The Sarasin Shift: Luxury Hotel Investment Moves North Into Phang Nga

Land, not appetite, is now the constraint on luxury hotel growth in Phuket. C9 Hotelworks’ newly released Khao Lak and Phang Nga Hotel and Tourism Market 2026 report tracks the result: an active development pipeline of 315 keys pushing north across the Sarasin Bridge, into Phang Nga Bay and the coastline stretching from Natai to Thai Muang.

The pipeline is led by two projects. The InterContinental Phang-Nga Bay Resort, 150 keys, is scheduled for 2028. The Kimpton Natai, also 150 keys, is due in 2027. A 15-key expansion of Khaolak Paradise Resort follows in 2026. Together they mark a structural change: high barriers to entry and a shortage of iconic beachfront sites in Phuket are pushing luxury developers elsewhere, and Phang Nga’s oceanfront land, sized for full-service resorts rather than commoditized, box-type product, is absorbing the demand.

Khao Lak is the market maturing fastest within this shift. Four-lane road access from Phuket International Airport has cut a longstanding friction point, and the 170-hectare Matalay integrated resort community, featuring five international-standard resort sites, is the clearest signal of scale entering the market. The oceanfront land supporting these projects is also drawing all-inclusive operators, broadening the investor base beyond the luxury segment alone.

The report situates this pipeline against a Phang Nga tourism economy already outperforming regional peers. Tourism revenue reached THB56.6 billion (USD1.7 billion) in 2025, up 2% year-on-year, on 4.3 million visitor arrivals. As of May 2026, Phang Nga ranked fourth of 14 Southern provinces by tourism revenue but sixth by visitor volume, evidence of higher spending per visitor. International arrivals made up 61% of visitors but 76% of revenue, spending more than double per head (THB16,543, USD497) compared with domestic visitors (THB7,926, USD238).

Rate, not occupancy, is currently driving Khao Lak’s hotel performance. Average daily rate rose 26.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, extending gains of 18.2% to 46.4% across every month of 2025. Occupancy turned negative in March 2026, down 10.7%, as the Middle East conflict and higher airfares softened international demand, though the incoming luxury and upper-upscale pipeline points to continued rate growth.

The full report, Khao Lak and Phang Nga Hotel and Tourism Market 2026, is available for download on the C9 Hotelworks website at the following link CLICK