Khao Lak & Khao Sok National Park

A little north of Phuket on the Andaman coast, Khao Lak offers long, uncrowded beaches and easy access to some of Thailand’s best dive sites, while inland, the jungle-clad karsts of Khao Sok National Park deliver wildlife and adventure in equal measure.

Handily located just an hour north of Phuket International Airport, Khao Lak offers pristine beaches, forested hills and a sense of seclusion that appeals to luxury travellers seeking space and calm. Here, high-end resorts blend discreetly into the landscape, offering beachfront dining, enticing infinity pools and wellness sanctuaries framed by nature.

The region is famed for its diving and snorkelling, most notably among the Similan islands offshore. Massive granite boulders set magnificently against turquoise waters give the islands their distinctive character, but it’s the 30-metre visibility, enormous diversity of marine life and incredible 5,000-year-old reefs that draw divers from far and wide.

Inland, equally cinematic scenes unfold in Khao Sok National Park, home to elephants, tapirs, gibbons and sun bears. Waking in the morning to the sound of hooting gibbons and the sight of white mist curling around towering karst formations carpeted in rainforest is an experience not quickly forgotten.