Phuket from France

The French are Phuket's most settled European community after the Germans and, in the south of the island, probably the largest: Rawai and Nai Harn have French bakeries, French schools' correspondence pupils, French-run dive shops and a Sunday market where more French is spoken than Thai. The holiday market is smaller than the British or German one but longer-staying, and the nonstop flight from Paris that started in late 2025 has made the island a winter fixture for families and retirees who used to go to Réunion or Mauritius.

As of September 2026, Air France flies nonstop from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Phuket three times a week in the winter season, on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with a flight time of about eleven and a half hours; the route launched in November 2025 and is on sale again for winter 2026–27, with departures from Paris on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and returns on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Outside the winter, and on the other days, Air France and Thai Airways fly Paris to Bangkok daily with a connection to Phuket.

French 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. France 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 euros change easily on the island at rates close to interbank; the exchange booths in the towns beat the airport and the hotels, and large notes get a slightly better rate. French Visa and Mastercard cards work in Thai ATMs and at hotels, restaurants and larger shops; the online banks and the cards without foreign-transaction fees save real money over three weeks compared with a standard French bank card, which typically charges a percentage plus a withdrawal fee.

The French calendar fits Phuket's dry season well. The Noël holidays are the island's peak fortnight, with the best sea and the highest prices, booked by September; the vacances d'hiver in February and early March fall in the middle of the dry season, warm and calm; the printemps holidays in April are the hot end of it, with Songkran, the water festival, in mid-April. The Toussaint break at the end of October catches the tail of the rains, when the sea is settling and the rates have not yet risen.

Thailand runs on 220 volts, and its sockets take the two-pin round plug, so French chargers fit without an adapter; the earthed French plug with its earth-pin hole fits too, unearthed. Driving is on the left, the opposite of France, which catches scooter riders at every junction on the first day; an international driving permit is required, and the French permis alone will not satisfy the police or an insurer. Travel insurance that covers scooters is not the default.

By observation, French holidaymakers favour Kata and Karon for the beach and the walk to dinner, Kamala and Surin for quieter and pricier, Bang Tao and Layan for villas and the luxury end, and Patong less than the British and Australians do. Phuket Town's Old Town draws the French for the architecture and the food, and Nai Yang and Mai Khao for the national-park beaches.