If your first place of arrival is the airport, you’re not alone, because plane is the most popular way to visit Phuket. Renting a motorbike nearby the airport is perfect. Why? Because you don’t have to pay for other methods of transportation to rent a motorbike in the places where you plan to visit, like Patong, Karon, Kata, Chalong, or in Phuket town. Other methods of transport like taxi usually cost a lot of money; going by minibus might cost less, but doesn’t always fit with your schedule.
If you plan to rent a motorbike in front of a hotel and go to other places or rent one where you visit, that’s fine.
But it’s not a good idea…
It costs more to rent from these places because you spend more money on other transportation and also renting. But if you rent straight from the airport, you can ride the motorbike to your hotel and to where you plan to go. And what’s even more convenient is that you will return that motorbike to where you rented it from. If you rent from the airport, that means you don’t have to take and pay for any other transport back to the airport later that can make your trip more expensive. Just rent and return at the airport, and go back home or to another destination.
Paying for a rental motorbike is cheaper and more comfortable because the first time you rent a motorbike, you will have to pay for rental cost and gasoline cost, but after that you can go with that first full tank for more than a day. Then, on the second day, you will only pay for the rental cost. Comparing it with the taxi cost, I am sure that taxi is more expensive.
If for some reason you still want rent a motorbike farther than at the airport, such as in Patong, Karon, Kata, Chalong or in Phuket town, you will really waste your money.
The table below shows the distance from the airport to other places.
Place Patong Kata Karon Chalong Phuket Town
Distance from the Airport (km)
| Patong | Kata | Karon | Chalong | Phuket town | |
| Distance from the Airport (km) | 40 | 48 | 48 | 42 | 33 |
With these distances, I am also sure that a motorbike uses just a full tank of fuel to ride from the airport. And the rental cost plus gasoline cost is absolutely cheaper than taking a taxi because the average fuel consumption of every type of motorbikes at 60–80 kilometer per hour is 30–45 kilometers per liter.
For example, if you arrive at the airport and take a taxi to Patong, it costs 800 baht, then you pay to rent a motorbike. But if you rent one from the airport, it costs 300–500 baht (rental cost) plus 120–300 baht (gasoline cost). So renting a motorbike from the airport is cheaper than in Patong, and you may still have some fuel left for travelling to other places.