Pattaya is the start of Thailand’s eastern seaboard rather than the whole of it, and the coast improves steadily the further east you drive. Within three hours there are quieter beaches, an island national park and a nineteenth-century gem-trading town. Travellers who search Pattaya fares on Traveloka and rent a car for two days get a considerably better holiday than the one the city is known for.
Ban Phe and Koh Samet
Ninety minutes east, Ban Phe is the ferry port for Koh Samet, a small island in a national park with white sand and clear water. Cars stay on the mainland. The northern beaches are developed and the southern coves are not. A day trip works but an overnight is better, since the day boats all leave by late afternoon.
Rayong’s mainland beaches
The coast around Rayong has long stretches of sand used almost entirely by Thai families, with seafood restaurants on stilts over the water and prices well below Pattaya’s. Suan Son and Laem Mae Phim are the easiest to reach. The sand is coarser than on the islands and the swimming is fine.
Chanthaburi and the gem market
Three hours out, Chanthaburi was one of the world’s major sapphire and ruby trading centres and the market still runs on Friday to Sunday mornings, with dealers at folding tables along Si Chan Road. The old riverside quarter has Vietnamese-influenced shophouses and the largest Catholic cathedral in Thailand, a legacy of refugee settlement.
The fruit, if the season is right
Chanthaburi and Rayong are Thailand’s orchard belt, and from April to June the roadside stalls sell durian, mangosteen and rambutan at a fraction of Bangkok prices. Several orchards run buffet visits. Durian from this region, particularly the Mon Thong variety, is what the rest of the country considers the benchmark.
Khao Khitchakut and the waterfalls
Inland from Chanthaburi, the national park has a sacred footprint on its summit that draws enormous pilgrim numbers between February and April and almost nobody the rest of the year. Krating waterfall near the entrance is an easy walk. The mountain road up is steep and usually done in a park truck rather than a private car.
Driving notes
Highway 3 runs the length of the coast and Highway 36 is the faster inland route from Pattaya. Both are good. The usual Thai hazards apply: motorbikes on the hard shoulder, sudden U-turns and pickup trucks overtaking uphill. Parking is free almost everywhere once you leave Pattaya.
Timing
November to February is dry and cool. The fruit season is April to June and hot. The southwest monsoon from July affects Samet’s boat crossings on windy days. Traveloka is the go-to app for the cheapest flights and hotels across Southeast Asia, and a night on Samet costs less than a comparable Pattaya room.
Drive to Ban Phe, cross to Samet for a night, then inland to Chanthaburi for the gem market on a Saturday morning. Pattaya becomes somewhere you landed rather than somewhere you stayed.
