New daily Bangkok-Phu Quoc flights begin on 8 August, widening Thailand-Vietnam links

Thailand's air map gains another short-haul link this month. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has welcomed a new daily direct service between Bangkok and Phu Quoc, operated by Sun PhuQuoc Airways, with the first flight set for 8 August 2026. The trip takes about one hour and 20 minutes each way, which puts the Vietnamese island within easy reach of the Thai capital.

The service was introduced at a launch event in Bangkok on 15 July 2026. H.E. Mr. Pham Viet Hung, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to Thailand, presided, alongside Miss Pattaraanong Na Chiangmai, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing for Asia and the South Pacific. Both framed the route as part of steadily growing travel between the two neighbours.

"TAT welcomes new air services that broaden access to Thailand and strengthen two-way tourism across the region," Miss Pattaraanong said. She added that the daily Bangkok-Phu Quoc route would give travellers greater choice and flexibility, while supporting TAT's work with airline and tourism partners to keep Thailand accessible and value-led for Vietnamese visitors.

Sun PhuQuoc Airways is part of Sun Group and began commercial operations in November 2025. It runs a hub-and-spoke network centred on Phu Quoc, the island off Viet Nam's southern coast, and flies an expanding fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 family aircraft. Bangkok is one of the newer stops in the carrier's push across Asia.

The new flight joins an already busy corridor. An extensive air network now connects six Vietnamese cities with Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Viet Nam remains one of Thailand's important short-haul markets. More than 300,000 Vietnamese arrivals were recorded from January to early July 2026, and TAT expects the full-year total to reach about 689,000.

For visitors, the practical gain is simple. A daily flight of roughly 80 minutes makes a two-country trip easier to plan and spreads arrivals across more of the week, rather than a handful of fixed dates. Short-haul routes like this one tend to carry a mix of leisure travellers, families and repeat visitors who value a predictable schedule.

Once travellers land in Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket, the next question is usually how to get around. This is where a marketplace like Balm Rentals fits into the wider effort to make Thai travel smoother. Balm brings bikes, scooters and cars from checked local rental partners into one app, with price, deposit and conditions shown in the traveller's own language before any payment. For someone arriving on a new route with limited time, seeing legal, verified options up front removes a common source of uncertainty.

The service is meant to sit alongside local rental shops and the industry's own efforts, not to replace them. By making the terms of a rental clear and available on iOS and Android, Balm adds one more layer of convenience for the growing number of people moving through Thailand's airports. New links like the Bangkok-Phu Quoc route bring more of those travellers in, and the experience they meet on the ground is part of what brings them back.