Phuket Airport

This airport is extremely basic. I have been here a number of times over the years and it has not improved at all. The food facilities are terrible and the shops are no better. The only reason you would spend time here is in the mandatory check-in before departure. I was unfortunate to experience a delayed flight when I arrived at the airport and we caught a taxi back over to the JW Marriott which is quite close (confirm flight departure before leaving your hotel) and enjoyed some nice drinks and they had some entertainment as well. Amazing they don't have better facilities given the number of people that use this airport.

Definitively a bad airport not living up to the expectations and requirements of the millions of tourists coming to this tourist trap. But there is a little secret for the flights OUT of the country which will make you a VIP: the Priority Pass Club Lounge. If you are not member you will fork out about THB 800 but totally worth it. You register BEFORE the customs and they whisk you through the queues you even sit down at a separate desk for the departure formalities then the same charming hostess brings you to a very beautiful lounge with internet access decent food and all drinks you need. Then have a look at the crowds fighting for a seat.

Airport feels and looks old and tired. Not all of the shops were open food options near the Gates 9-10 were very limited and the VAT refund office was closed (at 2pm on a Saturday!) Bags screened as you went inside the airport doors which meant you had to line up outside in the heat. Check in was smooth and immigration departure was smooth. Plenty of seats available but there werent too many departing flights either. It needs a bit of redevelopment to bring it up to scratch.

This is a tiny place it feels like being somewhere in the countryside. It's almost unbelievable that this place serves so many foreign passengers. The big advantage is of course that you don't have to walk very far check-in and boarding gates are close to each other. The downside is that there is absolutely nothing to do here if you have a spare hour. There are 2 or 3 small souvenir shops and about as many places to eat. The decor is non-existent and looks a bit old not the fanciest place you'll ever see. But they are efficient and things happened quickly because we had an early flight and it wasn't too busy. Just don't plan on wasting a few hours here or to eat here for that matter.

Phuket International Airport is to means like Singapore however I had no problems and I am just relieved they have an International Airport! At the end of the day its only an airport and you only spend a couple of hours there. I didn't get a chance to sit down as by the time we had something to eat and last minute souvenir shopping it was time to board the aircraft.

Pretty much average all round. Been to Phuket many times and there have been negligible improvements made to the airport throughout the years. The terminal is usually very crowded and can feel cramped and long lines at the check-in desks and customs are common; it is the second busiest airport in Thailand. There is a huge lack of seating around the departure lounge; I have almost never sat down waiting for a flight. Signs are okay apart from some confusing ones; there was one where the sign indicating the location of a single gate had 2 arrows pointing in opposite directions. Staff are quite friendly but all the procedures at the airport are inefficient but at least the security checks at the entrance are nowhere near as long as some I have encountered elsewhere. Dining and shopping options seem decent but again nothing special as with the environment of the airport - rather dim but fairly clean. Phuket Int'l Airport isn't horrible but pretty much average in every respect. I hope that renovations are imminent as a beach resort town as famous and popularly-visited as Phuket deserves an airport that is better than merely average.

At end of February flew Bangkok Air into Phuket; taxi took maybe 30 minutes to pass through the toll gate to get out of airport. Too many cars not enough gates. Need fast electronic system for regular users - taxis buses etc. Later flew out to go to Bangkok . Very slow to get into airport via baggage screening facility woefully inadequate for the number of passengers. Slow check-in too. Hard to find seat in departure lounge. Whole airport needs upgrade.

Departing on Thai domestic to Bangkok. Plane delayed 2 hours due to congestion at Immigration. Phuket immigration cannot cope at busy times especially when everyone tries to clear immigration at Phuket instead of Bangkok. I went down the domestic route as I thought I had 3 hours to clear immigration in Bangkok. Big mistake! I made it by the skin of my teeth onto my connection to Dubai but I know that many others didn't make their connections. Should Thai have held up a domestic flight because people were delayed clearing Immigration?? Be warned it could happen to you.

It was very interesting to note on a recent trip from Phuket that they do have the security at the front door for check-in. But some incredibly intelligent person who planned airport security obviously forgot about the staircase going from departures down to arrivals and that there is no screening point at the arrivals exit. So some potential "trouble maker" to say the least could easily smuggle a "weapon" or worse up to departures through the arrivals exit and then up the staircase into departures where the staircase is located past the initial security point. Very stupid planning.

In the arrival area there are several different commercial hotel "services." We ended up at the Thai hotel association desk. Although we wanted to go to Karmala Beach we had no reservations and not a real good idea of where to stay. The association said they had few hotels at Karmala and even though we said we wanted to avoid Patong pushed a hotel they said was in a quiet area just north of Patong. Brochure looked nice. When we arrived by taxi it turned out to be nothing like in the brochure photos. We went to a hotel we found in a the Rough Guide. Phoned the hotel association which promised we could get our 1000 Baht deposit back when we returned to the airport for our departing flight. And they were true to their word. All of the services do of course push hotels from which they get fees. Caveat emptor.