Just sharing my first experience to Thailand/Phuket, hope it helps with others planning for their first trip.
Family of 4 (with 2 kids under 9) spent 6 days in Phuket in March 2026.
-arrival custom took 45min, leaving took 20min. Didn't look hard enough for the 200thb bypass. If I could do again, we probably would have opted for it during arrival, we were tired from the many hours of flying into Phuket.
Transportation:
-During trip planning I contemplated between car rental vs calling Grab/bolt/indrive. However, the few apps showed that minimum cost per trip was around 250-300bhat regardless of the distance (even if it was just a 3min drive). At the end we decided to rent a car for the flexibility and also avoid the hassle of price haggling. Rental cost for a Honda City, 6 days, was around $260cad with full insurance with Hertz. The driving experience was fine for the most part if you have experience in big cities. Just need to be mindful of scooters but I find that cars/scooters just have a magic way to cope with each other on the road. There's barely any honking. I did see a multiple scooters drivers/passengers with one side of their arms/legs wrapped in bandages - I'm guessing they had some accidents. Google maps worked well for us. Looking back, having a rental car gave us so much more flexibility, no regret at all.
Hotel:
-Stayed in sunwing Kamala Beach for the first 3 nights and then Sugar Marina POP Kata for next 3 nights. The few advantages of Sunwing:large resort with amazing breakfast, practically beach front. The Kamala beach area felt a bit isolated though. It felt like there's limited food/shop options. We did visit the Kamala night market one night as well. Kata area was way busier and more established. Tons of food and massage options in the evenings. Was nice to get a pancake snack and ice cream at the Kata walking street. I personally prefer the vibe in Kata more than the Kamala. Both hotels are nice in their own ways, glad we were able to experience both.
Excursion
Originally we planned on doing two island excursions with shorter boat rides (Khai islands and Coral island). We ended up just doing Coral island tour. I didn't pre-book prior to the trip. I messaged a few contacts that I got from a Phuket Facebook group once I got to Phuket. I recall getting the same Coral island brochure from 3 different guides but had slightly different cost. I just opted for the cheapest one and paid at the pier. Kids had a blast and it was a fun experience. Saw tons of fish right by the beach. Speedboat ride was under 10min, very manageable for kids. Food price on the island was comparable to Phuket, it was actually quite good too (~150thb for pad Thai). We should have brought more drinks/snacks with us to the island though.
Food:
We mainly sticked with Thai and Asian cuisine throughout the trip. Lillo Island at Kamala Beach was delicious, expect a bit of a queue during prime dinner hour. Cafe Phuket Viewpoint was AMAZING, just treat the minimum charge per person as entrance fee. There are so many picture/Instagram worthy spots at this cafe. 100% recommend. Kopitiam by Wilai at Phuket old town was delicious as well. There are other restaurants in Phuket Old Town we would have liked to try if we stayed closer to town. We visited Chillva and Naka night market (we were not in Phuket Sunday night for the old town market). Both markets had delicious food and drinks. I have a fairly sensitive stomach so I didn't have the courage to try the raw oysters or sushi in the 30+ degrees weather. We also had a seafood meal at Rawai fish market one evening. I am grateful that I didn't get any stomach issue during the entire trip.
Other notes:
Elephant sanctuary was a fun experience. I do question if all the elephants were indeed rescued, somehow the staff knew the exact age of each elephant.
Final words:
Such a great trip overall. The beaches, the food, Thai milk tea, the massage, even the shopping. Thanks Phuket
