Phuket ‘smart bus’ begins services
The first route of the Phuket “smart bus” was launched on Wednesday connecting Phuket International Airport to the south of the island at Rawai Beach.
The permanent secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Panupong Sawetarun, chaired the opening ceremony of the bus with the first route launched being the blue route, which will run along the western beach road.
The blue route from the airport to Rawai has 50 stops at many popular areas, including Surin Beach, Kamala Beach, Patong Beach, Karon Beach, Kata Beach before reaching Rawai by the beach road, covering a total of 56 kilometres. There will be 32 trips from 6am to 8pm. The estimated travel time for each bus along the route is two to three hours.
The project is an initiative of Phuket City Development and Rabbit x Phuket Smartcard for “smart” payments. The buses feature a safety control room, GPS, CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi, a USB port at each seat and a lift for disabled passengers.
“Phuket is a world tourism destination drawing a large number of travellers but still lacks proper public transportation. To travel from the airport to Phuket town or to the beaches takes about one or two hours because of the traffic jams, which affect the tourism situation in Phuket. The smart bus is part of the longer-term solution for this,” said Watchara Jaruariyanon, a board member of Phuket City Development.
“We only use brand new buses from Mercedes because we trust the quality of the engines and braking systems and provide more space for luggage.”
“People can pay the bus fee through Rabbit x Phuket Smartcard instead of cash. The fee starts at Bt50 through to Bt170 depending on the distance,” he added.
Payments are also accepted via Visa, which is an official partner.
