Phuket from India: flights, visa and money
Updated
At a glance
From India, Phuket is a direct flight of about 3 to 5 hours, and Indian passports get 30 days in Thailand without a visa.
- From Delhi: Yes, direct. Air India and IndiGo each fly twice a day, in about 4½ to 5 hours.
- Also direct: From Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad. From Chennai and other cities, you change planes on the way.
- The visa: None needed for 30 days, since 15 September 2026. Fill in Thailand's arrival card online, no earlier than three days before you land.
- The time: Phuket is 1½ hours ahead of India, all year.
- Money: UPI doesn't work in Thailand yet. Bring a card switched on for use abroad, or a forex card, and pay in baht.
Direct flights from India
| From | Airlines | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | Air India and IndiGo, twice a day each | 4½–5 |
| Mumbai | IndiGo twice a day, Akasa every day, Vietjet Thailand four a week | 4½ |
| Bengaluru | Air India Express three a week, IndiGo and Akasa every day | 4 |
| Kolkata | IndiGo, six a week | 3 |
| Hyderabad | Air India Express, four a week | 4 |
From Chennai, Kochi and other cities there's no direct flight this winter: change planes in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata or Hyderabad, or in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Flights home take a little longer, up to about 5 hours.
Some flights leave India around midnight and land early the next morning, so check your landing date before you book your first night. Timetables change with the seasons, and several routes fly less, or stop, between May to October: check with the airline before you book.
Visa, arrival card and passports
- No visa: since 15 September 2026, Indian passports can stay 30 days for tourism without one. Older websites still say 60 days, or visa on arrival: it's 30 days now, and visa on arrival is no longer offered to Indian passports.
- Longer stays: for more than 30 days, apply for an e-visa before you go, at thaievisa.go.th, the Thai government's own site.
- Arrival card: every traveller, children too, needs the Thailand Digital Arrival Card. Fill it in at tdac.immigration.go.th during the three days before you land, not earlier, and use the official site only.
- Passports: valid for at least six months from the day you arrive, with a ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days.
- Money: immigration can ask to see 10,000 baht a person or 20,000 baht a family, in any currency. You don't need to show money for children under 12.
Money, UPI and phones
- UPI: it doesn't work in Thailand yet. Thailand's QR payments for visitors don't include India, so pay by card or in cash.
- Cards: switch on international use for your debit and credit cards in your bank's app before you fly. New Indian cards work only in India until you do.
- Cash: Thailand's money is the baht. You can take up to ₹25,000 in rupee notes out of India, and buy up to US$3,000 in foreign notes a trip; carry the rest on a forex card. Banks at Phuket airport buy rupee notes, but for about half what they sell them for, so change your money before you fly.
- Exchange: in India, buy baht only from an authorised dealer, and keep the receipt. India's embassy in Bangkok says travellers have landed with fake notes from exchange brokers in India.
- Cash machines: Thai banks charge a foreign card about 250 baht a withdrawal, and 350 baht on Mastercard at some, on top of your own bank's fees, so take out more, less often.
- Phones: Airtel and Jio sell roaming packs that cover Thailand. Or buy a Thai tourist SIM, or an eSIM, at the airport when you land.
- Coming home: since 2 February 2026, each of you except infants can bring back ₹75,000 of shopping duty-free.
When to come
Diwali falls on 8 November 2026 and on 29 October 2027, as Phuket's rainy season, mid-May to mid-October, gives way, but it's still wet then. By the Thai Meteorological Department's long-term averages it rains on about 23 days in October and 16 in November, then 10 in December and 6 in January, so the year-end holidays fall in drier weather.
The summer holidays in May and June fall at the start of the rainy season: in June it rains on about 19 days of the month. Some flights from India are cut back, or stop, between May to October.
The weather, the sea and what's on, month by month: When to visit Phuket
Hindu temples in Phuket
- Old Town: Wat Khaek, the Indian temple, on Suthat Road, has Ganesha, Murugan and Lakshmi. Indian settlers founded it about eighty years ago. It's open 07:00 to 17:00.
- Rawai: Lord Shrimant Ganpati Bappa Devalai, opposite Rawai Beach, is a copy of Pune's Dagdusheth Ganpati temple.
- Patong: Shree Bhagawat Dham Sanatan Mandir, the Shiva temple, holds aarti every day at 05:30 and 19:00, and welcomes everyone.
At each, dress modestly and take your shoes off before the shrine. The gurdwara is on the same road as Wat Khaek, and serves a free vegetarian langar on Sundays from 13:30.
Indian restaurants, pure veg and Jain food, and the gurdwara's langar: Indian and vegetarian food in Phuket
Your passport, and help
- Carry your passport: Thai rules ask visitors to carry it as proof of who they are.
- The tourist police answer on 1155, day and night.
- If your passport is lost or stolen, report it at the nearest police station, then apply to India's embassy in Bangkok for an Emergency Certificate to fly home.
Beaches, the sea, scams and getting around safely: Is Phuket safe?
Close together, high above the bay. 
A twirl at the water's edge, both in white.
Golden Hour Phuket · photography
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