Villas & homes for rent in Rawai

Rawai sits at the southern tip of Phuket, below Chalong and about two kilometres from Nai Harn beach. It is a working seafront village rather than a resort strip: a fishing pier, a Chao Ley sea gypsy village, longtail boats pulled up on the sand, and seafood restaurants along the front. Promthep Cape and its sunset viewpoint are a short drive south. The area draws long-stay residents more than holidaymakers.

The beach here is not for swimming. Rawai's front is a working mooring, with longtail boats and speedboats on the water all day and rock and mudflat at low tide. Swimming happens at Nai Harn, two kilometres away. Ya Nui and Ao Sane, a little further round, are small and rocky, better for snorkelling than for a long swim. The waterfront is where people eat: pick a fish at the seafood market and have it cooked at the restaurants across the road. Inland, daily life runs along Sai Yuan Road and the lanes off it, with gyms, coffee shops and Thai and international kitchens. Chalong is ten to fifteen minutes north, Phuket Town about thirty, Patong twenty kilometres on and thirty to forty minutes in traffic. The airport is forty-five minutes to an hour, the real cost of sitting this far south, and the international schools are north of here too, so the school run is a daily drive. Rawai suits residents who want a settled neighbourhood. It suits anyone hoping to walk to a swimming beach far less.