The airport is quite a way from Phuket town center. People travelling from the airport may find themselves heading South to Phuket town in order to continue their journey from Phuket to Khao Sok.

Phuket to Khao Sok From the Town Center

The bus for Khao Sok

  • leaves from “Bus Terminal 2” in Phuket town.
  • They are quite frequent and depart roughly every hour from 7am to 3pm.
  • Board a bus that is heading for Surat Thani, and tell the driver to stop at the Khao Sok bus station. This is the only bus route that goes directly from Phuket to Khao Sok.

How far is Khao Sok from Phuket? 

  • The travel time is roughly 4 hours by public bus (or 2.5 hours by private car).

View our Khao Sok Map and Directions page for more details.

From the Airport

Unfortunately, there is no regional public bus stop at the Phuket Airport.  Guests traveling from Phuket Airport by public bus will face two choices.

  1. Even though it involves heading South, the simplest option is to first take a city bus from the Airport to Phuket Bus Terminal 2 in Phuket town then follow the instructions above. It takes 30-45 minutes to reach this bus terminal from the airport.
  2. The second option is to reach the nearest regional public bus stop from the airport, and board the Phuket to Khao Sok bus there.  There is a public bus stop on the northbound lane of highway 402, about 5 kilometers from the airport. Reaching this stop can be tricky, however, and guests are advised to seek assistance from airport staff in order to find the right shuttle to this location. Taxis will charge several hundred baht for this short trip, and are best avoided where possible. Once at this stop, guests should try to board a Surat Thani-bound bus.  However, guests can also board any bus passing through Takua Pa (such as the bus to Ranong or even Bangkok).  In Takua Pa, guest will need to transfer to a bus heading for Surat Thani. Khao Sok is about 45 minutes from Takua Pa.

Important Note: The main roads of Phuket Island are heavily congested! Any guests traveling to Phuket should plan to reach their destination before 15:00.  Likewise guests traveling from Phuket to Khao Sok should plan to be off the island by 15:00. Failure to do so will likely result in heavy traffic delays. This is especially true for public transportation options.

Khao Sok to Phuket

If you are leaving Khao Sok to Phuket most of the information above will work in reverse.

You can book minivans at the Khao Sok van station.