Car or scooter in Phuket?

A scooter is cheaper and quicker through traffic; a car is safer, dry in the rain and locks your luggage away. For one person on flat roads near the beach the scooter usually wins. For two or more people, for the hilly roads to Kata and Patong, for a family, or for anything longer than a week, a car costs a little more per day and removes most of the risk.

Updated 2026-09-18

What each one costs

A scooter in Phuket rents for roughly ฿200–350 per day, and fuel is a couple of hundred baht a week. Our cars start at ฿1,000 per day, ฿850 per day from a week, and a full tank of a Yaris Ativ takes you around the island twice.

Split between two people the daily difference is small; split between four it disappears. What does not disappear is the deposit: ours is ฿3,000 in cash and comes back, while many scooter rentals still ask for a passport, which you should never hand over.

Safety, plainly

Thailand has one of the highest road death rates in the world, and the large majority of the victims are on motorcycles. Tourists are over-represented because they are new to riding on the left, often without a motorcycle licence, and often in flip-flops and shorts.

In a car, a mistake by somebody else usually ends with paperwork. On a scooter, the same mistake ends in an ambulance. If you have not ridden a motorbike at home, Phuket is not the place to learn: the hills are steep, the road surface changes in the rain and the traffic around Patong is dense.

The hills and the rain

The climbs to Patong, Kata and Karon viewpoint are steep. A loaded scooter struggles; a car does not notice them.
In the rainy season a downpour arrives in minutes. In a car you switch on the wipers; on a scooter you stop under a roof and wait, wet.
The road to the Big Buddha and many villa driveways are steep concrete. Wet, they are genuinely slippery on two wheels.

Where the scooter is the better tool

If you are alone, staying in Rawai or Kata, going to the beach and back, and you ride at home, a scooter is fine and much easier to park. Many people take a scooter for the local days and a car for the island trips — we rent by the day, so a short car rental for one long drive is a normal thing to ask for.

What your insurance covers

Our cars come with first-class Thai insurance; your maximum cost for damage is the ฿15,000 excess. Scooter rentals are usually insured for third-party damage only, so the bike itself is your problem. Travel insurance almost always requires a motorcycle licence and a helmet, and pays nothing without them.

Questions

Is it hard to drive a car in Phuket?

The main roads are wide and in good condition, and traffic keeps to the left. The two things to get used to are motorbikes overtaking on both sides and the steep hill roads to the west coast beaches.

Can I park a car everywhere on the island?

Almost. Hotels, shopping centres and beaches have car parks; the tight spots are central Patong in the evening and Phuket Old Town, where you park in a paid lot and walk.