Taking a bus ride in Phuket is ten times cheaper than taking a taxi or the blood sucking, nerve wrecking tuk-tuk.

I took the opportunity to experience riding this “converted” bus from our resort at Kamala Beach to the old Phuket Town. It was a unique experience.

It’s basically a lorry with its back converted into passenger cabin. There are four long benches, two at the side, two in the middle facing the side benches.

I won’t want to get on this bus during peak hours. It’ll be sardine-packed, knees and elbows will be hitting each other at sharp corners or bumpy roads. If you’re the first one to board, consider yourself unlucky because you’ll have to squeeze yourself deeper inside the cabin and very difficult to emerge out afterwards.

To get down, you press the bell or knock the roof. If you’re sitting inside, closer to the driver you can also knock the glass window or shout to get his attention. Believe me, it could become handy because not all the bells are functioning. Once you get out, you have to walk towards the driver to pay him. A word of advise, try not to pay using big notes because the driver could overcharge you if he sees you’re carrying big notes and gave an excuse that he had no loose change.

This Thai boy was so engrossed observing me taking pictures. Notice the boom box at the background of this boy? They play super loud Thai music to entertain passengers. Depending on your musical tolerance, you may or may not like it. I’m not bothered. Either way was ok by me.

As you can see that the passenger cabin is open, there really are no safety features. An emergency hit on the brake could risk the people sitting at the rear end being thrown outside of the bus. Hence, try not to fall asleep while onboard. Because of this, the driver would normally drive very slow when driving up a hill or taking sharp corners. Yes, very very slow. 20-30km/h …