I prove that if ∅ = K ⊂ R 2 is a compact s-Ahlfors-David regular set with s ≥ 1, then dimp D(K) = 1, where D(K) := {|x − y| : x, y ∈ K} is the distance set of K, and dimp stands for packing dimension.The same proof strategy applies to other problems of similar nature. For instance, one can show that if ∅ = K ⊂ R 2 is a compact s-Ahlfors-David regular set with s ≥ 1, then there exists a point x0 ∈ K such that dimp K · (K − x0) = 1. Specialising to product sets, one derives the following sum-product corollary: if A ⊂ R is a non-empty compact s-Ahlfors-David regular set with s ≥ 1/2, thenfor some a1, a2 ∈ A. In particular, dimp[AA + AA − AA − AA] = 1. In all of the results mentioned above, compactness can be relaxed to boundedness and H s -measurability, if packing dimension is replaced by upper box dimension.