Beach forests are important ecological zones in many coastal regions. Many are under increasing anthropogenic and natural stress. Beach forest changes and their causes were examined in three tsunami-impacted sites with different land-use/cover (LULC): Ban Nam Khem (BNK, ?shing village), Khao Lak (KL, tourist destination), and Thai Mueang (TM, part of a national park). Vegetation surveys, GIS, and interpretation of time series IKONOS and THEOS imagery using supervised classi?cation (ENVI 4.7) from 2003–2013 were performed. Six beach forest tree and shrubspecieswerefoundinBNKandKL,dominatedbyCasuarinaequisetifolia, while24tree/shrubspecies, dominated by Syzygium grande, were observed at TM. After the tsunami, beach forests were severely damaged in BNK (45%), KL (40%), and TM (23%). Recovery of beach forests in 8 years varied from BNK (58%), KL (39%) with low rates in KL and high rates in TM (62%). Substantial portions of the three sites were still characterized as beach forest in 2013, though the forests now included areas that had recovered from the tsunami damage and/or altered LULC (e.g., barren land to beach forests and vice versa). Anthropogenic factors represented 40% (BNK), 56% (KL), and 5% (TM) of the changeswithurbanizationbeingaleadingcauseintouristareas(KL;24%). Thestudyhighlightstheneedforimproved understanding of beach vegetation, tsunami impacts, and LULC to provide sustainable management of beach forests in Thailand in three sites with different anthropogenic characteristics.