Andaman Sea · Thailand
Phuket
Phuket is the base for almost every superyacht cruising the Andaman, with tenders split between Phang Nga island work and Mergui crossings.
The market
Tender market overview
Phuket is the base for almost every superyacht cruising the Andaman Sea, and tenders here split their work between island shuttling around Phang Nga Bay — James Bond Island, Hong Island, Phi Phi — and longer hops to the Similans, Surin, and over the border into Mergui. Conditions are flat through the November to April high season and rough through the south-west monsoon, so most programmes overwinter on the island and ship out for the European summer. That migration sets the calendar: an autumn fit-out and crew-up before the season opens, intensive guest and charter use through the dry months, and a spring haul-out or load-out before the monsoon closes the cruising grounds.
Local demand favours open tenders and beachlanders for the shallow island and beach-club work, plus dive-platform style chase boats for the dive operators and longer-range trips into Mergui. The water is warm and shallow with coral close in, so propeller protection, jet drives, and shoal-draft hulls matter more than top-end speed. The brokerage market is thinner than the Mediterranean — most owners re-spec in their home region — but season-end is a recognised window for low-hours Andaman tenders to come back to market before yachts ship to the Med.
Berths & marinas
Marina capacity for tenders
Phuket has four working marinas. Phuket Yacht Haven on the north-east coast holds around 300 berths and accommodates yachts to 55 metres, with 24-hour access — Phuket's only such facility — and a 10 minute drive to the international airport, which makes it the practical clearance and crew-change base. Phuket Boat Lagoon, also north-east, has 173 wet berths plus a 150-boat hardstand, 24 dry stack bays, and a travel-lift handling vessels to 80 tons. Royal Phuket Marina offers a smaller, more contained mix of 90 wet berths and apartment-style amenities. Ao Po Grand Marina rounds out the cluster on the eastern coast and gives the shortest run to the Phang Nga anchorages.
Tender drop-offs happen alongside on the marina small-craft fingers. Side-launch is universal at anchor in the bay; most large yachts work the islands at anchor and shuttle, so tender range and sea-keeping in the afternoon chop are the practical constraints rather than berth availability.
Refit & service
Local refit yards
Phuket Boat Lagoon has the most established hardstand, with a travel-lift to 80 tons and a wide list of approved local contractors handling fibreglass, paint, engine, electronics, and woodwork — strong for tender-scale projects and adequate for mid-size yachts. Yacht Haven has shorter-term hardstand for smaller vessels. For larger refit work the regional alternatives are Singapore (4 days by sea) and Pangkor in Malaysia. Phuket has good capacity for tender-scale work but limited capacity for full superyacht structural projects, so plan major hull work around the regional yards and keep Phuket for in-season service and finishing.
Logistics
Transport options
Phuket is a yacht-transport port. Sevenstar and DYT call into Phuket harbour for Mediterranean-season loadings, typically in April and May as the monsoon approaches, so transport slots are tightly clustered and worth booking well ahead. Trailer transport within Thailand is straightforward; cross-border movement to Malaysia and Singapore by road is possible but the customs paperwork is involved. Most owners ship between Phuket and the Med rather than running under their own keel.
The clustering of the transport window into a few weeks before the monsoon is the single biggest planning constraint for Phuket-based programmes. A tender that needs season-end work — antifoul, gearbox, jet-drive service, tender garage gear — has to be finished before the load-out, so the haul-out at Boat Lagoon and the carrier booking effectively share one critical path. Yachts that miss the spring window either overwinter the tender ashore in Phuket or face a monsoon-season passage, so confirm the cradle build and the transport slot together rather than treating them as separate decisions.
VAT & registration
Regulatory notes
Thailand operates a charter-licence regime that requires Thai-flagged commercial vessels for true charter operations. Foreign-flagged yachts can cruise on a temporary import permit (typically 6 months, extendable) but cannot charter commercially, so a foreign-flag charter programme cannot operate here without a Thai structure. Tenders carried as ship's equipment fall under the mothership's permit; standalone tender imports need their own paperwork — see our tender import VAT note for the general mechanics. Crew visa and immigration is handled through Phuket Immigration, and the One-Stop Service Center at Yacht Haven streamlines yacht clearance. Plan import paperwork well ahead of arrival, as in-season backlogs are common.
On the ground
Local handling contact
Our local team handles arrivals at Phuket, including Yacht Haven clearance and Boat Lagoon hardstand booking. Email will@paige.me.uk for an introduction.
For sale here
Tenders located in Phuket
No tenders on the register are tagged to Phuketright now. The team works off-market briefs here continually — tell us the programme and we'll surface what's moving.
Builders
Yards that run boats through Phuket
Wally
9 models on the register
Anvera
6 models on the register
Blue Game
6 models on the register
Ribbon
4 models on the register
Delta
3 models on the register
Chaser Yachts
2 models on the register
Fjord
2 models on the register
VanDutch
2 models on the register
Alen
1 model on the register
Bellini Yachts
1 model on the register
Novurania
1 model on the register
Pirelli
1 model on the register
Sunseeker
1 model on the register
On the ground in Phuket
Sourcing or placing a tender in Phuket?
We run briefs through Phuket continually — buyer searches, central-agency listings, and refit-window logistics. Twenty minutes on the call tells us the next move.