Kamala bay on Phuket's west coast, the shore between Patong and Surin that the proposed Kathu to Patong tunnel would bring closer to the airport; today reached over the existing hill road
Photo: Kamala bay, Phuket
The Coast10 October 20267 min read

Phuket's new road, airport and tram: what is real, and when

Three projects every brochure mentions, each at a different stage. The Kathu to Patong expressway goes to Cabinet in December 2026 and opens, if approved, in October 2031. The airport's second phase is designed, not built. The tram is a study. Each row on an official's own word and date, last checked 10 October 2026.

Embark Estate Published 10 October 2026

Phuket has three transport projects that would change how a home on the west coast is reached: an expressway and tunnel from Kathu to Patong, a second phase of the airport, and a tram from the airport to Chalong. None of them is open. One is waiting for Cabinet, one is being designed, and one is still a study. This page is a status table, each row on an official’s own word and date, last checked on 10 October 2026.

3.98 km
Kathu to Patong, phase 1Elevated road and mountain tunnel. EXAT, via The Nation, 13 September 2026
THB 16.76bn
phase 1 investmentTHB 5.79bn land, THB 10.97bn building and supervision. Same source
12.5m to 18m
airport passengers a yearAOT's phase 2 target for 2029. Bangkok Post, 16 May 2025
41.7 km
tram, airport to ChalongFirst stage. Transport Minister, via The Nation, 29 April 2024

The status table

Four rows, four stages. The word in the corner is the stage; the text is who said what, and when.

Not approved

Kathu to Patong expressway, phase 1

A 3.98 km elevated road and tunnel. The revised plan, with the tunnel cut from 17 m to 14 m across, is due at Cabinet in December 2026. If approved: land acquisition finished by January 2027, a contractor chosen by April 2027, four years of building from October 2027, completion September 2031, opening targeted October 2031. Those are the Deputy Government Spokeswoman's dates, Ploytalay Laksameesangchan, reported by The Nation on 16 September 2026. Checked 10 October 2026.

Plan only

Expressway phase 2, airport to Kathu

Named in the Transport Ministry's plan of October 2025 with building from 2027 and service from 2030 (Government Public Relations Department, 22 October 2025). No Cabinet date and no funding have been announced since. The 2030 figure is older than the phase 1 timetable above, which already runs to 2031, so treat it as superseded until the ministry restates it. Checked 10 October 2026.

In design

Phuket airport, phase 2

Airports of Thailand's plan adds 5.5 million passengers a year to a 12.5 million airport, taking it to at least 18 million, with about THB 10 billion for the international terminal and utilities; the design stage was due to finish in 2026 (The Nation, 16 May 2026). AOT's target for completion is 2029 (Bangkok Post, 16 May 2025). We have found no published contract award. Checked 10 October 2026.

Study

Tram, airport to Chalong

A 41.7 km first stage. The Transport Minister's own schedule, reported by The Nation on 29 April 2024: MRTA board approval by June 2026; State Enterprise Policy Office, PPP committee and Cabinet between July 2026 and February 2027; bidding March 2027 to August 2028; building from September 2028; operating by December 2031. Electric buses are to run the route first (Government Public Relations Department, 22 October 2025). Nothing has been built. Checked 10 October 2026.

Why the dates differ from the ones you were told

Because they move, and because a brochure quotes the oldest, kindest version.

Read the full explanation

In October 2025 the Transport Ministry described the Kathu to Patong road as starting in 2026 and opening in 2030. Eleven months later the government’s own spokeswoman gave a start of October 2027 and an opening of October 2031, with Cabinet approval still ahead. Neither statement was wrong when made; the second replaces the first. A page that printed “opens 2030” in October 2025 is already a year out, which is why every row above carries a date and a check mark rather than a promise.

The same applies to the tram, which was once expected in 2026 and is now scheduled, on the minister’s word, for December 2031 after a bidding process that has not begun. The airport’s 2029 is AOT’s target from a design stage. Each is an official’s target, printed as one.

What we will not print

Three things a brochure prints and this page does not.

Refused

An opening year as a fact

Every year above is somebody's target, named, with the date they said it. A target with no name and no date is not a fact, and we do not carry one.

Refused

A drive time after the road opens

The government's own line is that Kathu to Patong falls from 30 minutes to five. We print that as its claim, in the row above, and project nothing else: not airport to Patong, not airport to any shore, after any opening.

Refused

A price or value effect

No figure on this page says what a road, a terminal or a tram does to the price of a home. No such figure exists that we would stand behind, and we publish no yield or growth number for Phuket.

What it means if you are buying now

The island you drive in the next five years is the island of today’s roads. Buy for that, and treat the rest as upside you have not paid for.

The airport side: Layan, Bang Tao, Thalang

Reached today on the existing roads; the developers' own pages put Laguna Phuket at about 30 minutes from the airport. The tram and the airport's second phase would land here first, and neither has broken ground.

The Patong side: Kamala, Surin

The Kathu to Patong tunnel is the project that touches this side, and it is the furthest along: Cabinet in December 2026, opening targeted October 2031 if approved. Until then the hill road is the road.

The question to ask any seller

Which document gives that opening date, who signed it, and when? If the answer is a brochure, the date on this page is more recent.

For the shores themselves, start with Bang Tao and Layan or Kamala; for the island’s other large project, Siam Piwat’s ICONPHUKET at Thalang, opening in 2029 on the developer’s word.

Where we stand

We sell homes on this island and hold written, non-exclusive appointments from several developers here. We have no part in any of the three projects above and no better information about them than the public record; what we add is the date on every line. If you want a shore read for the roads it has rather than the roads it is promised, ask us directly.

Sources. Expressway phase 1 dates: The Nation, 16 September 2026, reporting Deputy Government Spokeswoman Ploytalay Laksameesangchan; phase 1 cost and length: The Nation, 13 September 2026, reporting EXAT’s infrastructure fund plan. Phase 2 and the tram’s electric-bus first stage: Government Public Relations Department, 22 October 2025. Airport: Bangkok Post, 16 May 2025 (capacity, 2029 target, Phuket airport director Monchai Tanode) and The Nation, 16 May 2026 (THB 10 billion, design stage).

Tram schedule: The Nation, 29 April 2024, reporting Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit. Every year printed is that official’s target as reported on that date. Rows were last checked on 10 October 2026 and are re-read before anyone quotes them. General information, not legal, tax or investment advice; no figure here is a yield or a forecast of value.

Ask us about this

If this raised a question about your own purchase, leave it here. You will get a considered answer from our team, not a sales sequence.

Common questions

When will the Phuket expressway from Kathu to Patong open?

Not before October 2031, and only if Cabinet approves it. The revised plan, with the tunnel reduced from 17 m to 14 m across, is due at Cabinet in December 2026; the government's own schedule then runs land acquisition to January 2027, a contractor by April 2027, four years of building from October 2027, completion in September 2031 and an opening targeted for October 2031 (Deputy Government Spokeswoman Ploytalay Laksameesangchan, reported by The Nation, 16 September 2026). The 3.98 km phase 1 is costed at THB 16.757 billion by EXAT (The Nation, 13 September 2026). Those are officials' targets as of those dates, not facts.

Is Phuket airport being expanded?

It is being designed for expansion. Airports of Thailand's phase 2 would add 5.5 million passengers a year to a 12.5 million airport, taking it to at least 18 million, with about THB 10 billion for the international terminal and utilities; the design stage was due to finish in 2026 (The Nation, 16 May 2026) and AOT's target for completion is 2029 (Bangkok Post, 16 May 2025). As of 10 October 2026 we have found no published construction contract, so the airport is in design, not under expansion.

Is there a light rail or tram in Phuket?

Not yet, and no construction has started. The first stage would run 41.7 km from the airport to the Chalong intersection. The Transport Minister's own schedule (The Nation, 29 April 2024) puts MRTA board approval by June 2026, Cabinet between July 2026 and February 2027, bidding from March 2027 to August 2028, building from September 2028 and operation by December 2031. The government said in October 2025 that electric buses would run the route first. Earlier reports promised 2026; that date has passed.

How long is the drive from Phuket airport to Bang Tao, Kamala or Patong today?

We print only today's figures in the words of those who publish them. Banyan Group's own pages put Laguna Phuket, on Bang Tao, at about 30 minutes from the airport. The government's claim for the expressway is that Kathu to Patong would fall from 30 minutes to five once it opens; we repeat that as the government's claim and project no drive time, to any shore, after any opening.

Will the new expressway or tram raise property prices in Phuket?

We publish no figure on that, because none exists that we would stand behind, and we publish no yield or capital-growth figure for Phuket at all. What this page offers instead is each project's stage, source and date, so a buyer can decide what is paid for today and what is not. Our advice is to buy for the roads that exist and treat anything else as upside you have not paid for.

The Embark Quarterly publishes considered writing on Bangkok's central residential market four times a year. No marketing, no sales.

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