Phuket from Australia

Australians were Phuket's first Western holiday market and are still among its most loyal, with a pattern that has barely changed in thirty years: fly in from Perth, Sydney or Melbourne, stay in Kata, Karon or Patong, do the islands, eat too much seafood, and come back next winter. What has changed is the length of the stays. A large community of Australian retirees and semi-retirees now lives in Rawai and Nai Harn, and remote workers have discovered that a Perth–Phuket flight is shorter than Perth–Sydney.

As of September 2026, Jetstar is the only airline flying nonstop from Australia to Phuket, from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Perth is the short one at about six and a half hours; Melbourne is around eight and a half and Sydney about nine and a quarter. Frequencies change with the season and the airline's aircraft plans, from a few flights a week to near-daily in the Australian winter and the Christmas period; check the schedule for your month, because Jetstar has added and cut these routes before.

Australian passport holders can enter Thailand without a visa for tourism. Checked 4 September 2026: from 15 September 2026 the visa-free stay is 30 days per entry, replacing the 60 days that applied from mid-2024. Australia is on the new list of 60 countries and territories published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026. A single extension of up to 30 days can be requested at an immigration office for a fee, at the officer's discretion. Anyone who arrived before 15 September keeps the stay stamped in on entry.

The Thai baht is the only currency you will use, and Australian dollars are easy to change on the island at rates close to the interbank rate; the exchange booths in the towns beat the airport and the hotels. Australian Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards work in Thai ATMs and at most shops, restaurants and hotels; the travel-money cards from the banks and the fee-free cards from the newer banks avoid the conversion fee your ordinary card will charge.

The Australian calendar is awkward for Phuket. The July winter school holidays are Phuket's wet season: cheaper, warm, with afternoon storms and red flags on the west-coast beaches on many days, and Phi Phi and Similan boats cancelled or restricted. Families who travel in July do fine by choosing the east coast, Phuket Town or a resort with big pools, and by treating the beach as a calm-day bonus. The September–October school holidays are better: the rains ease through October and the sea begins to settle.

Thailand runs on 220 volts, close enough to Australia's 230 that everything works, but the sockets take flat two-pin and round two-pin plugs, not the Australian angled three-pin; bring adapters. Driving is on the left, as at home, which makes Australians better scooter riders than most visitors in the first week; an international driving permit is required, and rental shops that do not ask for it will not help you when the police or an insurer does.

By observation, Australian holidaymakers have stayed in Kata, Karon and Patong for a generation: Patong for the nightlife and the younger crowd, Kata and Karon for families who want a big beach and a walk to dinner, with Kamala and Surin for those wanting quieter and pricier. Perth families, with the shortest flight, are the largest group and the most repeat-visiting.