Planning a quick weekend escape from Singapore? For majority of you the itinerary usually leads towards familiar destinations like relaxing on Desaru Coast, hoping on a ferry to Batam, and hunting down authentic street food in Phuket’s Old Town. But there are plenty of unique Asian destinations beyond this waiting to be explored by you. And one such attraction, hiding on the coast of the Andaman Sea in Thailand, is a place where you can stand just 15 metres below the massive underbelly of airplanes. Really, you can literally feel a deep physical vibration of the planes in your chest as they roar above you on this stunning beach. And for locals, this thrilling activity of plane spotting is an everyday reality at Mai Khao Beach which borders Phuket International Airport. Here’s what to expect at this photogenic plane beach.
Why is this plane spotting beach a bucket list?
While most travellers visit Phuket for the beach clubs and luxurious resorts, Mai Khao Beach offers a unique stretch of sand that sits directly in the flight path of Phuket International Airport’s runway. This means incoming jets are forced to drop to a low altitude as they cross the sand to touch down at the airport. In fact, it’s one of the very few places on Earth where you can stand directly under airplanes as they glide into the sunset.
It’s estimated that visitors stand just 15 metres below the mega jets as they plunge overhead onto the tarmac. To put that into perspective, 15 metres is a little shorter than a standard bowling lane or the length of a single MRT train cabin. Meanwhile, 15 metres is a distance you can walk in less than 10 seconds—so imagine a gigantic jet engine screaming past you in the time it takes to walk from your front door to your kitchen.
The result is a surreal experience where holidaymakers and aviation geeks alike gather to capture the ultimate Instagram shot as hundreds of tons of metal glide just metres above the shoreline. In between photo ops, people relax on the beach, while taking in the beautiful view until another plane begins its descend over the sea minutes later.
However, pulling off the perfect Instagram picture requires a bit of strategic planning. The golden rule of Mai Khao Beach is that planes always land and take off into the wind. To get those iconic, low-hanging landing shots, you ideally need to visit during Phuket’s high season between December and April—because the easterly winds force planes to approach from over the ocean. So this is when you’ll snap the most impressive pictures like mine below on my sunset trip to this beach in February.
How to get there
Phuket’s Mai Khao Beach is just a quick one hour and 45 minutes flight from Changi Airport. Although getting to the exact spotting area on the beach is an adventure in itself. Most visitors start at Soi Mai Khao 6 and choose to either walk for 15 minutes or hop on a local scooter for 20 THB to reach the beach entrance in under five minutes.
Remember there are strict rules about staying out of the fenced restricted zones. Meanwhile, it is advised not to use flash photography and definitely no drones. Be sure to bring a blanket to perch yourself on the sand as you wait for every airplane roar.
