Khao Lak: Where It Is, When to Go and Who It Suits

Where is Khao Lak?

Khao Lak (เขาหลัก) is a stretch of Andaman Sea coast in Phang Nga province, north of Phuket. It is mainland, not an island, and not a part of Phuket, even though almost everyone arrives through Phuket Airport. Hotels and guidebooks use the name for the whole line of beaches along Highway 4 (Phet Kasem Road).

On the map it splits into three subdistricts:

• Khuek Khak, Takua Pa district. The main resort strip: Nang Thong, Bang Niang, Khuk Khak and Pak Weep beaches and Laem Pakarang. DOPA counts 7,008 registered residents and 7,716 households here as of December 2025
• Lam Kaen, Thai Mueang district. Further south: Khao Lak village, which gave the resort its name, and Thap Lamu pier for Similan boats
• Bang Muang, Takua Pa district. Further north: Bang Sak Beach and Ban Nam Khem with its tsunami memorial

Takua Pa town is 31 km from Nang Thong Beach. Phuket Airport is 75.7 km away, about 70 minutes without traffic: Highway 402 over the bridge to the mainland, then north on Highway 4.

Khao Lak beaches

Phang Nga’s official list of attractions for Takua Pa district names eight beaches. Roughly north to south:

Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park has its headquarters on Khao Lak Beach, and DNP describes the shore there as rocky and sandy beaches with coral. Natai Beach is not on the Takua Pa list.

During the southwest monsoon, May to October, the west-facing Andaman beaches often get surf and rip currents. Our guide to red flags and rip currents explains the beach flags.

Khao Lak weather by month

The nearest Thai Meteorological Department station is Takua Pa (48 561). The coordinates in the TMD report (08°41′N, 98°15′E) put it in Khuek Khak, inside the resort strip today, but it was moved after the 2004 tsunami, so not all of the 1991-2020 record comes from this site. Individual beaches may differ. Phuket city station is shown for comparison.

Khao Lak is clearly wetter than Phuket, with close to double the rain from May to October. Only January and February are truly dry, with December and March close behind. DNP describes the park climate the same way: dry from January to April, rain from May to December. Full Phuket normals are on Phuket weather by month, and what the rainy season means in practice is in Phuket low season.

Getting there from Phuket Airport

Khao Lak has no airport of its own; the nearest is HKT in the north of Phuket. OSRM driving distances on OpenStreetMap data, without traffic:

Car, transfer, taxi and bus options, and what we could and could not verify, are in Khao Lak to Phuket: how to get there.

Similan and Surin islands from Khao Lak

Khao Lak is the closest resort to two marine national parks, which is the main reason divers and snorkellers stay here rather than in Phuket.

Thap Lamu is 71 km from Phuket Airport but only 13.7 km from Khao Lak, so Similan trips start later from here. DNP publishes the season on park pages and in season notices, and can delay individual sites in a given year. The Surin reference page still says 1 November-30 April, but recent DNP season notices open both the Similans and Surin from 15 October to 15 May, with all of Ao Suthep and part of Ao Tao on Surin closed because of coral bleaching. Check the 2026-2027 order before you go. What is closed in the 2026-2027 Similan season is on our Similan Islands page.

The 2004 tsunami and memorials

On 26 December 2004 the tsunami hit Thailand’s west coast. UN OCHA listed six provinces as severely affected, Phang Nga among them. UN country team figures from 13 June 2005 put Thailand’s toll at 5,395 dead and 2,817 missing. The Takua Pa weather station was closed for over a year, until 31 December 2005.

Memorial sites on Phang Nga’s official lists:

• Boat 813 memorial, Bang Niang. Patrol boat 813, carried ashore by the wave, was left where it landed as a memorial. 3.2 km from Nang Thong Beach
• Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park. Run by the Phang Nga Provincial Administrative Organization, 26 km north of Nang Thong
• Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Museum. Next to it is a viewing tower that doubles as a shelter

A warning system now covers the coast. The provincial disaster office lists 7 tsunami warning towers in Khuek Khak and Lam Kaen as of 2025, plus 4 in neighbouring Bang Muang, one of them at the Ban Nam Khem memorial.

Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park

Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park covers 125 km² of forested hills above the coast. It was declared in 1991 (Royal Gazette vol. 108, part 152, 30 August) as Thailand’s 66th national park. The highest peak is about 1,077 m, and the Takua Pa and Phang Nga rivers rise here.

The park office is on the shore at Khao Lak Beach. The fee is THB 100 for foreign adults and THB 50 for children on DNP’s fee table. The park has bungalows and camping, bookable through DNP.

Who Khao Lak suits

• Similan and Surin trips. Thap Lamu pier is 13.7 km away instead of 71 km from Phuket Airport
• Long beaches and quiet. The official Takua Pa list has eight beaches, two waterfalls and a national park, and no nightlife or malls
• December to March travel. January and February average 6 rainy days a month
• Travellers who care about history. Two tsunami memorials and a museum within 3-26 km of the main beaches

Who it doesn’t suit

• Beach holidays from May to October. 430-636 mm of rain a month, nearly double Phuket, and the Similans are closed
• Frequent flyers. HKT is 70-79 km away, over an hour each way
• Bars, clubs and shopping. For that, stay in Phuket, for example Patong
• Daily trips around Phuket. Nang Thong to Phuket Old Town is 100.8 km, about an hour and a half

If you are staying in Phuket and just want to see Khao Lak, one day is enough: route and timings are in our Khao Lak day trip from Phuket guide.

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