Natai Garden Retreat

Comfortable budget accommodation near Natai Beach, Phang Nga

Blog

Best Coffee Shops in Khok Kloi

Food and beverages

Khok Kloi has some excellent coffee shops. Any listing of the best coffee shops in Khok Kloi is, of course, going to be subjective, but here are our personal favourites:

1. SUKr Coffee

Interior of SUKr Coffee - Best Coffee Shops in Khok Kloi

We used to rate Asterisk Espresso as the best coffee shop in Khok Kloi but since SUKr opened its new café in late 2025 (it used to be only a takeaway coffee place) we now rate that as our favourite because their coffee is as good as Asterisk, their prices are lower, and they have a range of light meals available. The new café is not as architecturally appealing as Asterisk, but it’s fully airconditioned with comfortable seating. SUKr has three coffee bean blends available. and a wide range of lattes, teas, matchas and mochas in addition to regular coffees.

2006 prices update: Espresso 50, Americano 50-80 (depending on blend), Flat White 60, Cappuccino 70, Latte 60, Iced Latte 60, Iced Caramel Latte 80.

To get to SUKr from Natai Garden Retreat turn left at the end of our private road and follow the Ban Don – Ban Natai road around to Natai Village. Turn right when you reach the T-junction in the centre of the village and then follow that road around to the small bridge over the river just after the mosque and Lantala Residence. Go over that bridge and when you reach the crossroad on the Khok Kloi Junction – Natai Pier road, go straight across and head parallel to the beach until the road bends around to the left. Turn right onto the empty four-lane highway at that bend (watch out for motorbikes cutting the corner on that bend) and then turn left at the end of that 1km-long highway. That will take you down to the traffic lights on the main Phuket – Khok Kloi road (you will see Fashi restaurant on your right and the new BYD showroom under construction on your left). Turn right at the lights (but watch for drivers from the right jumping the red light) and then you will see SUKr a couple of hundred metres on your right as you head towards Phuket. It’s right opposite the main gate of Kajonkiet Khokkloy School. There’s a U-turn slot there where you can cross to the right hand side of the road.

2. Asterisk Espresso

Best Coffee Shops in Khok Kloi, Phang Nga, Thailand - Asterisk Espresso

Many will still rate Asterisk as the best coffee shop in Khok Kloi because it has four coffee bean blends to choose from and an appealing Japanese-style interior in a wooden building that is surrounded by calming stands of green and black bamboo. The flavour and balance of their coffee blends are as good as any in town and we buy our fresh coffee beans there if ever we run out of our supply of freshly roasted beans from 23 Roasters in Krabi. However, they don’t make their flat whites at the right temperature (so you’ll need to ask for “extra hot” if you are drinking flat whites). They also have a small selection of cakes, pastries and sometimes sandwiches.

2006 prices update: Espresso 80, Americano 80, Flat White 80, Cappuccino 80, Latte 80, Iced 90, extra shot +30, soy, almond or oat milk +20.

To get to Asterisk, follow the same directions as to SUKr, but keep going after you pass SUKr on the right. When you reach the big three-way junction just after the bus station (on the left) where the highway goes left to Krabi and right to Phuket, turn left and head towards Krabi. You will see Asterisk on your left about a kilometre along on your left. When you leave Asterisk, the quickest way back to Khok Kloi is to take the first road on the left after Asterisk, and that will bring you back to the traffic lights by Fashi.

3. Zigma Espresso

Whilst Zigma is a little smaller than Asterisk, it serves good coffee with three selections of beans on offer (but they do not sell whole beans) at similar prices in a sleek and modern airconditioned coffee shop. They don’t have flat whites on the menu, but their hot latte is close to a flat white (albeit a little larger). However, like Asterisk, they don’t serve it at a high enough temperature, so you’ll need to ask for it “extra hot”. Zigma often has a small selection of cakes too. Prices are around the same as Asterisk.

To get to Zigma, turn right at the end of our private road and follow the Ban Don – Ban Natai road along through Don Village keeping the temple on your right. When you reach the main highway, turn left and then do a U-turn about 100 metres up the highway so that you are heading back towards Khok Kloi town. You will see Zigma a couple of hundred metres on your left just after the Thailand Postal Service sorting office.

4. Ruen Mai Kaen (aka the Bakery Coffee Shop)

An old-style family-run Thai coffee shop/bakery that serves good coffee with the company of a friendly cat. Although it looks like a traditional Thai coffee shop, it has a commercial espresso machine and serves coffee on a par with Zigma (but only one selection of beans). It’s not air-conditioned but the high wooden ceilings keep it cool. There is a good selection of fresh bakery items. Prices are around the same as SUKr Coffee.

To get to the Bakery Coffee Shop on a bicycle or motorbike, follow the same directions as to Zigma, but when you reach the highway, instead of turning left, dismount and turn right, pushing your bike on the side of the road. The coffee shop is the second building from the end of the road. If driving a car, you will need to turn right at the temple instead (Wat Don) and follow the road down past the hospital to the 7-Eleven on the main highway, then turn left there and come back up the highway in the direction of Khao Lak until you see the coffee shop just before archway at the end of the Ban Don – Ban Natai road (you will see Zigma on your right when you are getting close).

Is Natai Beach Safe for Swimming?

Activities

All of the beaches along Thailand’s Andaman Coast, including Natai Beach, are generally safe for swimming in the dry season between December and April. Between May and October, they are not safe for swimming because of strong rip currents.

November is a shoulder month and swimming conditions in this month tend to vary from year to year. If the sea is calm, then it should be safe for swimming, but if there are still strong waves it’s better to leave swimming until the end of the month.

Even if you are visiting Natai Beach in the dry season, you should not swim if you see red flags outside the resorts along the beach. The rip currents can appear at any time of the year along the Andaman Coast, but fortunately they are not common during the dry season. If you are at North Natai Beach away from any resorts, and you see no people swimming in the ocean, then be wary of entering the sea unless the ocean is calm.

Tropical sandy beach with green pandanus bushes and red flag
A red flag on the beach means it’s not safe for swimming

If you are not a strong swimmer and the sea is not completely calm, then it would be wise to swim near Natai Pier in the middle of Natai Beach. There are always locals fishing from the pier, so there would likely be someone around to raise an alarm if you were to get caught in an unexpected rip current.

What about sharks and crocodiles?

There are sharks and crocodiles in the Andaman Sea but they are rarely seen along the coast between Phuket and Khao Lak. There have been no reported shark attacks at Natai Beach and no reported crocodile sightings. If any crocodiles are around, they would likely be hiding in the creeks behind the beach rather than on the open sandy beach fronts.

What about other marine creatures?

Jellyfish are common in the rainy season – another reason why it is not recommended to swim at that time of the year. Very occasionally jellyfish may be sighted along the Andaman Coast in the dry season, but usually those are the non-venomous type. Most dry season jellyfish sightings in recent years have been on Phuket’s western beaches, and not at Natai Beach.

Circoloco Thailand Dates for 2026

Events

There are two days a year when Natai Beach loses its status as a quiet retreat from Phuket. And those are the nights that Circoloco Thailand comes to the Baba Beach Club at Natai Beach. Here are the Circoloco Thailand dates for 2026:

Saturday 10th January 3pm to 3am (Sunday morning)

Saturday 17th January 3pm to 3am (Sunday morning)

Circoloco is a well-known Ibiza party brand for techno dance music and thousands of people from around the world descend on Natai Beach for this event each year.

The dates are usually on the second and third weekends of January and the exact Circoloco Thailand dates are usually confirmed by October of the preceding year.

Images courtesy Baba Beach Club

Here at Natai Garden Retreat we usually know when the Circoloco Thailand dates have been announced because there is a flood of booking requests for our rooms for those dates. If you haven’t booked by December, it’s unlikely that you will find any accommodation within walking distance of the Baba Beach Club.

Of course, if the Baba Beach Club is within your budget, that’s definitely the best place to stay because you will be right in the middle of the action. So by all means check them first because you never know when they might have cancellations.

Other 5-star hotels within walking distance are the Aleenta and Santhiya. If you’ve left you bookings late, then the next best options are the 4-star hotels on North Natai Beach which are the Natai Beach Resort, Le Coral Beach Resort and the Hotspring Beach Resort. But they are not within a comfortable walking distance (5-8 kilometres from the Baba Beach Club) so you’d need to arrange some sort of transport with your hotel.

If all those places are booked out, then check out hotel booking sites and Airbnb for the smaller 2- to 3-star hotels and homestays in and around Khok Kloi. There are many but all are usually booked out by the time the Cocoloco weekends come around.

Images courtesy Baba Beach Club

Those that can’t get accommodation bookings locally usually end up staying in Phuket. Mai Khao Beach has a lot of upmarket accommodation and is only 15 minutes’ drive away whilst Nai Yang Beach near the airport (30 mins away) has a lot of budget accommodation. In both cases you would need to arrange a car or van with a driver to bring you to Natai Beach and pick you up when you want to go back.

Whilst there will be dozens of taxis waiting around to take attendees back to Phuket, it’s safer to have something pre-arranged at an agreed price because the demand for taxis on the Cocoloco weekends far outstrips availability. In previous years many who didn’t pre-arrange their return travel have ended up having to sleep on the beach.

If you are staying at Natai Garden Retreat those weekends and not attending Cocoloco, then don’t be concerned about the noise. The speakers at the event are facing away from Natai Village and we do not hear the event at all, despite being only five kilometres away. You can be assured that you will still enjoy peace and quiet at the Natai Garden Retreat on those nights.

The Best Beaches Between Phuket and Khao Lak

Activities

Most visitors to the Andaman Coast are familiar with the beaches on the western coast of Phuket island and further north on the mainland around Khao Lak. All of Phuket’s beaches can get busy in the high season whilst Khao Lak’s beaches are less busy. But did you know that there are some great beaches between Phuket and Khao Lak that many people don’t know about?

These lesser-known beaches are suitable for swimming in the dry season but are not safe for swimming in the rainy season because this part of the coast has strong rips during the southwestern monsoon. That’s the reason they haven’t been developed much compared to Phuket and Khao Lak.

That’s not to say Phuket and Khao Lak don’t experience the same rips in the rainy season. They do. But most of their beaches are patrolled and red flags erected on the beach when it is not safe for swimming. The beaches between Phuket and Khao Lak are not patrolled at any time of the year.

Natai Beach looking south from the pier.

Natai Beach is the best known of the beaches between Phuket and Khao Lak because it is home to three 5-star resorts, the annual Circoloco dance party at the Baba Beach Club, and a dozen or so upmarket villa complexes as well as some private beachfront residences.

Although the beach is not patrolled, it’s safe for swimming in the dry season because there is a pier on which many local people use for fishing or just hanging out during the day, so there’s usually always people around watching you even if you might be the only ones in the water.

Natai Garden Retreat is just five minutes from the pier if you are driving a car or motorbike, or about 12 minutes if you are on a pushbike.

Natai Beach looking north from the pier.

Further up the coast from the pier, North Natai Beach is much quieter, and is a good option if you swim near one of the two 4-star resorts along that part of Natai Beach.

About 10 minutes’ drive further north is Bor Dan Beach, which many consider to be one of the best beaches on the Andaman Coast. It’s a beautiful beach but the gradient of the sand into the water is steeper than Natai Beach (which is quite gentle) and it’s only safe for swimming when the sea is very calm.

That’s probably the reason why it hasn’t been developed for tourism yet. In fact there are no buildings there at all, except a few wooden food shacks. It’s a popular spot with locals who come for sunset picnics, but in the morning it’s not unusual to find you have the whole beach to yourselves.

The beautiful and often deserted Bor Dan Beach.

There is lots of shade at the top of the beach, so if you prefer to just sit under a tree and read a book whilst listening to the waves breaking on a sand, Bor Dan Beach is perfect.

Another 10 minutes further north is Tha Sai Beach. It’s a similar beach to Bor Dan but there is a small temple and monastery there, so you can only swim on the beach north of the Sea Light Café and Restaurant which is the only other building there. It’s a peaceful beach and the wooden temple is worth a look.

15 minutes further on, after passing through the small town of Thai Mueang, is Thai Mueang Beach which is nearly 20km long and extends right up into the Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Mueang National Park. The entrance to the national park is about halfway along the beach road but you don’t need to go right into the national park to enjoy Thai Mueang Beach. It’s second only to Bor Dan Beach.

A beautiful sunset from Tha Sai Beach.

If you do want to go right into the national park (there is a display of old tin dredging equipment there) where there are even fewer people, your entry ticket will also enable you to visit the nearby Ton Prai and Lampi waterfalls on the same day for no extra charge.

At the far northern end of Thai Mueang Beach is Khao Na Yak, one of the most secluded beaches between Phuket and Khao Lak, but that’s only accessible by 4WD through the national park in the dry season or by boat from the village of Ban Tha Din Daeng during the rainy season.

Whichever ever beach you choose to visit along this part of the coast, you’ll find them an enormous contrast to the beaches of Phuket and Khao Lak which are always busy with tourists. Here in southern Phang Nga province, you’ll feel more like Robinson Crusoe than just another tourist.

What is the Best Month to Visit Phang Nga?

Travel Tips

Most people will say that the best month to visit Phang Nga is January, as it’s warm and mostly dry throughout the month. Maximum temperatures will be around 30 degrees C with overnight minimums about 23-24. It’s the coolest month of the year in Thailand. Most beaches will be open and safe for swimming and there will still be some water in the waterfalls (at least until the middle of the month).

However, January is the height of the tourist season, so there will be lots of people wherever you go (although far less crowded than nearby Phuket).

February is a good option too because it is as dry as January, but temperatures will start rising towards the end of the month.

March and April are the hottest months with temperatures rising to around 34 degrees C and overnight minimums about 26-27. Historical records show that rainfall in March and April should be higher than January and February, but in recent times there have several years where there has been almost no rainfall in March and April, so these two months can be somewhat unpredictable (perhaps because of climate change).

If you don’t like the heat, then March and April are not the best months for you.

May sees the start of the southwest monsoon and it can be very wet for a couple of weeks (but cooler than March/April). From this point on (through to the end of the rainy season) the Andaman coast beaches are not safe for swimming because of strong rips.

The rain then eases off a little through June, July and August and for many people this is a pleasant time of the year as temperatures drop by a couple of degrees due to the predominantly cloudy skies. They are great months for enjoying Phang Nga’s many waterfalls. Rainfall is intermittent and is mainly afternoon or overnight thunderstorms interspersed with sunny periods.

If you like the ‘green season’ and don’t need to be here during the high season, then many will say that June is the best month to visit Phang Nga in the rainy season because June has fewer big storms and longer sunny periods.

September and October are the wettest months and there may be limitations on visiting Phang Nga’s many nature attractions because of minor flooding (Phang Nga generally does not experience the major flooding that occurs in Phuket and many other regions of the country). These are the only two months when you might experience 2-3 days of non-stop rain.

November sees the rain starting to ease off about halfway through the month as the northeast monsoon brings cooler air down from the Asian sub-continent, and December is a transition month into the dry season which is usually well under way by Christmas.

The northeast monsoon is not as strong as the southwest monsoon, and it is the east coast of Thailand that experiences most of the rain from the northeast monsoon. By the time it reaches the Andaman coast there is less moisture to produce rainfall over Phang Nga.

Given that some people like it hot, some like it dry, and some like the rain, it could be said that there is no one best month to visit Phang Nga – it depends on your personal wants and needs.

Beware the Thailand Digital Arrival Card Scam

Travel Tips

Since earlier this year, the Thai government has required visitors to complete a digital arrival card (TDAC) within three days prior to arrival. This is nothing to do with the e-visa or visa on arrival – it’s simply a replacement of the paper arrival card that was used in the years before the Covid pandemic.

There are quite a few Asian countries that now require their arrival cards to be completed online prior to arrival and there is no fee involved in completing a digital arrival card because they are not e-visas or electronic travel authorisations (ETAs). The Thai government website for applying for the TDAC is https://tdac.immigration.go.th/arrival-card/#/home

However, many first-time travellers to Thailand are falling victim to scam websites that charge for a fee (usually around US$50-70) for processing the TDAC – a problem that has been experienced in other countries that have digital arrival cards. This is because when visitors search for the TDAC website using the Google search engine, the scam sites are listed as sponsored search results above the official government website.

Why does Google do this? Well, there is nothing illegal about setting up a website and offering to do something for a fee even though you can do it for free through the official site, so Google doesn’t regard them as scam sites (we do, because these people are taking advantage of people’s lack of knowledge about the TDAC – they are not being honest) and of course Google makes money from the sponsored ads.

And if we were to challenge Google on the merits of placing their sponsored sites above the government site, we are sure their response would be either (a) if people scroll further down the search results they will be able to see they can do it for free, or (b) some people may prefer to have an agency arrange their TDAC if they are computer illiterate or want assistance in filling in the online form.

Okay, maybe for the second category we are being a little unkind in calling them a scam site – but we will stick with that description at least until we see one that says upfront that you can do this for free through the government site or through their website for a fee if you require assistance. The closest we have seen any site do that is some very small print on the bottom of one of the webpages saying they are not affiliated with the Thai government.

We do acknowledge that the sites listed by Google as sponsored results do actually provide a valid PDF acknowledgment with QR code which will be accepted at Immigration. But how is the average person able to differentiate between these sites and the true scam sites what will take your money and not deliver a valid TDAC. These come and go and are often accessed through links from social media platforms like Facebook and look like the other ‘pay-for-assistance’ sites that Google promotes.

The real scam sites

These sites are set up not to deliver a TDAC, but to harvest your credit or debit card information. How they work is they take you through the same application process as the Google sponsored sites, but after you’ve entered your card details you will get an ‘error message’ stating that the transaction couldn’t be processed and “please try another card”.

If you have not realised by this point that you are on a scam site and are foolish enough to enter the details of another card, you will continue to get the same ‘error message’. Meantime the card or cards for which you have entered your details are well and truly compromised and may already be being used by the scammers.

They act fast because they know as soon as you realise you’ve been scammed, you will no doubt be contacting your bank to have the cards blocked.

These sites harvesting bank card details may not appear in Google search results very often because once people realise they are scam sites, they get reported and taken down. But getting through to a real person on Google or Facebook to report a scam link can take many days. And as soon as one scam site gets taken down, the scammers launch another site under a different name to continue the scam.

So, play it safe and use only the Thai government’s official website to apply for your digital arrival card.

And don’t worry if you are travelling and can’t get through to the official site. You can still do the TDAC on arrival at kiosks before you go through Immigration. However, there are often queues at those, so that will lengthen the amount of time you spend going through Immigration.