Sarah Cochran

Southern Thailand

Phuket Friday, February 28 After flying through Bangkok to Phuket, Thailand, I met this woman at the baggage claim. She mentions sharing a Grab together to the southern part of the island. However, I don’t really see how the Grab driver is going to drop her on southwestern part and me on the southeastern. Google maps is showing me it’s about an hour to my hostel on a public shuttle for a fraction of the cost of this Grab. I’m soon stuck with this woman waiting outside an airport for a Grab that doesn’t let Grabs in. We walk to find him and then we explain we want two different drop-offs and he wants considerably more. I’m out and go to find the shuttle that should be leaving from the other side of the airport in about 15 minutes. The woman is now also going to take the shuttle. There are actually multiple shuttles depending on your location and I’m on a different one than this lady, which I’m now thankful for. I sit at the airport for another 30-40 minutes before we leave. A couple more people get on and then we drive off for about five minutes then switch to another van. Then we drop two girls off at a bus station and switch vans again. We stop and pick people up and then drop them off along the way. I’m one of the last stops this shuttle makes and the only person in the van at the end. I ask them if they can stop closer to my hostel, and they end up delivering me about 100 meters from the hostel, which was great, because it’s now 9pm and I’m starving.