Mai Khao

This coast was protected before it was developed. The national park designation covering much of the beach and the land behind it kept large-scale building out, and the sea turtles that nest here each year gave the area a conservation profile long before the resorts arrived.

Development since has been limited to a handful of large resort estates set behind the treeline, which is why the beach still reads as wild.

Around eleven kilometres of open sand, backed by casuarina trees and national park. It shelves steeply in places and the surf can be strong — this is not a calm swimming bay, and during the monsoon it is genuinely rough. Sea turtles nest here in the winter months.

Mostly within the resorts, plus a scattering of local restaurants along the inland road. There is no dining strip; residents drive south or eat where they live.

Limited locally. The nearest full supermarkets are towards Thalang and the airport, with Porto de Phuket around twenty-five minutes south.

UWC Thailand is around twenty minutes south. Clinics are limited nearby and the major hospitals are in Phuket Town, roughly forty-five minutes. A car is non-negotiable.