Mai Khao or Nai Yang: which Phuket beach area should property buyers choose?

Mai Khao gives you Phuket’s longest beach and ready homes, from small apartments to a seven-bedroom villa. Nai Yang gives you a white sand beach and a choice of apartment buildings, ready and off-plan. Both are in Sirinat National Park, beside Phuket International Airport.

Current asking prices are on the live Mai Khao vs Nai Yang comparison. For each area in full, read Mai Khao, Phuket: buying property beside the airport and Sirinat National Park and Nai Yang, Phuket: buying property and living beside Sirinat National Park; for the whole island, see Phuket districts overview — every area compared for foreign property buyers.

How do Mai Khao and Nai Yang compare?

They are neighbours in the same national park. Mai Khao is the long beach with ready homes of every size; Nai Yang is the white sand beach with apartments.

What are the two beaches like?

Mai Khao beach is Phuket’s longest. It runs without a break from Nai Yang past the airport to Sai Kaeo beach, and it is one of the richest sand-crab habitats in the province. Visitors do not favour swimming here, because the seabed is fairly deep and steep.

Nai Yang is a white sand beach. Sea turtles lay eggs on Mai Khao and Nai Yang beaches between November and February.

Both share the park around them. A beach forest of about 2 km², with ironwood (casuarina) and tropical almond trees, shelters the shore. Coral reefs lie 700 m to 1,000 m offshore, and a small mangrove forest of about 1 km² has kingfishers, sea eagles and brahminy kites.

Where are Mai Khao and Nai Yang?

Both are in Thalang district, beside Phuket International Airport. Mai Khao is the subdistrict at Phuket’s northern tip, with the Sarasin Bridge to Phang Nga at its northern edge, and the airport is inside it, about 32 km north of Phuket City. Nai Yang is on the north-west coast, and Mai Khao beach runs on from it.

What does property cost in each area?

In Mai Khao everything listed is ready, from about THB 700,000:

• 777 Beach Condo. Built in 2021. A 20 m² apartment asks about THB 700,000.
• MBC Condo. Built in 2019. A 36 m² one-bedroom asks about THB 1.8 million.
• Villa 7 Maikhao. A seven-bedroom villa of 300 m² on 1,150 m² of land asks about THB 19 million.

In Nai Yang, apartments ask about THB 2.8-11 million:

• The Title Residence Naiyang. Ready. Studios and one-bedrooms ask about THB 2.8-4.8 million.
• The Title Halo 1. A 36 m² one-bedroom asks about THB 4 million, and an 80 m² two-bedroom about THB 11 million.
• The Title Serenity Naiyang. Completed in 2026. A 39 m² one-bedroom asks about THB 5 million.
• The Zero Nai Yang. Under construction, due in 2028, with a hotel-management programme. A 29.5 m² studio asks about THB 3.95 million.
• Wilawan Luxury Villa. A three-bedroom villa of 244 m² asks about THB 21.5 million.

Price trends for each type are on the live comparison for sale and rent, and per area for Mai Khao and Nai Yang.

Which area is better for rental income?

Nai Yang has the rent figures. One-bedrooms rent for about THB 30,000-40,000 a month, and the two-bedroom at The Title Halo 1 for about THB 60,000. For the net yield after management, fees, tax and repairs, see Rental yields in Phuket — what investors actually earn.

Are short-term rental rules different?

No. The same rules apply in both areas. A place not let on a monthly basis or longer needs a hotel licence or, for qualifying non-hotel accommodation of up to 8 rooms and 30 guests, a Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) notification receipt. A residential condo or villa does not qualify automatically. See Short-term rental in Thailand — Hotel Act 2004 reality and Phuket enforcement.

What does the national park mean for a buyer?

Both beaches are in Sirinat National Park. A royal decree created it on 13 July 1981 as Nai Yang National Park, and it was renamed Sirinat in 1992. The boundary is a legal line, so ask a lawyer to confirm, against the title document and the Land Office record, that the plot or building stands on titled land outside the park.

Who loves Mai Khao?

Buyers who want a ready home by a long national-park beach, and people who fly often, with the airport inside the subdistrict. Small budgets start with a 20 m² apartment from about THB 700,000; buyers who want space can look at the seven-bedroom villa.

Who loves Nai Yang?

Buyers who want a ready apartment by a national-park beach, or a base beside the airport. Buyers who want rent income look at one-bedrooms that let for about THB 30,000-40,000 a month.

What should a buyer check before choosing?

1. Compare the same property type on the live comparison, then open the projects above.
2. For The Zero Nai Yang, read the payment schedule and completion terms: see Off-plan payment schedules in Phuket: how to read them.
3. Get written confirmation of the title, the park boundary, the building rules, and any hotel licence or DOPA receipt you rely on for short stays.
4. Visit in both halves of the year. The rainy season runs from May to September.

Links

• Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (Thai)
• Department of Lands
• Phuket International Airport, Airports of Thailand
• Mai Khao Subdistrict Administrative Organisation (local government, Thai)
• Department of Provincial Administration — non-hotel accommodation guidance (PDF)
• Sirinat National Park, English Wikipedia