From Phuket to the Golden Triangle, the best resorts in Thailand when luxury matters

Serene and secluded, Six Senses Yao Noi is a 45-minute speedboat ride from Phuket, and an arriving here makes you feel like you’re stepping into another world. Every one of the 50 private villas has its own pool and terrace with views across the jungle to the ocean — perfect for sunset cocktails. Like all Six Senses stays, this Thailand resort has an unwavering commitment to sustainability, with waste management and water conservation prioritised, as well as tangible support for the local community, including donations to schools and hospitals. The property has four restaurants and the option of in-room dining. The six-course Chef’s Table experience is unmissable.

Reasons to stay:

• The resort’s top villa The View, includes a private infinity pool, cinema and fitness centre
• An onsite farm allows guests to collect their own eggs
• Ko Yao Noi is one of the country’s more secluded and untouched islands

The resort that spawned an empire, Amanpuri — the first of the now-global Aman brand — can trace its roots back to the 1980s but it’s aged as beautifully as a graceful Thai temple. The greenery is part of the reason as a luscious décor element all on its own but it’s the 40 pitched-roof traditional pavilions — a unique look for upscale resorts of its time — that infuse the property with its serene character. To level up the luxury, 43 private villas are set away from the main hotel within the jungle, and each has its own private pool and a Thai chef available to prepare meals.

The resort’s spa sits inside what was once a working coconut farm, and consists of 12 individual treatment rooms — along with hot and cold plunge pools. There is also a choice of six restaurants that serve Thai and Western-style cuisine; but it’s the private dining experiences — a barbecue overlooking the Andaman Sea or dinner on a secluded island — that will make a stay here one for the grid.

Reasons to stay:

• The resort pool is one of the most picturesque and iconic in the world
• A favourite of international celebrities, privacy is paramount
• A dedicated wellness concierge can tailor your entire stay towards health and rejuvenation
• A menu of water activities allow you to access Thailand’s best dive sites, surf waves and sailing itineraries

The Anantara brand has many properties across Thailand but this family-friendly Thailand resort — a 30-minute boat ride from Phuket — may be its most spectacular. Designed with restrained, modern elegance, every suite has sea views (or direct pool access that’s perfect for families) while most of the spacious, hideaway villas have their own pool or private beach access. This is the place to stay if you like a bit of action with your luxury; the resort offers a range of activities from Thai cooking classes to yacht trips to beach yoga. And don’t worry if you’re kid-free, adults are still given plenty of room for quiet bliss.

Reasons to stay:

• A kid’s club and kid’s pool make it perfect for families
• Includes a luxe spa
• Multiple restaurants featuring Thai, western and Japanese flavours
• Hydro pool and spa

It’s almost impossible to escape nature on any one of the Thai islands, as it takes such an outsized role in the reason anyone travels to this lushly jungled country. But to get as close as possible without pitching a swag on the beach or getting underwater, these luxury tented properties in Phuket are your best bet. Opening in late 2024, each of the 20-plus canvas tent accommodations sit steps from the ocean on Bangtao Beach, making them the ultimate toes-in-the-sand escape. They may look rustic but every mod con box has been ticked: they each have air conditioning so you can tame the surrounding air environment and each as its own private butler service.

Reasons to stay:

• Tents equipped with king size beds, luxury linens and soft décor
• Five restaurants give you the option of beachside bar snacks through to grand Wagyu fine dining
• Island-hopping excursions can be booked with Andaman Cruises

Best Krabi resort

On a bed of limestone bedrock in the Andaman Sea, 54 suites and villas claim Ritz Carlton’s most lavish “reserve” title, which is pinned to only the brand’s most exceptional estates. Opened in 2009, Phulay Bay is the original “reserve” property and it still sets the benchmark. Royal treatment is de rigueur here, starting with the staff that line up to mark your arrival, though to the aromatic chilled towels dispatched poolside and Thai silk robes in the room. The beds also exceed expectations, customised for the resort from two plush, king-sized mattresses.

Reasons to stay:

• Cocktails crafted from ingredients from the resort’s own garden and served to you poolside
• 24-hour butler serve and chauffeured golf carts at your service
• Spa and 24-hour fitness centre

Blessing or curse, The White Lotus effect is about to take hold in the Gulf of Siam. After the Emmy-winning HBO Max sensation, bucket lists everywhere were redrafted when season one (filmed at Four Seasons Maui at Wailea) and season two (San Domenico Place, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel) were watched across the globe. With season three shooting at the Four Seasons outpost on Thailand’s second largest island, consider this your heads up to book now before the frenzy peaks. Accommodation goes from luxurious (100 plus-square pool villas) to the epic (five-bedroom residence with pool). Each is dressed in its chicest Thai handicrafts with water views to match. Stay for the beaches, the villas and polished hospitality but mostly for a holiday experience that will be immortalised on screen.

Reasons to stay:

• Koh Samui is well located for island hopping, which the resort can arrange
• The Secret Garden Spa takes the art of the Thai massage up a notch
• Two restaurants, three bars and in-villa dining that includes barbecues by a private chef

A wellness retreat that doesn’t feel like a wellness retreat, Kamalaya has a way of making health optimisation feel like a luxury rather than a chore. The 76 rooms and villas are scattered along a granite hillside, overflowing with palms and orchids and interspersed with streams, pools and even an ancient monk’s cave. The cuisine here may be health-focused but you’d barely know it; the Thai-style vegetarian curries and stir-fries are packed with flavour — as are the breakfast juices and wellness tonics. A gentle lymphatic drainage treatment in one of the open-sided wellness pavilions — while the birds chatter in the coconut palms outside — is a time of pure bliss.

Reasons to stay:

• Packages designed to address your specific wellness needs
• Partners and other companions will also enjoy the experience even if they are less wellness-focused
• Regular visiting practitioners offer unique perspectives

The first thing to love about Hua Hin is location. It’s just a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), with no flight schedule or tides to contend with; just an airconditioned transfer and you are at the beach under a striped umbrella and sipping a pink Margarita. The Standard super fans won’t be surprised to hear the vibe here is more about buzz than quietude. Palm Springs mid-century cool permeates the 196 rooms, suites and villas. and the five eating and drinking venues. Beware: the influences love this place, but how can you not take a photo.

Reasons to stay:

• Hip American and Thai bites and a juice café to start the morning off right
• Happy hour hangouts and regular beach parties
• Connecting rooms and multi room villas available

Thailand’s hilly northernmost province of Chiang Rai is the wildly beautiful region where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar converge at the confluence
of the rivers Ruak and Mekong. The area is home to Four Seasons Tented Camp and its herd of elephants — rescued from city streets and tourist traps in partnership with The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation which ensures the welfare of the elephants, their mahouts (elephant minders) and the mahouts’ families. Designed by star-chitect Bill Bensley, the tented camp itself forgoes the flashier Four Seasons city hotel style for an intimate cluster of storybook dwellings and thoughtful details. Think pretty lanterns handmade for festivals like Loy Krathong; the candleholders lighting your way home after dinner, hand-carved from the surrounding bamboo; the beautiful crossbody bags in the tents, woven by nearby hill villagers. 

Reasons to stay:

• Fine dining is infused with Thai, Burmese and Laotina influences and medicinal ingredients grown on site
• Curated tours, trails and workshops
• Arrive in style on a traditional long-tail boat along the Mekong and Ruak Rivers