Car Travel

You can take Highway 4 from Thonburi in Bangkok all the way to the causeway at the north end of Phuket Island, where it turns into Highway 402. It's a long, exhausting, and not particularly recommended, drive, but once you're out of the capital all you have to do is follow the compass due south. Follow Highway 4 to Chumphon, where it jogs west and south and follows the Andaman Sea coast to Phuket Island. Phuket Town is 862 km (517 miles) from Bangkok; bus companies make the trip in 13 to 15 hours.