Mai Khao Beach

This guide to Mai Khao Beach in Phuket opens on a ranger walking the dark waterline in early 2020, as the pandemic emptied the hotels along the island's longest stretch of sand. You'll hear what came ashore on the night of February 9th of that year, after five years without a single visit from the world's largest sea turtle, and how officials fenced the site and posted guards once they realized what had happened. The guide also follows the beach's odd double life, wedged between an airport a kilometre south and resort hotels to the north.