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All of them free, by law. The ones worth the drive, the flags you must not ignore, and where to be when the light goes.
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Every beach in Thailand is public. If someone asks you for money to sit on one, they are charging for parking, for a sunbed, or for nothing at all. What actually varies between these beaches is not the price — it is whether anybody is watching the water, and whether it is worth staying past six.
The classic Phuket beach and the easiest one to get right on a first trip — a mile and a half of sand with a proper swell at the south end for beginner surfers. Club Med has most of the frontage, so aim for the southern half.
Rips are treacherous June to November. Swim between the red-and-yellow flags and never past a red one.
The quieter sibling around the headland — under a kilometre of whiter, softer sand with only three resorts behind it.
The tree shade is gone by mid-morning, so bring an umbrella. Park before ten or you will not park.
Three and a bit kilometres of wide, squeaky white sand. The best long walk on the west coast and far calmer than Patong.
Karon has by far the worst drowning record on the island. Swim only in the flagged zone, and stay out entirely on a red flag.
Powdery white sand with a freshwater lagoon behind it and very little clutter on it. Most people who know the island rate it the best beach on it.
A 150-metre cove split by a headland, and the best snorkelling on the island you can reach without a boat. It sits on a curve and is very easy to drive straight past.
Eight hundred metres that got its character back. The beachfront venues were demolished in 2016 and again in 2025, so it is stripped back to sand and trees.
Three hundred metres of sand wedged between granite boulders, and one of the prettiest coves on the island. Road access was cut in 2017 and never restored.
No lifeguards at all, and the way out is over boulders or by boat. You do not want to be doing either in the dark.
A curved golden cove with a gentle slope and rocky snorkelling at both ends — the best easy snorkel beach on the west coast.
Three kilometres of the loudest beach in Thailand. Worth seeing once even if you are staying elsewhere, and the north end is markedly quieter and cleaner than the middle.
Sirinat National Park. Mai Khao runs nine to eleven kilometres and stays close to empty, with aircraft coming in low over the top of you.
The whole west coast faces the sunset, so whichever beach you are nearest will do the job — no drive, no viewpoint car park, no crowd. Get down about forty minutes before. If you want the famous one, that is Promthep Cape at the southern tip, and it is genuinely crowded. Red flag means no swimming, no exceptions. There were 56 beach drownings on Phuket between 2024 and 2026, twenty of them at Karon.
The things people ask us before they go.
Yes. Every beach in Thailand is public by law and nobody can charge you to sit on the sand. Sunbeds and umbrellas are for hire along the front, and some car parks charge. The exception is Nai Yang and Mai Khao, which sit inside Sirinat National Park and charge an entry fee at the gate.
Kata. It is the easiest one to get right — a mile and a half of sand, a proper swell at the south end for beginner surfers, and everything you need within walking distance. Aim for the southern half, because Club Med has most of the frontage.
Kata, Karon and Nai Harn are lifeguarded with flagged swimming zones. Laem Singh, Banana and Ya Nui have none at all, and Laem Singh has no easy way to get help either.
Rips are treacherous from June to November. Swim between the red-and-yellow flags and never past a red one — a red flag means no swimming, no exceptions. There were 56 beach drownings on Phuket between 2024 and 2026, twenty of them at Karon.
The whole west coast faces it, so whichever beach you are nearest will do the job. Promthep Cape at the southern tip is the famous one and is genuinely crowded; Ya Nui just below it is quieter, and Kata's Ska Bar at the south end is the easy option.
