stamp. (These are becoming more and more frowned upon by the Thai authorities and you may be asked to provide evidence that you have an ongoing flight befpre you are allowed to re-enter the country.) You will receive another 30-days if you return by air and another 15-days if you return at a land border. The term visa run is a little misleading as what you are getting is not actually a visa - it is a visa waiver entry stamp.

From Phuket, the normal visa run is to Burma (Myanmar). There are several companies that organise visa runs. They run either buses or minibuses to Ranong. There you get your passport exit stamped from Thailand. You then take a boat to Burma, stamp your passport in and out of Burma before returning to Ranong to get a new entry stamp into Thailand. The whole trip takes around 12-hours and costs around 1,500-baht.

A more pleasant alternative is to fly to a neighbouring country and turn the visa run into a trip. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are popular choices. You can get two or three day tour packages to these cities for very reasonable prices and then return to Phuket and receive a new 30-day entry stamp.

You should always check the date on your entry stamp when you enter the country. Do not stay beyond the permitted stay date. The fine for overstay is 500-baht per day. If you pay the fine when you are leaving the country then you will receive an overstay stamp in your passport but normally no other repercussions. However, if during your stay in Thailand the police have cause to check your passport and find you have overstayed, they will treat you as an illegal immigrant. You may spend a night or two in a cell before being deported from the country.

There are longer-term visas available to people who want to live in Phuket based on retirement, family or work qualifications. See our Living in Phuket section for more details.

Immigration Offices

The main immigration office is in Phuket Town where you can extend your visa and make general visa enquiries. There is also a small immigration office in Patong but it has limited opening hours and services,

There are also small immigration departments at the boat ports to deal with people arriving by sea.

Tourist Office

The TAT tourist office is in Phuket Town on Thalang Road next to Queen Sirikit Park near the junction with Montree Road. It is a new bright orange building. You can find tour brochures, pamphlets, maps and general information about things to do in Phuket.

Money and Banks

The Thai currency is Baht. The exchange rates available in Thailand are generally a little better than you will get in your home country. You will get good rates if you exchange cash or travellers cheques at exchange booths. If you don’t want to carry in a large amount of cash then generally the most cost effective way to buy Thai Baht is to use your credit/debit card at an exchange booth. The ATMs may give good exchange rates but that does depend on what fee your bank charges for this service. There are lots of banks and exchange booths in the tourist towns and in Phuket Town where you can change cash, traveler's cheques or use a credit/debit card.

The exchange booths and banks usually give competitive rates. The worst rates are at the airports and hotels. Thailand bank opening hours are Monday-Friday 8.30am-3.30pm. There are exchange booths in Patong open to midnight and beyond.

Telephones

The international dialling code from Thailand is 001 followed by the relevant country code.

The country code to call Thailand is +66 and the area code for Phuket is 076.

International calls are reasonably cheap. Many internet and tour shops offer telephone services which are cheaper than hotel rates. The post office in Patong and the CAT (Communications Authority of Thailand) in Phuket Town also have cheap international call rates. Using your hotel telephone is more expensive.

Mobile phone coverage in Phuket is good. You can use a mobile telephone from your home country if you have international roaming options. Another alternative is to buy a mobile phone in Thailand with a prepaid sim-card. You can buy a reasonable mobile phone with pre-paid sim-card from as little as 1,500 baht. 3G is available in Phuket and you can purchase 3G packages with your phone.

Internet

Internet shops are everywhere. Broadband connections are now standard and the reliability is generally good. If you are near the beach, you can expect to pay two baht a minute. Further from the beach, prices drop to one baht a minute and if you get out of the tourist resorts then you can find internet shops charging 20 baht an hour.

Post

Postal services seem less important in these days of e-mail and text messaging. Post to/from the west takes 7-14 days either way. It is moderately reliable but anything at all valuable should definitely be sent registered mail.

Phuket Town Main Post Office is on Montri Road just north of the junction with Phang Nga Road.

Patong Post Office is on Rat U Thit Road near the entrance to Patong Grand Condotel.

There are several other small Post Offices around the island.

Taxes

Value Added Tax is 7%. This amount is already included in prices displayed in shops. Small restaurants, shops and stalls will not charge it anyway as they will not be registered. Larger restaurants and hotels may add 7% to your bill and some will also add a 10% service charge.

Electricity

220 volts, 50 Hz. Electricity sockets generally accept both two pin round and two pin flat plugs. Adapters for other plugs are easy to find in local shops.

Health

Phuket has a wide range of good quality healthcare facilities. Health tourism is one of the attractions of the island. For a much lower price than most western countries, you can avoid waiting lists and receive private treatment in Phuket. There are two major private hospitals on the island.

There are also several government hospitals and lots of private clinics. The private clinics will have a qualified doctor and many open long hours.

There are plenty of pharmacies as Thais do like their medicine at the slightest hint of feeling unwell. Many of them will sell medicines without a prescription so if you go straight to a pharmacist then make sure you know what you want. A lot of them will sell medicines without a prescription so if you go straight to a chemist make sure you know what you want. Some will sell drugs such as sleeping tablets, viagra and steroids on request. The small private chemists are more likely to sell such drugs without prescription - it is just a matter of asking around.

Even if you are not visiting Phuket specifically for healthcare, you may want to take advantage of the excellent deals available from dentists and opticians where you can make huge savings compared to what you would pay at home.

Vaccinations

You do not need to take any vaccinations before visiting Phuket. If you are visiting other parts of Thailand then it may be worth consulting your doctor. Phuket does not have Malaria but there is Dengue Fever which is also transmitted by mosquito bites. Dengue causes a very unpleasant fever and headache that will knock you off your feet for a week. It occasionally develops into a haemorregic fever in which case you will need to be hospitalised immediately. There is no vaccination for Dengue. Cases of Dengue are unusual in Phuket but it is worth wearing insect repellent to be safe. The mosquito that transmits Dengue is a daytime biter.

Airport Tax

You pay 700-baht airport tax on departure but it is included in the price of your air ticket so no need to pay extra at the airport.

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