phuket magazine

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Long, no Hotels (yet), and Very, Very Quiet

Mai Khao Beach is proof that those who REALLY want to get away from it all can do so on Phuket - yet few really do

All of Phuket s most famous beaches are found in the middle and south end of the island. So what of the northern end beyond the airport? Nothing. Simply nothing - yet. The beach here, Mai Khao, is very, very long, and very straight. So it misses the cozy feeling enjoyed by some beaches nestled into bays backed by mountains, but the sand and water here are much the same, and there are NO people on many kilometres of sand, even in the high season when the beach umbrellas are five deep on Patong.

So many people say how much they ‘want to get away from it all’ or ‘want find a beach for ourselves’, but Mai Khao is proof that almost no-one will take a one hour drive to find it. It is also the proof of the equation that Phuket has something for everyone, from crowded beach to completely empty beach. But finding the right balance between isolation, activity, access to entertainment etc. to match your personal expectations is not easy in Phuket, for the extremes are poles apart. If you hunt through this web site you will find a lot of information that can help make that decision work better for you.

It’s easy to get to Mai Khao. Just drive north past the airport towards the Sarasin bridge with leads off the island – simply put, follow the main high north. A few kilometres before the bridge the main road runs right besode the beach for a while, and there are many small shack-restaurants here that always have cold drinks. On weekends many Thai families turn up here to spend lazy afternoons eating and drinking. Both north and south of here an almost endless strip of sand stretches forth. Several small tracks allow cars to find the beach in other quiet spots.

And further: should this not be lonely enough, many more kilometres of isolated beach stretch north from the other side of the bridge. Again, take any small track from the highway towards the beach, and there it is again: many kilometres of sand, no people.

But the ‘no people’ isolation of Mai Khao will not last for long. The international Marriot group of hotels, in conjunction with Bill Heinecke’s Bangkok-based Minor Group, is currently building a new resort there, due to open at the end of 2001. Considering Bilil Heinecke’s record with past hotels in Hua Hin and Bangkok, we can expect a beautifully designed, tasteful low rise resort with plenty of tropical foliage.