Mai Khao (หาดไม้ขาว Hat Mai Khao) is a beach on the northwestern side of Phuket.
It’s also known as Airport Beach or Sanambin Beach (the Thai word for “airport”), as it’s very close to the airport.
This is the beach famous with tourists for plane spotting. Standing on the beach while the commercial aircraft fly over very low on approach to the airport.
The best time to see planes landing over the ocean is December to June. Then low season arrives, and the wind suddenly decides to blow the other way around! So aircraft will approach from the roadside and take off over the beach. It’s a lot less impressive.
A problem of standing in the plane’s path comes from the fact that recently the runway was extended and is now closer to the fence that separates the airport from the beach.
As a result, planes waiting to take off come very close to people taking photos.
The jet blast from a 747 or 767 is more powerful than you may think, and it will blow sand at you with incredible force. It feels like sandpaper, and all your belongings will fly in the direction of the sea!
So theoretically, while it might be ok to watch from the side. It is not allowed to stand in the direct path of the plane, but obviously, no one seems to care.
