Laguna Phuket

Laguna Phuket sits on Bang Tao Bay, on the west coast of the island, about twenty minutes from the airport. It began in the early 1990s as a place for resorts and has grown into a gated estate of roughly a thousand acres: lagoons joined by canals, tall trees along the roads, a golf course in the middle and three kilometres of beach on the western edge. Banyan Tree Phuket, the brand’s first hotel on the island, is still here, and the roads are quiet enough that the whole estate feels like one large garden.

Bang Tao is one of the long beaches on the island, about six kilometres of pale sand with casuarina trees along the back, and it faces straight out to sea, so the evenings are about the sunset. The stretch that belongs to Laguna has Rava Beach Club, with live music and a resident DJ. A little further along, Catch Beach Club is where a good part of Bang Tao ends up when the sun goes down. Layan and Nai Thon, to the north, are quieter, and Surin, to the south, is where the waves come in.

Eating out takes no planning. Canal Village, the estate’s own small village since 1994, has about fifty shops, cafés and restaurants. Boat Avenue, right by the main gate, is an open-air street of Thai kitchens, seafood places, a steakhouse by the lake and a craft-beer taproom, with a night market on Fridays. At Banyan Tree Phuket, Saffron serves contemporary Thai food and breakfast at The Watercourt comes with a view of the lagoon. A little way off, in the same district of Cherngtalay, PRU and Jampa are both MICHELIN Guide Green Star restaurants in 2026.

A lot of days never leave the gates. There is golf on the 18-hole championship course, the spas of Banyan Tree and Angsana, paths for a run or a ride, and a calendar that includes the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in November, the Laguna Marathon in June and a Christmas market in December. Canal Village has a BDMS clinic, and the master plan has a kindergarten school on the estate.

The rest of the island is easy from here. Phuket Old Town, with its painted shophouses and cafés, is about thirty minutes away; on Sunday evenings Thalang Road turns into a walking street, and in October the Vegetarian Festival fills the old shrines with processions. Patong, for nightlife, is half an hour or a little more by car. The Big Buddha, the white marble statue on Nakkerd Hill, is about an hour away, and the day boats to the limestone islands of Phang Nga Bay leave from Ao Po Pier, roughly an hour’s drive to the north-east.

The dry season runs from about November to April, with clear skies and calm water. From May to October the island is green, the rain comes in short heavy bursts, usually in the afternoon or evening, and the hills are at their deepest colour.

People live here in low-rise buildings by the lagoons, in pool villas and in townhouses a short walk from the sand. Our current selection belongs to the Banyan Group: Banyan Tree Beach Residences Aegir, Nammu and Sirena, Yara Residences at Banyan Tree Phuket and Angsana Oceanview Residences. Each is handled personally by your advisor, with private viewings by appointment.