How to save thousands on a Thai beach holiday: I’ve visited the country hundreds of times over the years… and this is how you can get serious bang for your buck – and why you should avoid Phuket

Published: 07:11 EDT, 14 October 2026 | Updated: 07:22 EDT, 14 October 2026

As a backpacker, whiskey buckets, overnight buses and creaky bunk beds used to be staples of my cheap trips around Thailand. But in two decades my tastes have become a little more sophisticated.

I’ve now stayed at more than 150 five-star hotels in the country but seen prices creep up with every annual visit. I was overjoyed, then, to discover I can still get serious bang for my buck – even in some of its best hotels.

The secret? Well, touching down in Phuket, Thailand’s largest island, you have two choices. Head south of the airport and get stuck on traffic-clogged highways, with construction site views, on your way to your accommodation.

Or you could take the highway north to the Phang Nga region, specifically Khao Lak, a sun-kissed 25km-long ribbon of coastline with far less development but with the same coastal palm-fringed beaches (with a fraction of the people on them). With gorgeous hotels of all price points, and an inland region of temples and waterfalls, it’s fly-and-flop territory, with a side of cultural immersion and deep-sea diving.

Thanks to new direct flights from London to Phuket with Virgin Atlantic, which begin this weekend from £819 return, this type of trip is now much easier. Even better, making this sensible and simple choice will save you thousands.

On my latest trip to Thailand, I did exactly that. Prices for the JW Marriott Phuket were coming in at an eye-watering £1000 for two nights, but a search for the same dates at its northern counterpart, JW Marriott Khao Lak, was less than half the price. Travel at certain times of year, and you can nab yourself a room for £180 a night (with a brilliant breakfast and the same five-star trimmings).

Hannah Summers has stayed at more than 150 five-star hotels in Thailand

The JW Marriott Khao Lak is a much cheaper alternative to the Marriott Phuket – and just as luxurious

Turns out it’s one of my new favourite hotels in Thailand – and I have a lot to compare it to. Firstly – and perhaps most importantly – there’s a hugely affordable nanny service (a rarity in luxury hotels) that means you can have a few hours’ respite while the kids and grandkids potter around the kids club, with its huge soft play zone and interactive learning sections.

This freed up our time for the beach: here loungers lined the glorious golden sand, lapped by waves just big enough to be fun, with an all-important adult-only section at the far edge. Later, my kids adored watching my husband clamber in and out of the free kayaks, while my eldest attempted to bodyboard in the surf.

The sunsets here are sublime. Every evening we joined dozens of the hotel’s glam Scandi guests who congregated on the beach to watch the sky turn a dark shade of peach as the sun slipped beyond the horizon. Here the hotel lights a huge fire pit, with a team endlessly skewering giant marshmallows, which kids and adults gleefully roast on the flames.

But you need to save space for dinner – dining here is such a treat, particularly at Drift Beach Bar. Chef Eak is one of the most passionate individuals I’ve met, and he talked me through the hotel’s tasting menu, a series of dishes made entirely from repurposed food waste (egg shell pasta, anyone?).

Then at Olive, the Italian eatery, a seriously stylish and romantic spot, Italian chef Enzo comes out to tell you about his specials, and his special olive oil, shipped in from Italy and generously glugged on our starters (the restaurant is home to the largest olive oil collection in Asia). Much of the food is sourced from the hotel’s 27-acre garden, which is well worth a visit. My kids loved wandering around the vegetable patches and meeting the animals – feeding the goats and scrubbing a buffalo with a soapy sponge before hosing him down.

You get so much for your money here, and you could easily check into this hotel and never leave – with its cardio classes, spa and lakeside running track – but you’d miss out on the beauty of Khao Lak. We loved our time at the Bang Niang night market, sipping giant ice-cold Chang beers (£3 for a 660ml bottle) and buying souvenir vests, tie-dye jumpsuits and caps – and an extra suitcase for all our purchases.

Khao Lak beach comes alive during the evenings, with bursting sunsets and huge fire pits

Others take day trips to the Similan Islands for some of Thailand’s best diving, but it’s Richelieu Rock that lures most divers here – a vast underwater rock that’s one of the world’s top dive sites, with barracuda and whale shark encounters.

Most Khao Lak restaurants here are dotted along the highway, but don’t let that put you off. Once you’re on the beach, you wouldn’t know it’s there.

At an unnamed hole-in-the-wall we ordered platters of fresh noodles and sweet, milky Thai iced tea, the perfect thirst quencher. Later, I escaped the family for a bike ride to quiet temples and even quieter beaches. Other days were about simple, low-effort hikes, before arriving at Sai Rung, also known as Rainbow Waterfall, where I submerged myself in a cooling pool of water.

But it may be our time at aptly-named Memories Beach that I wistfully recount the most. You reach it via a bumpy, seemingly never-ending track, the sun filtering through the branches of the forest. Once there, it opens out to a vast stretch of sand, with fluoro-green sea beyond.

We pitched up beneath one of the rainbow-coloured parasols, ordered ice-cold beers from the bar and watched surfers – beginners in lessons and pros riding solo – take on the waves from morning till sunset. It’s one of several perfect beaches here – this one bustling and lively, others blissfully empty, where often the only footprints in the sand are yours. And you don’t need to pay a premium for having it all to yourself.

InsideAsia has an 11-night Highlights of Thailand trip which costs from £2,325pp which includes a five-night stay in Khao Lak as well as stays in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. The trip includes all accommodation, breakfast every day, some other meals, all transport across Thailand, some private guiding and a range of cultural experiences. For more information, visit tourismthailand.org.