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Phuket Local Blue Bus and Pink Bus

How to use Phuket Blue Bus (Song Taew)

The Phuket Blue Bus (known as Song Taew) is the oldest and best-known local bus to get from Phuket Town to destinations around Phuket. It often looks more like a wooden truck than a bus as you know it. Those will only take you from Phuket town to a beach or a small set of beaches, but not between beaches. That blue bus leaves roughly every 30 minutes from 6 am to 6 pm, and a ride costs 30 to 50 baht.

Phuket Local Bus

A typical trip from Phuket Town to Patong can last 50 to 60 minutes, but you need to add the idle time waiting for a bus to arrive, plus the frequent traffic jams. On the other hand, it can be a fun experience when the bus is open and open-air, giving you the ‘local feel’.

Phuket Blue Local Bus

The Phuket Blue Bus also has a route from the Central Market to Bang Rong Pier on Phuket’s east coast. A handy bus to catch if you’re taking a ferry to Koh Yao Yai or Koh Yao Noi.

The main bus station is in Phuket Town

Location: Central Market, Ranong Road, Phuket Town
Hours: 6 am – 6 pm
Price: 30 to 50 baht
Itinerary: Phuket Town to a beach or a set of beaches, and back.

Blue Bus Prices

  • Patong Beach: 30 baht
  • Karon, Kata and Kata Noi: 30 baht
  • Kamala, Surin and Bang Tao: 40-50 baht
  • Bang Rong Pier: 50 baht
  • Rawai, Nai Harn: 35 baht
  • Chalong: 30 baht Phuket Blue Bus Map

Phuket Pink Bus

The Phuket Pink Bus is a very cheap transport option that has 4 routes around Phuket Town. The bus service is operated by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (OrBorJor) and is used mainly by local residents, especially students, who can ride the bus for free. Along with local students, the elderly, monks and disabled persons may also ride for free. The fare is 5 baht (about 15 cents) per trip for other passengers.

Phuket Pink Bus

Pink buses look similar to the Blue Songthaew buses, using open-air converted trucks with bench seating, all painted in a bright and cheerful pink colour.

Phuket Pink Bus Map

Phuket Pink Bus Map

New EV Buses – Coming soon in 2025!

The Phuket Pink Buses are set to be replaced by a more modern fleet of EV buses, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation announced in late December 2024. The upgrade of the service includes expanding the routes to travel from Phuket Town to Chalong and Kathu, as well as providing air conditioning and wheelchair-accessible buses.

Phuket New EV Bus

Here is an overview of the new service, provided by a press release:

Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization is upgrading the public electric transportation system to serve the people. It is set to become the first province to have a fare of 15 baht throughout the route.

Official trials began on December 2, 2024 for EV Bus, air-conditioned public vehicle by the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization that intends the EV Bus to help solve traffic congestion problems (such as reducing student pick-up and drop-off by private cars) and reducing air pollution.

The EV Bus has improved the bus routes with 3 routes as follows:

  1. Saphan Hin – Central Phuket Line (Yellow Line 1), one-way running distance of 11 kilometers.
  2. Chalong Pier Line – Super Cheap Department Store (Red Line 2), one-way running distance of 18 kilometers.
  3. Ratsada Pier LineAndamanda Water Park (Green Line 3), One-way running distance 10.5 kilometers.

All 3 routes have been adjusted to provide more access to tourist attractions, ports, schools, communities, commercial areas, and the Old Town area. To meet the needs of all groups of service users, including Phuket people and tourists, Thais and foreigners.

The fare is collected at a rate of 15 baht throughout the line and exempts bus fares for students (in uniform), monks, novices, priests, the blind, and the elderly.

There will be a total of 24 EV BUS vehicles, each with 21 seats. There are facilities to support the use of services by all groups of people, including children, the elderly, and the disabled. There are seats for the disabled. A vehicle tracking system (GPS) will be installed. There are USB sockets for charging phones at every passenger seat. CCTV cameras are installed and online 24 hours a day.

And there is an Application Programming Interface for passenger services in viewing the status and coordinates of buses. And another important thing is to install sloping floor equipment around the entry doors for wheelchair accessibility.

For EV Bus, air-conditioned public vehicles By Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization Service will officially begin in early 2025.

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Phuket 101

Phuket 101

Phuket 101 Blog shares 30 years of Phuket exploration and thousands of photos, tips and secrets. This travel guide is written from our real experiences: we tried and visited every place, and we paid for almost everything, which allows us to keep our honest opinions. Phuket 101 was born in January 2011.View Author posts