But they are not doing it for fun – after all, not many people would choose to stay buried under hot sand for several hours in Phuket’s warm weather.
Many people travel from around Phuket, as well as provinces such as Nakorn Sri Thammarat, Trang and Krabi, for the sand treatment, which is believed to cure muscle and joint pain because of the healing properties in the minerals.
There are certain cases where even those who are paralysed or cannot walk have been cured by the sand, people say.
One local resident, 72-year-old Jamroen Kaewsarn, originally from Krabi, spends every afternoon buried under the sand at Mai Khao beach.
Suffering from back and leg pain because of his age, he said the sand at Mai Khao has helped relieve his ailments.
“I have visited many doctors and got a lot of medicine to treat the pain, but it was not working. My son-in-law told me to try treating the pain by burying myself under the sand at Mai Khao beach. Since June 4, I have done it every day, for one or two hours. I can really feel the difference – my health has improved a lot,” he said.
“It’s like you are getting massaged. I can feel the weight of the sand pressing on my body. Afterward I feel relaxed,” Mr Jamroen said.
Baan Mai Khao, or ‘white wood village’, is located at the north end of Phuket, past the airport. The name comes from a big white tree that grew in the area about 1000 years ago, but is no longer there.
Baan Mai Khao is home to about 900 families, and has about 2,000 local residents. Villagers here are still making their living as rubber plantation or vegetable farmers, and some work at hotels.
Manote Saithong, the village leader, told The Phuket News many conservation projects, such as rice fields, environmental, and marine, were happening in the area.
“Now our village is known as a model village for health promotion and we have people from the Public Health Office here training people to prevent health problems like diabetes,” he said.
“People know Mai Khao Beach as a place where leatherback turtles come to lay their eggs, and people here are very concerned about beach conservation.
“In the last two or three years, we haven’t seen many turtles coming, and instead our beach is becoming known for the healing properties of the sand,” he said.
How to get there: Drive along Thepkrasattri Road towards the Phuket International Airport. Head further north past the airport intersection. Turn left after about two kilometres (there is a sign saying Maihkao Temple in Thai, as well as English signs advertising Splash Jungle Water Park and West Sand). The village is about three kilometres down this road.