Phuket Car Hire: Compare 450+ Local Rental Cars
Live prices in euro from local Phuket suppliers, with airport and hotel handover across the island.
Fleet board
People who drove themselves around Phuket
Read all reviews“The Fortuner was waiting at the HKT car park and we were on the Thepkrasattri road inside half an hour.”
“Three winter months in Rawai and a monthly rate that made the scooter argument pointless.”
“Xpander for two adults, two children and four cases. It swallowed everything.”
The island you will actually be driving
What a Phuket rental actually involves
Phuket is about 50 km from top to bottom and there is no rail line on it, so the difference between seeing two beaches and seeing ten is whether you have keys. The suppliers listed on this site are Thai operators based on the island rather than international desks, which is why the day rates read in euro and why almost every car on the list is an automatic.
Documents
- Licence
- Your home licence plus an International Driving Permit. Thai police at checkpoints ask for both.
- Passport
- Shown at handover. Some owners photograph the page, they do not keep the document.
- Age
- Most local operators here start at 21 with a year of licence history.
Paying
- Card not required
- A large share of Phuket listings take cash or a debit card at handover instead of a credit card.
- No Deposit available
- Filter the list for it. Those cars skip the hold entirely.
- Free cancellation
- Offered on a good part of the fleet and shown on the card before you book.
Getting the car
- Airport
- HKT sits at the north end of the island. Handover happens in the public car park, a short walk from arrivals.
- Hotel
- Delivery reaches Patong, Kata, Karon, Kamala, Bang Tao, Surin, Rawai, Nai Harn, Chalong, Mai Khao and Cape Panwa.
- Pier
- Rassada is covered too, which helps if you arrive by ferry from Phi Phi or Krabi.
From search to keys
-
1
Set your dates
The form above defaults to a week starting a fortnight out. Change it to your real flight dates and the list reprices instantly, because peak weeks between December and February cost noticeably more than June.
-
2
Narrow the list
The chips under the results only appear when the current search actually contains such cars, so an empty category is never offered. Sort by daily price or by total for the whole booking.
-
3
Book
You reserve with the supplier who owns the car. The confirmation names the person meeting you, the meeting point and the balance due at handover.
-
4
Drive on the left
Thailand drives on the left. Walk the car once with the owner, photograph every panel, then take the first roundabout slowly and the habit sets in within a few kilometres.
450+
cars listed for a typical Phuket week
98%
of them automatic, which suits the hill roads
32 km
from HKT airport down to Phuket Town
Nov to Apr
dry season, when the island fills up
Where you are staying changes which car to take
Mai Khao, Nai Yang, Nai Thon, Bang Tao
Twenty minutes or less from the airport and almost entirely flat, so a small automatic is all you need. The trade off is distance from everything else: Patong is another 40 minutes south and the southern capes are an hour beyond that, which is exactly why guests up here rent for the whole stay rather than day by day.
Patong, Kamala, Surin
Getting in and out of Patong means a hill in at least one direction, and the Kathu road is steep enough that an underpowered car with four people and luggage will feel it. Parking in Patong itself is the other consideration, so many visitors book a car with hotel delivery and leave it parked on the nights they go out.
Kata, Karon, Rawai, Nai Harn, Chalong
This is where a car pays for itself. Promthep Cape, the Big Buddha road above Chalong and the string of small beaches around Ya Nui are all short hops that taxis price as separate trips. The roads are narrow and often steep, so a compact is easier to place than a full size pickup.
Old Town and Rassada
The shophouse grid around Thalang Road has one way streets and metered bays, so something small is worth having. From here the airport, the piers and the malls are all within half an hour, which makes the town a sensible base if you plan to island hop by ferry as well as drive.
Questions people ask before booking
Yes. Thai law asks for an IDP alongside your national licence, and it is checked at the police stops that appear on the main island roads. Your insurance position is also much weaker without one, so arrange it at home before you fly.
The left. Steering wheels are on the right, the indicator stalk is usually on the right of the column and the wiper stalk on the left, which catches out a lot of drivers in the first hour.
Often, yes. Many Phuket operators settle in cash or by debit card when they hand the car over, and a number of listings carry a No Deposit label. Use the filter under the results to see only those.
For one person on short hops a scooter is cheaper. For two or more, or with luggage, or in the rain, a car wins quickly, and it removes the single largest cause of holiday injuries on the island.
Most agreements allow mainland driving over Sarasin Bridge towards Phang Nga, Khao Lak and Krabi. Confirm it with the supplier when you book, because a small number restrict it.
For arrivals between December and February book several weeks ahead. Automatics in the seven seat class thin out first, and the remaining stock reprices upward as the date closes in.
Pick your dates and see the real list
Every price you see comes from a supplier with that exact car available on those exact days in Phuket.
Book now