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2026 costs for Phuket
Phuket in 2026: record 5.41 million arrivals, flat revenue, dry reservoirs and a jet ski scam police keep having to raid
By RuinMyTrip Editorial
Phuket is having the strangest kind of boom. More than 5.41 million passengers arrived through Phuket International Airport in 2025, up from 5.29 million in 2024 and above both the 5.36 million of 2018 and the 5.29 million of 2019. On paper that is a full recovery and then some. In practice the revenue did not follow the headcount, because the mix of who is arriving changed underneath it. The Chinese market, which u…
What nearly ruins it: Record arrivals of 5.41 million through the airport in 2025 did not lift revenue, and the pressure lands on visitors. The jet ski scam at Patong is organised, aggressive and still…
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Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
Practical tips
Editorial- Do not rent a jet ski in Phuket. The damage-claim scam is organised, still operating after police busts, and settled by a group of men on the beach while you are trying to leave. If you rent anyway, film every panel before you touch it and never hand over your passport as a deposit.
- Use Grab or a metered taxi rather than the rank outside the airport or the hotel. Phuket's taxi and tuk tuk trade sets fares well above meter rates, and tuk tuks here cost significantly more than in the rest of Thailand.
- Agree the fare before you or your bags are in the vehicle, not after. Once your luggage is loaded the negotiation is over.
- Ask your hotel about water supply if you are travelling in the dry season. Phuket's main reservoirs run below capacity, demand is rising about 11 per cent a year, and hotels have been supplied by water trucks during shortages.
- Eat one street back from the beach road. The price difference between the beachfront tier and a Thai restaurant a two minute walk inland is the single biggest saving available on the island.
- Stay outside Patong unless Patong is specifically what you came for. The northern beaches, the east coast and Phuket Old Town are quieter, cheaper and where the scam pressure is lowest.
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