Phuket Tourist Police announce taxi fares, ask travellers to report rip-offs

Following criticism and confusion over the notoriously high taxi prices in Phuket, particularly relating to those arriving in Thailand under the “Sandbox” reopening scheme, the Phuket Tourist Police have announced the maximum taxi fares from the Phuket International Airport to popular destinations on the island province.

For a ride in a 4-seater taxi from the airport, the driver can charge up to 1,000 baht depending on the location. To Surin, which is around 22 kilometres from the airport, a driver can charge up to 550 baht. To Katu, on the southern tip of the island, around 46 kilometres from the airport, a driver can charge up to 1,000 baht.

Phuket Tourist Police are advising those who are charged a rate higher than the listed prices, to take note of the license plate number and call the Phuket Land Transport Office hotline, 1584, to make a report.

If you get charged higher, please take not of the number plate and report it to 1584.

The announcement comes after a Facebook post was widely shared online on the high taxi prices from the airport, and some concerned that they were being overcharged, just as Phuket was reopening under the “Sandbox” model. The scheme allows those travelling from overseas, who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, to enter the island province without undergoing a 14-day quarantine.