Top Beaches in Thailand for Sun, Sand, and Serenity

Thailand is one of the great beach capitals of the world for good reason. Its long, narrow spine through delicious tropical waters is dotted with 1,430 islands, each seemingly more spectacular than the next. With a seemingly infinite number of mind-blowing beaches, choosing the right one is a daunting task. But a single word, serenity, helps us narrow it down quite a bit.

Many travel to The Land of Smiles to swim, snorkel, and sunbathe, but some also visit to search for something deeper: themselves. Thailand is a mystical land steeped in vibrant culture and ancient tradition. As many of these beaches become increasingly crowded and commercialized, that latter goal can be sacrificed in favor of modern conveniences. We traveled up and down the country’s two coasts to find unspoiled beaches that offer not only the best sun and sand but also the serenity to enjoy them.

If you’d like another sublime Phuket beach with great swimming and fewer national park restrictions, consider Nai Harn Beach, a pristine gem at the southern tip of Phuket. The beach boasts brilliantly turquoise water, 0.4 miles of soft white sand, a freshwater lagoon, and endless recreation opportunities. The only thing you won’t find is crowds.

Even during the high season, from November through April, the crowds are limited. However, if you find your part of the beach swelling with more people than you’d prefer, you can simply take a stroll along the endless expanse to somewhere calmer. The high season is also notable for serene, warm waters that make for excellent swimming. In the low season, when the waves get choppier, you can try your hand at surfing or kitesurfing. Nearby bays and coves provide perfect sheltered conditions for snorkeling and sailing, while the adjacent Nai Harn Lake is great for jogging and paddle boating.

Visitors can lounge luxuriously on rented umbrellas and chairs or listen to the sounds of crashing waves as they enjoy massages that cost just $8.83 an hour. You can also have local Thai food at unpretentious restaurants nearby or luxuriate in more upscale options like Samut and Reflections Rooftop. If you love the beach so much you never want to leave, that’s an option: it’s open 24/7. But you can also enjoy the cerulean expanse from the balcony of nearby resorts, notably the 5-star Nai Harn or the hilltop Sunsuri Phuket.

As soon as your boat approaches the towering cliffs of Railay, one of Thailand’s most famous images, you’ll know you’re not on any old beach. Yes, Railay Beach is a wonderful beach in its own right, but it’s also located on one of the most magical peninsulas in the world, which hosts four beaches and an entire trip’s worth of activities.

The most famous beach is the Instagram-ready Phra Nang Beach on the peninsula’s southwestern edge, where you can wade in warm turquoise waters, out of which towering limestone cliffs rise. The cliffs also create a fascinating complex of caves and tide pools, one of which comprises an active religious shrine. Visitors can do more than gaze in awe at these cliffs. Railay is one of the top rock climbing destinations in the world, and climbing schools all over the peninsula cater to all levels. Some cliffs are up to 100 feet high, rewarding skilled climbers with panoramic views of the sea and its many islands and cliffs.

If you’d prefer to stay closer to the ground, Railay West Beach is ideal for swimming, thanks to its soft sand, gentle waves, and smaller crowds. It’s west-facing, so come for a sunset swim to enjoy an explosion of fiery color. Once the sun goes down, Railay East is full of mangroves and nightlife. Unlike jet-setting Phuket, Railay nightlife has a relaxed beach shack vibe pulsing with reggae, cheap happy hours, and fire shows. If the fire show is too good and you’ve missed the last boat back, the peninsula is full of hotels, ranging from swanky resorts to small, beachy bungalows.

Railay Beach is sublime if you’re looking for sun and sand, but much of it isn’t exactly serene. It has nightclubs, after all. If you’re searching for nothing but powdery sand and crystal clear waters, sail down the Andaman Sea until you reach a tiny jungle island called Koh Kradan. Its beaches were ranked the most beautiful in the world in 2023 by the World Beach Guide. On the western edge of the island, you can add fiery sunsets to this equation, and you get Sunset Beach.

Koh Kradan is located about 7.5 miles from the mainland and is mostly covered in dense jungle. There are no roads, no nightlife, and just a handful of beachside bungalows. It’s just you, the palm trees, the soft sand, the warm turquoise water, and the fish. Speaking of fish, the most beautiful beaches in the world are also close to some of its best snorkeling. Nearby, the Paradise Beach reef boasts scores of fish as bright as the water, who swim by eels and even the occasional octopus.

The resorts on the island also offer kayak rentals, so you can spend your day blissfully circumnavigating Koh Kradan island and its other beaches. If you’re an experienced kayaker, you can paddle about an hour to Koh Mook, where a hidden tropical lagoon called the Emerald Cave glows a hypnotic green due to the shafts of sunlight that manage to filter through. To visit Emerald Cave or many other nearby islands, you can also book one of Thailand’s famous longtail boats, an important cultural experience in its own right.

If you’d like to combine the unspoiled tranquility of Sunset Beach with the epic cliffs of Railay Beach, head to the remote Koh Lao Liang, a tiny pair of islands deep in the Andaman Sea. However, when we say “unspoiled,” we mean it. There are no roads, no cars, no WiFi, no real restaurants, limited electricity, and no boat traffic. The only accommodations are eco-resort tents on the Little Brother Island, though “resort” may be a bit of a stretch. You’ll be sleeping on a mattress on the floor, with no hot water, and using shared bathrooms. Food is served in a communal-style cookhouse that offers basic meals.

You’re basically going camping on one of the most exquisite beaches in the world. The near-total lack of development has preserved the two islands as two modern-day Edens, where forests of palm trees give way to bright white sand and crystal-clear turquoise water full of coral reefs. The tents allow a maximum of 40 to 50 guests per night, and no day-trippers are allowed, so you’ll get this quiet paradise to yourself. 

Your only companions will be the sand, the waves, and schools of brightly-colored clownfish that swim in the water’s anemones. You may also be joined by the occasional sea eagle, kingfisher, or reef heron. Your other companions will be the 328-foot limestone cliffs that guard the islands. These used to be popular for rock climbing but are now closed to climbing due to conservation concerns. These islands may be a bit too rustic for some, but there’s no denying they offer exquisite sun, sand, and serenity.

How you begin your day sets the tone for how the rest of it will go. If you’d like to start as strong as possible, set your alarm and watch the sun cast a fiery glow over the brilliantly turquoise waters of Sunrise Beach on beloved Koh Lipe. As its name indicates, this eastern-facing beach is renowned for its spectacular sunrises, but it’s an incredible beach no matter where the sun is in the sky.

Sunrise Beach stretches for about a mile along the eastern shore of Koh Lipe, a small, crescent-shaped island deep in the Andaman Sea that’s often called the “Maldives of Thailand.” That’s high praise, and Koh Lipe lives up to it with deep blue water, numerous soft white beaches, unreal snorkeling and diving, and a diverse range of resorts and restaurants. Out of Koh Lipe’s many beaches, Sunrise Beach offers the most balanced combination of a pristine beach and amenities without overwhelming crowds. The beach is magnificent: the water appears like a pool, and the sand looks like snow. The water is warm and inviting and is full of kaleidoscopic coral reefs further from shore.

The best way to enjoy Sunrise Beach is to catch the sunrise and then enjoy a symphony of early morning colors before too many people arrive. During the day, you can travel to the island’s other beaches, which include the beautiful sandbar of Bulow Beach or the quieter waters of Sunset Beach. If you’re hungry, head to Walking Street, a lively row of beach shacks offering delicious and authentic restaurants and bars. After spending the evening at Sunset Beach, fall asleep in one of the bamboo huts of the Satun Dive Resort on Sunrise Beach to make sure you catch the next morning’s sublime sunrise.

Koh Lipe is full of tourists, hotels, bars, and restaurants. Anyone yearning for a quieter experience need only board a 10- to 15-minute longtail boat ride to Koh Adang, a vast jungle island full of forests, monkeys, and pristine beaches. Koh Adang is about 15 times bigger than Koh Lipe, yet you’ll only see a handful of other people. It’s part of the Tarutao National Park, and infrastructure is extremely limited. Instead of roads and resorts, visitors will find hiking trails through dense forests and waterfalls to several staggering viewpoints. 

Koh Adang is also a tropical island, so you’ll enjoy a variety of unspoiled, picture-perfect beaches. If we had to choose our favorite, we’d go with Southern Beach, another contender for the prettiest beach in Thailand that’s convenient and private. The beach, located close to where the Koh Lipe boats dock, offers a delightfully secluded mile of crystal-clear turquoise water lapping gracefully against warm, white sand surrounded by lush pine forest. Visitors can rent snorkeling gear and wade through brilliant waters to a nearby coral reef. In the morning, you can watch the sunrise at the beach’s eastern end, and in the evening, see the sunset at the western end. 

At night, the water turns a brilliant blue thanks to bioluminescent algae. If you can’t get enough, check out the best destinations around the world for bioluminescence. If you’d like to spend the night, the nearby National Park HQ offers 16 basic bungalows with hard beds, cold showers, nighttime electricity, and no air conditioning. If that’s not quite your speed, you can board a free boat to the Adang Island Resort, which offers private bungalows, air conditioning, a swimming pool, and a restaurant.

If you’d prefer a slightly nicer bungalow somewhere just as peaceful and pristine, sail north up the Andaman Sea to Koh Phra Thong or Golden Buddha Island. This pristine island is named for a golden Buddha statue that was supposedly stolen by pirates and buried somewhere on the island. No such statue has been found, but they’d certainly have plenty of space to do it. Koh Phra Thong is 34 square miles of lush jungle, mangrove forests, and African-style savannahs. A small portion of the island is developed, including the Baba Ecolodge, a collection of 27 private, sustainably-built bungalows.

These eco-friendly bungalows run on solar power, and the sun isn’t exactly hard to come by on this tropical island, at least outside the rainy season from May to October. The western side of the island is a collection of golden sand beaches known as Golden Buddha Beach. Because the island is secluded and undeveloped, there are hardly any visitors. It’s just you, the turquoise waves, casuarina and mangrove trees, and an endless stretch of golden sand. Toward the northern end of the beach, a sheltered bay provides calm conditions for swimming in the ocean that teems with colorful fish. From December to March, you’ll likely spot turtles nesting and eggs hatching along the beach. Baba Ecolodge also offers guided kayaking tours through the mangrove forests near the shores. 

The interior of the island is just as teeming as the waters surrounding it. The pristine island is home to monkeys, iguanas, hornbills, and 137 other bird species. Many of these unique species can be best enjoyed in the center of the island, a large, golden grassland known as Thailand’s Serengeti.

If you love serenity during the day and excitement at night, head across Thailand to Koh Phangan, a 65-square-mile island just north of Koh Samui. Like Koh Samui, Koh Phangan is known for its calm, gentle beaches and vibrant nightlife. Whenever the moon is full, thousands of backpackers and ravers from all over the world head to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party at Haad Rin Beach, a raucous open-air nightclub offering everything from fire jump ropes to neon body paint. It seems just about every other moon phase has its own party. The island pulses the rest of the month to raves like the Halfmoon Festival and the Black Moon Party.

Before you grab your earplugs and research different islands, consider Bottle Beach, which is nestled in a remote, secluded cove in the north, on the opposite end of the island. On this perfect, peaceful beach, calm, turquoise waters crash onto uncrowded white sands crowned by swaying palm trees. Because the water is warm, shallow, and protected, it’s one of the best beaches for swimming on Koh Phangan. Like many Gulf of Thailand beaches, it lacks the coral reefs to make for great snorkeling, but it’s such a delicious bathtub with silky smooth sand that you’ll still want to soak in it all day. 

Nearby resorts also offer kayak and paddleboard rentals, and a hike through the nearby jungle leads to panoramic views of the nearby jungle and coast. At night, you can cozy up inside a number of small, quiet resorts and bungalows like the Haad Khuad Resort or the Smile Bungalows. But if it’s a full moon and you’re feeling suitably relaxed from your perfect day at the beach, then grab your glow sticks and get on the nearest boat.

We end our journey far from where we started, on a large, lush island near Cambodia. It is considered one of Thailand’s last true unspoiled islands. Koh Kood offers roughly 40 square miles of pristine mountainous jungle, waterfalls, and achingly beautiful beaches. One of the most exquisite is Kluai Beach, which offers a long, uninterrupted stretch of golden-white sand kissed by warm, turquoise water. Like most locations on Koh Kood, the beach is difficult to access and offers limited facilities, which means you’ll get this tropical paradise almost completely to yourself. You can easily spend the day swimming, snorkeling through untouched reefs, or gazing out at the limitless, crystal-clear expanse of the Gulf of Thailand.

If you’d like a different bathing experience, venture about a mile into the jungle, where you’ll find the Klong Chao Waterfall, a breathtaking pair of 33-foot waterfalls cascading into a natural turquoise pool. After a moderate hike on a warm day, the cool water of the pool will feel deliciously refreshing. If you’d like to enter the suitably deep water in grand fashion, grab onto a nearby rope swing or simply jump off the cliff.

If Kluai Beach and the Klong Chao Waterfall sound fun, you’ve come to the right island. The island is full of beaches and waterfalls just like them, including Ao Phrao Beach and the Klong Yai Kee Waterfall. You can also snorkel through a shipwreck, kayak through mangroves, and worship the Makka Tree, a roughly 500-year-old banyan tree with mystical powers.