Phuket to Khao Lak: minivan options (2026)

2 ways to make this trip, from ฿250 one way, and 1h30–2h10 on the quickest, direct. Below: what each costs, who runs it, how often it goes and the pier or station it actually leaves from.

Fares checked 7 September 2026 and quoted as one-way bands per adult. They move with season, fuel and demand — the flight bands move fastest of all.

Our pick for time

Minivan

1h30–2h10 · ฿250–฿600 · Shared minivan and airport transfer operators

Our pick for budget

Minivan

฿250–฿600 · 1h30–2h10 · Shared minivan and airport transfer operators

Same option twice: on this pair the quickest way is also the cheapest, which is rarer than it sounds — it usually means one operator has the route to itself.

All options

Phuket to Khao Lak: every option with mode, time, fare, operators and frequency
Option	Time	Fare	Operators	How often	Change
Minivan	1h30–2h10	฿250–฿600	Shared minivan and airport transfer operators	Through the day, most timed to Phuket airport arrivals	Direct
Minivan + Minivan	5h21–8h40	฿580–฿1,500	Phuket Bus and Van Travel, Kanokwan Travel, Andaman Taxi, Shared minivan operators	Several shared departures a day, plus private transfers · One or two morning departures	via Khao Sok

Booking notes

Minivan · 1h30–2h10 · ฿250–฿600

Khao Lak sits north of Phuket airport, so arriving passengers pass it on the way into Phuket. Book the transfer from the airport rather than from Patong and the leg gets an hour shorter.

Minivan + Minivan · 5h21–8h40 · ฿580–฿1,500

Phuket → Khao Sok: The bottom of the band is a shared van, the top a private car. Most Khao Sok bookings include the transfer to the lake pier as a separate morning leg — that isn't in this fare.

Khao Sok → Khao Lak: The short way in if you're already on the northern Andaman coast. Afternoon departures are scarce — this is a morning leg.

Both ends of the trip

Phuket

Connected to the mainland by bridge, so it works as an airport hub as much as a beach.

Airport HKT: The Andaman's main gateway, with the widest low-cost domestic and regional network in the south.

Phuket is driest Nov–Apr and wettest May–Oct on its own monthly rain-day normals.

Phuket weather Phuket guide

Khao Lak

An hour north of Phuket airport and the departure point for Similan liveaboards.

Khao Lak has no weather station of ours; the nearest one we track is driest Nov–Apr and wettest May–Oct.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get from Phuket to Khao Lak?

1h30–2h10 on the quickest option we hold — minivan with Shared minivan and airport transfer operators. The slowest of the 2 options here takes 5h21–8h40, so the spread between them is about 5h11. Times are for the scheduled leg and exclude the transfer at either end.

How much is Phuket to Khao Lak?

From ฿250–฿600 one way by minivan, checked 7 September 2026 — and on this pair that is also the quickest way, so there is nothing to trade off. The dearest of the 2 options here runs to ฿580–฿1,500. That band comes from a dated route listing rather than a published tariff, so treat it as indicative.

What else runs between Phuket and Khao Lak?

1 other option. The next one after minivan with Shared minivan and airport transfer operators is minivan + minivan with Phuket Bus and Van Travel at ฿580–฿1,500 and 5h21–8h40, changing at Khao Sok — dearer and slower. All of them are in the table above with their operators and frequency.

Where does the Phuket to Khao Lak service leave from, and how often does it run?

Khao Lak sits north of Phuket airport, so arriving passengers pass it on the way into Phuket. Book the transfer from the airport rather than from Patong and the leg gets an hour shorter. Through the day, most timed to Phuket airport arrivals.

Going the other way, or further

The return trip is on the Khao Lak to Phuket page — fares are the same in both directions on almost every leg here, but the timetables are not. To string this hop into a longer trip with a pace check, use the route planner, and see the island comparison for which coast is dry in the month you are travelling.

Sources

12go.asia route listings (band from what was on sale, not a tariff) — aggregator listings, not a published tariff.
Bookaway Phuket–Khao Sok route listings — aggregator listings, not a published tariff.

Checked 7 September 2026. Every figure on this page is a range, because every one of them moves.

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