Hat Khanom-Mu KoThale Tai National Park

Hat Khanom-Mu Ko Thale Tai National Park runs along the coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Khanom and Sichon districts and across the strait into Surat Thani’s Don Sak and Koh Samui side. It’s still a “preparatory” park — not yet fully gazetted — which is why there’s no entrance fee or checkpoint: the beaches and viewpoints inside its boundary are free to visit. The park office sits on Highway 4232, the Sichon-Khanom coastal road, in Khanom district.

Hat Khanom itself, at the southern end of the park, is the practical base — the stretch of beach with most of the district’s hotels and restaurants, running on from Hat Kho Khao further south. North of it, Ao Thong Yi offers calmer, shallower water than the open coast, with coral reefs at its southern edge that draw a reasonable amount of fish for anyone snorkelling off the shore. Further round, Khao Phlai Dam has its own beach and a wildlife development station at the foot of the hill.

Insider Tip: The two most distinctive sights in the park — Khao Hin Phap Pha’s stacked rock formations and Ko Nui’s tidal freshwater pond — are both boat-access only. Rent a motorboat from the Ao Tet wooden bridge rather than trying to reach them by road; there isn’t one.

Khao Hin Phap Pha is the more visually striking of the two: layered limestone slabs rising out of the water off Ao Tet, looking distinctly like stacked flatbread from some angles, topped with scrub forest. Ko Nui is smaller and stranger — a freshwater pond in the middle of tidal flats that only appears when the sea recedes, tied to a local legend about the monk Luang Pu Thuat stepping there and leaving fresh water behind. There’s a small shrine to him on the island that local boat operators will usually stop at.

Watch out: This coastline is also one of the better spots in Thailand to see Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, which turn pink as adults — but sightings depend on the day and the tide, and no operator can guarantee them. Treat any boat trip billed as a “pink dolphin tour” as a chance, not a certainty.

For the beach and hotel side of the area, see Ao Khanom or the Khanom destination guide.