Bangkok where to swim. Beaches of Bangkok or where to swim near the capital of Thailand? Phang Nga Province. Khao Sok National Park

If we think theoretically, then beaches in Bangkok could be, because the capital of Thailand stands on the banks of the mighty Chao Phraya River, which crosses the entire country from north to south. In this city you can find almost everything that makes the civilization of Southeast Asia attractive, including exotic and not entirely legitimate ways of getting pleasure (read more about sex tourism in Bangkok), but not a place where you can sunbathe, stripping to your underwear, and cool down your body, hot from the Thai sun. You can blissfully enjoy exotic cuisine, feast your eyes on the views of Buddha statues and temple complexes, visit shops, supermarkets and shopping centers, plunge headlong into the boiling passions of the night... But if you need sand and a gentle sea wave, you will have to drive 100-100 kilometers from the metropolis. 150.

Pattaya

Story about respite on the beaches near Bangkok It's best to start from this tourist midpoint, closest to the capital of Thailand. From Suvarnabhumi Airport it takes about two hours to get there (all the ways to get from Bangkok to Pattaya). It is best to choose a place for relaxation in the northern and south beaches Pattaya is Naklua or Jomtien, as well as the Long Beach and Aisawan hotels. The beaches are sandy, much cleaner than in the center, with good developed infrastructure. Here and there there are reef shoals. According to many tourists, the transparency of the water in Pattaya leaves much to be desired. That is why the services of small fleet owners are so developed there, ready to deliver for a reasonable fee to the island of Koh Larn.

Hua Hin

On the opposite coast from Pattaya, and southwest of Bangkok, is the safest resort in Thailand - Hua Hin. The rulers of Thailand honored this city with their attention by building in it Royal Palace. The beaches in Hua Hin are much cleaner than those in Pattaya. The length of the beach with clean white sand is about six kilometers. The entrance to the sea is sloping and shallow, perfect for those vacationing in Thailand with children. The infrastructure is well developed. There are plenty of sun loungers and sunbeds with umbrellas. There is an opportunity to rent a scooter, ride an “air banana” and a lot of other things described in the article “TOP 10 entertainment in Hua Hin”. There are many cafes and restaurants where the food is tasty and relatively inexpensive. It’s a full 200 kilometers to get to this city, but the trip will make you feel better.

Khao Takiab

We advise you not to particularly wonder about “ are there beaches in bangkok", and go together to Khao Takiab - perfect place for a relaxing holiday. Again, you will have to move towards Hua Hin, right to the southern foot of the so-called Monkey Mountain (Khao Thakiab). It is also sometimes called “black beach” because the sand, which contains an admixture of volcanic rocks, is not snow-white, but gray. The beach will delight you with peace, cheapness and delicious authentic Thai cuisine, which coastal restaurants are famous for.

Bang Saen

If you are interested in authentic Thailand, then head from Bangkok to a town called Bang Saen. Everything there is for “internal use” and only a quarter of the population understands English language. This is a small university town with an excellent beach of the same name, where the capital's Thais prefer to relax. They were even built here for them. comfortable hotels. You won’t find cheap hostels there, but cafes and restaurants are as Europeanized as possible. After Pattaya, full of forbidden entertainments Bang Saen beach may seem overly gloomy.

Get to Bang Saen Beach The most convenient way is from the Bangkok Skytrain station “Victory Monument”, near which is the fourth most important bus station in the Thai capital. You have to sit there minibus, which will take you to Laemthong in about an hour and a half. This shopping mall, which is located on Bangsaenlang Road leading to the beach. There are many cafes and restaurants on it, it is shady, because walking lasting a quarter of an hour will not be tiresome. Route taxis from “Victory Monument” run from five thirty in the morning until 11 pm.

→ Best islands Thailand (part 2)

Best Tropical Island: Koh Kood (Koh Kut)

The island of Ko Kood is located very close to Cambodia, so for almost three decades few people have visited it due to political instability in this country neighboring Thailand. Fortunately, the situation in Cambodia is no longer a barrier to travel, and tourists have begun to move more and more to the east of Thailand, including to this beautiful island. Naturally, hotels followed suit.

However, most of the island has not yet been developed - there is not even a single road that connects one end of the island to the other. So if you want to explore the dense forests and experience for yourself what it’s like to be in a real tropical jungle, you’re welcome, just bring comfortable shoes and something to repellent insects. Your reward for such a difficult journey will be a picturesque temple in the middle of the island, a huge variety of exotic birds and a magnificent waterfall.

Stay: There are several average hotels on the island, aimed mainly at middle-aged couples. If you want to stay closer to tropical forests, we recommend Koh Kood Resort.

Get there: boats to the island depart from the Thai mainland, from the port of Laem So, as well as from Chang Island. Travel companies in Bangkok offer a combined bus and boat transfer to the island from the capital of Thailand.

If you are going to: don't expect any nightlife on the island. Very few single travelers come here, usually only couples. But there are also advantages - in addition to the rainforests, you can enjoy magnificent deserted beaches.

Best Island Near Bangkok: Ko Chang

There are many islands and beaches that are closer to Bangkok than Ko Chang. But none of them can compare with him.

You can get from Bangkok to the island in 4-6 hours, depending on the intensity of traffic and the type of transport you choose. Once you're there, you'll be amazed at how much the island has to offer - vibrant nightlife, jungle treks, beautiful beaches, magnificent temples, as well as diving and scuba diving. At the end of the week, the island's hotels are filled with Bangkok residents who are in a hurry to come here for the weekend. In the middle of the week it is usually very quiet and deserted.

Stay: On the island you can find accommodation to suit every taste and budget. We like Cliff Cottage - low prices and a wonderful oceanfront bar.

Get there: You can do it yourself from the Laem So port, or you can buy bus/boat or plane/boat tickets from travel agents in Bangkok.

If you are going to: then remember that the beaches are better in the western part of the island - visit, for example, Ao Klong Prao (Coconut Bay). And yet, in Thailand there are two Ko Chang islands. The island we're talking about is in Trat province, and is much larger in area than its counterpart in eastern Thailand.

Best Wild Island: Koh Tarutao

If you want to give up everything and go to a desert island to live your own version of “The Last Hero,” then you’re heading straight to Koh Tarutao, where, by the way, the Thai version of this TV show was filmed.

Koh Tarutao is a long stretch of beaches, palm trees and turquoise water. There are no parties here, no big hotels or internet cafes (though there are no banks or medical services yet). Koh Tarutao is part of a national park and is famous for its natural, untouched beauty - beaches, forests, birds, turtles. Not far from the beach you can go scuba diving and watch fish. That's all the entertainment really is. This is exactly what tourists who come to this island appreciate.

Stay: there is not much choice here, all accommodation is managed by the National Park. Guests have a choice between sleeping in a tent or a bungalow with a fan - this is of course not luxury resort, but quite nice for unity with nature. You can view details and make a reservation.

Wherever you stay, we recommend booking your accommodation in advance if you find yourself on the island during the Full Moon Party. Here you can see the schedule of upcoming parties.

Get there: farthest from Bangkok quick way- this is to fly to Samui and then go by boat. More cheap alternative - night Train and a boat.

If you are going to: Under no circumstances take a passport, an expensive camera, or anything at all with you to the island, without which you will be sad to leave back.

Best island for families: Koh Phi Phi

Best Thai Islands for family vacation- small, without car traffic, with comfortable accommodation (necessarily with air conditioning), with a large selection of varied activities and beaches with shallow, warm sea. Ko Phi Phi fits all these criteria better than any other island we know.

Bangkok itself is not a beach resort. Therefore, it is worth choosing the best beach near the city of Bang Sin. It is located in Chonburi province overlooking East Coast Thailand. You can get to it by express train from Bangna station or by bus from bus station called Ekkamai. The journey will take about an hour.

So the beaches of Bangkok are located not in the city itself, but next to it. Chonburi is a particularly attractive beach resort and is much cleaner than tourist-populated Pattaya. This is also a “weekend” beach. The water and sand here are excellent, and the service is considered excellent, and the cuisine is always top notch. And if a tourist wants to have lunch on the beach, he can rent not only a sunbed and an umbrella, but also a table. Often a set is rented, which consists of one table and six sun loungers, and you have to fork out for each of them. However, in Thailand, as in others eastern countries, they like to bargain, so the price can be brought down. On the beach you can not only sunbathe well, swim and eat, but also do other activities active species entertainment on the water: take a breeze on a banana boat or a speedboat, and if you want something more relaxing, then rent a huge inflatable ring.

Almost two hours drive from Bangkok is the famous beach resort Pattaya. Its beaches occupy, perhaps, second place in our ranking.

In the northern part of Pattaya, the most popular beaches are located near the Aisawan and Long Beach hotels. Next comes a rocky cliff where the majestic Temple of Truth rises. Behind it is the fishing port of Naklua, which also has excellent beaches. All these beaches are mostly sand, but when entering the sea you may encounter reefs. Since the water here is quite clean, you can see them if you look closely. Here you can rent a boat or yacht to take a ride to the islands or go sea fishing. Diving is also popular here.

And already at a distance of 200 km from Bangkok, there is the famous Hua Hin with its clean beaches. It’s difficult to call this a “place near Bangkok”, but the beaches are worth taking an interest in.

Khao Takiab

Khao Beach Takiab is located directly behind Monkey Mountain. It stretches for many kilometers. Surprisingly, this beach is called “black sand beach.” It is calm here, and water activities are cheaper. The delicious authentic cuisine of local restaurants is also pleasing. There are sun loungers and umbrellas. The beach is shady and spacious, this is especially noticeable during low tides.

Hua Hin

Hua Hin City Beach is a wide spit about 6 km long. It is distinguished by white sand and unusual clear sea, though it’s a little small here, but for those who vacation here with kids, this is undoubtedly a big plus. Sun loungers and sun loungers with umbrellas are plentiful on the beach. Local cafes with an excellent menu and the freshest tropical fruit juices will not let you feel hungry or thirsty. Water activities - scooters and banana boats - are also very popular among both Thai vacationers and tourists.

So the best sandy beaches You can visit Bangkok if you drive a fair distance from the capital.

One of our blog readers asked us for help - he wanted to know how we chose our location in Thailand. 🙂 Anyway, I was going to write a post about Thai resorts as it might be of interest to a lot of people. Previously, I planned to write about Thai cities and islands a little later, when my words would be supported by our own experience of traveling in Thailand. But today I thought that later it would be interesting for us to compare our opinions about Thai cities before and after we visit them.

You could say that now I have a more formulaic and stereotypical idea of cities in this country, but since the topic interested me very much, I studied many resources, so there should still be some objectivity in my vision of Thailand. That is why today I will write about how we tried to choose a warm place for wintering in Thailand, and a little later we will find out what came of it. 😉

Frankly speaking, we thought for a long time where exactly to go, and the selection process was not easy, because Thailand is big and we have never been there. A quick study of geography and reviews from holidaymakers helped us separate the flies from the cutlets. As I already said, this report does not claim to be 100% objective, but I will try to sort everything out as I see it.

So, contrary to popular belief, Thailand is a very big country. Its area is 514 thousand square meters. meters is a little less than France and a little more than Spain. Amazing fact: from European countries, which are entirely located in Europe, only two countries have an area larger than Thailand: France and Ukraine. 🙂 I did not take Turkey and Russia into account, since they are only partially located in Europe.

Of course, this is a very substantial piece of land, but the catch is also in the large extent of Thailand from north to south. Thanks to this feature, the country is located in different climatic zones with uneven distribution of precipitation and different average temperatures. Almost at any time of the year, at a certain point in this country, the weather will be simply excellent, even if at the same time most of southeast Asia will be flooded with rain.

If we talk about the southern part of Thailand, the air temperature here rarely drops below 25 degrees. At the same time, in the north in the mountains the air can cool down to +10 or even zero degrees! So much for the tropics! 🙂

However, we initially considered only the seaside resorts of Thailand, so in this article we will omit information about the central and northern parts of the country, and concentrate on the southern, more touristic points.

Pattaya

The resort is located just 165 km from Bangkok - very convenient to get to: close, fast and cheap. Due to the successful geographical location, Tourists have become so fond of Pattaya that soon there will be no place to spit. 🙂 Pattaya has earned fame as perhaps the sex capital of Thailand, so you need to be aware of what kind of society you can find yourself in when you go to this town on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand. There are about 10 thousand moths constantly working in the city... This is with a population of 100 thousand! No comments needed. 🙂

The weather in Pattaya is almost always excellent. The rainy season occurs in May and also in September-October. During these three months, half a year's precipitation falls. The driest months in Pattaya are December, January and February. In general, there is practically no rain in winter. The temperature of the air and water in the sea practically does not change all year round, which makes this resort ideal for visiting at any time, unless, of course, rains bother you.

TO positive aspects holiday in Pattaya can be attributed to the presence uninhabited islands a short distance from this resort. Many tourists rent high-speed motor boats and visit the islands of Koh Krok, Koh Sak, Koh Lan and others... Perfectly clear water and untouched nature are business card islands located near Pattaya.

Our conclusion. We didn’t like Pattaya based on reviews: they say there are a lot of prostitutes and other evil spirits there, night life It’s in full swing, there are a lot of tourists, but the sea is muddy and not very clean. For some, nightlife, parties and alcohol - the main objective trips, so it's no surprise that this place is very popular. But this is not our choice. 🙂

All resorts in Thailand have their own characteristics - Pattaya is a stunning success among single men. 🙂

Pattaya - beach

Having rejected the option of Pattaya, we became interested in the reviews about Phuket.

Phuket

Phuket's climate is different from most of Thailand. The reason is that this island is located near west coast country, and it is washed by the waters Andaman Sea, which refers to the pool Indian Ocean(while most other resorts are washed by the waters of the Gulf of Thailand, which belongs to the basin Pacific Ocean). From May to October it is very, very rainy in Phuket, but from November the weather begins to be excellent. At the same time, it hits the islands of the Gulf of Thailand in November. big water, so it’s worth noting the advantage of Phuket here. The air temperature is around +30 almost all year round, and the water temperature is +27.

The nature of Phuket is varied and colorful. The island offers tourists a sea of entertainment for every taste, and probably the best attractions of Thailand are collected here: forest and National parks, majestic Buddhist temples, an aquarium, a crocodile and butterfly farm, mysterious caves and much more. There are many picturesque islands near Phuket, including the Phi Phi archipelago, which is famous for the fact that the film “The Beach” with DiCaprio was filmed on one of the coasts. True, I haven’t seen this film, but the photographs are definitely valid! 🙂

But again, where there are a lot of tourists, it has its drawbacks! Abundance of vacationers and expensive hotels guaranteed to drive up the prices of everything you can buy on the island. I'm not even talking about the noise and the large number of holidaymakers in the "Tagil" style! 🙂

Our conclusion. Prices for housing, food and services differ from other resorts not for the better, and a large number of “package” tours are identified with such phenomena as loud parties, prostitution and an abundance of inappropriate people.

The beauty of Phuket somehow reminds me of scenes from the movie “Avatar”

The famous (thanks to the movie “The Beach”) Phi Phi archipelago - there are always a lot of tourists by the sea! 🙁

Despite all the positive qualities of the island: its picturesque and a good choice housing for every taste, we decided not to go to Phuket yet. For general development it would be nice to go, but not to long term. Then we began to consider Hua Hin as a more suitable city for long-term living in Thailand.

Hua Hin

Hua Hin is perhaps the most unusual and non-standard of the options we are considering. The fact is that in Hua Hin there are very few “package travelers” (vacationers on a tourist package). This is a purely Thai resort, where locals mostly relax. Although this town is only 220 kilometers from the capital of Thailand, foreign tourists they don’t really pamper him with their attention, as a result of which Hua Hin is always quiet, calm, safe and not very expensive. Nevertheless, Hua Hin is one of the oldest resort points in the country, and it is not without reason that the Royal Summer Palace has been located there for almost a hundred years.

We were very pleased with the reviews about this city - people come here for quiet life, for a real break from the hustle and bustle of big cities. The weather in Hua Hin is not always the same - in January the thermometer sometimes drops to +18. But in other months tourists are greeted by comfortable weather (+25…+30). The rainy season lasts from June to October, which in principle suited us quite well. We were ready to pack our things for Hua Hin, but then we met a married couple. Last winter they lived in Hua Hin with infant, and their opinion seemed to us a very weighty argument. From their words (and from other sources too) we realized that among all the advantages of this resort there is one drawback: not very high-quality beaches.

Our conclusion. The beaches of Hua Hin are inferior in beauty and cleanliness to many other coasts of Thailand. Although there is budget housing in this town, the security meets our wishes and there are practically no annoying alcohol-sex tourists, the availability good beaches is an important factor for us. Undoubtedly, Hua Hin is good for traveling with a small child: it is calm and safe, there are good hospitals and private doctors, and there is a good selection of food for children. It is important that the distance from Bangkok is very short - you can get to the capital quickly and at any time, even by taxi. And yet, in our case, this is not ideal.

Hua Hin is a good Thai resort for a relaxing family holiday with children

We realized that for the cleanest sea and beautiful beaches we need to go to the islands of Thailand. Since we had already abandoned Phuket before this, we began to explore the islands of the Gulf of Thailand South China Sea. Essentially, we looked at the three largest and popular islands: Chang, Samui and Koh Phangan.

Of course, each of them is good in its own way, but we had to choose one, because constant moving is not part of our plans.

Koh Chang

We initially liked Koh Chang Island more than all the other Thai islands because it has a milder climate - the air temperature usually fluctuates around 28-30 degrees Celsius, but no more. The climate of Chang, it seems to me, is very similar to the climate of the island of Oahu, where I lived several years ago, and about which I already wrote a little (when I get around to it, I’ll write a lot more interesting things). 🙂 In addition, Koh Chang Island (the prefix “Ko” in Thai actually means “island”) is distinguished by its abundance of tropical forests, pristine and diverse nature.

We have read a lot of comparisons between Chang and Koh Samui - and who says what, who likes what... Advantages of Chang: nature is better Compared to Samui, there are more waterfalls, rivers, jungles, colorful snorkeling, close location to Bangkok and the border with Cambodia. The proximity of the border, by the way, is a very big advantage, because we will have to leave Thailand 3 months after arrival to carry out the border run, which I mentioned in my first one.

However, among all the advantages of Chang, we found one very important drawback for us - financial. Despite the fact that Koh Chang is described on many forums as a very inexpensive island, these posts mostly date back to 2008-09 and earlier. There is little new information on housing prices, but meanwhile the situation (according to rumors) is changing before our eyes. Since Chang is located very close to the mainland (10 km by ferry) and Bangkok (340 km), it is becoming more and more fashionable every year tourist destination. Hotels of large tourist chains are opening in batches, prices for rental housing and food products are gradually rising. In addition, the choice of housing for rent on Chang is very scarce. It is not surprising that houses and bungalows are rented by local enterprising Thais and then subleased. Thus, it turns out that a long-term stay on Koh Chang is becoming more and more expensive every year, while our budget is very, very limited...

It is worth adding that some time ago Koh Chang was “famous” for the fact that there were quite often interruptions in electricity and the Internet. I don’t know how things are now - they say that the situation has improved with the arrival of large hotels on the island, but somehow it’s not very fun. Especially considering the fact that I work on the Internet.

Our conclusion. Chang is beautiful and incomparable: conveniently located geographically, delights with the tenderness of its nature and wonderful climate. However, we were unable to find information about the availability of affordable housing in Ko Chang, so we continued our search.

Koh Chang - Paradise Island in the Gulf of Thailand

Beer Chang - we'll try it soon! 😉

Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan is quite popular destination among young people. The island is known throughout the world for its monthly Full Moon Parties - a mixture of music, alcohol, drugs and who knows what else. 🙂 However, the parties end, but the island remains beautiful, bright and sunny. Thailand's southern islands (such as Koh Phangan, Koh Samui and tiny Koh Tao) have two seasons: wet and dry. Rains water these lands abundantly in October and November. From May to July, wet weather is also not uncommon. As for the remaining months, they are ideal for a beach holiday.

Looking at Phangan, you involuntarily come to the conclusion that it is essentially a copy of Koh Samui, but the infrastructure of the latter is much more developed. Koh Samui has a large selection of accommodation to suit every taste and budget. The only drawback of all these southern islands is their distance from the border. However, something always has to be sacrificed.

Our conclusion. You definitely need to go to Koh Phangan, at least to see everything with your own eyes, especially since we will live very close to it! 🙂 However, we decided to spend the winter in Thailand on another island...

Koh Phangan - island beautiful beaches

Koh Samui

So, we decided to stay on Koh Samui because we liked the nature and infrastructure of the island - all the benefits of civilization are there, goods and services are available, and at the same time you can find solitude on Koh Samui, clean beaches, fresh air and beautiful jungle.

This island is quite far from Bangkok, and the price for a one-way flight costs more than 100 bucks. Of course, this is an additional expense for us, but we don’t have to travel from Bangkok to Koh Samui by plane - there’s more budget options with bus, train and ferry... The main thing is that the high cost of tickets scares away tour operators from Koh Samui. Consequently, there are much fewer “packers” on the island than on popular resorts, which we discussed in detail at the beginning of the review.

As I already said, southern islands located very far from the borders (although 450 km is a manageable distance), but we will definitely have to leave Thailand 90 days after arrival. This is a significant drawback, but on Samui there is: a consulate, a hospital that works with Assistance of our future insurance company, an airport, a couple of large supermarkets, several large bazaars, a solid selection of beaches for every taste (party and relaxation), stable and accessible Internet almost everywhere, and an excellent selection of housing at very affordable prices (comparable to Ukrainian prices) long term rental). By the way, speaking about Ukrainian prices, I mean prices in ordinary, non-resort cities - in our domestic resorts, renting housing during the season is much more expensive than on Samui! That's why we're going to Thailand to LIVE, not to RELAX! Well, let’s say, rest too - where would we be without rest! 😉 In general, we really hope to combine business with pleasure! 🙂

Our conclusion. We're going to Koh Samui! 🙂

Beautiful sunset on Koh Samui - we’ll be taking photos like this soon! 🙂

So we have chosen Koh Samui from the half a million other islands on planet Earth and we will be hitting the road very soon! 🙂 Continue reading our blog, and great discoveries await us all very soon! 🙂

In the next article I will write about the beaches of Koh Samui and how we will choose housing in Thailand.

P.S. Did you know that there are approximately 500 thousand islands on our planet, and only about ten thousand of them are inhabited by humans, while the rest remain uninhabited? I was very surprised! 🙂

Thailand, Bangkok

Holidays in Bangkok mean magnificent nature, lots of entertainment and excursions. Beach holiday in Bangkok - a holiday on a magnificent seaside resort Bang Sin. Tours to Bangkok are chosen by families with children, couples and history buffs.

Location

For those who care accommodation near the airport, hotels in the Lat Krabang Road area are suitable.

Cheapest accommodation in Bangkok- in the dormitories of the Ngam Dhu Phi Road area.

Not the most comfortable accommodation in Bangkok- in Yaowarat, Phahurat, in Chinese City or near Dusit Avenue.

Bangkok beaches

Location

Offers

Tour to Thailand: Pattaya - Koh Chang - Bangkok
13-day tour to Thailand with a visit to Pattaya, Bangkok and accommodation on the island of Koh Chang. Tour cost - from 78,000 rub./person. . Go on a trip to amazing Thailand - a land of exotic entertainment. Holidays in Thailand will impress everyone who wants to not only visit the beaches, but also see local attractions.
Tour to the island Koh Samui via Bangkok
Tour to Koh Samui for 7, 10, 11, 13 days, route Khabarovsk-Bangkok-Samui-Bangkok-Khabarovsk. Tour cost from 46,600 rub./person.
Tour to Thailand (Pattaya, Hua Hin, Bangkok)
11-day tour to Thailand with a visit to Pattaya, Bangkok and accommodation in resort town Hua Hin. The cost of the tour is from RUB 33,635 per person. Go on a trip to amazing Thailand - a land of exotic entertainment. Holidays in Thailand will impress everyone who wants to not only visit the beaches, but also see local attractions.
Tour to Thailand (Pattaya, Ko Samet, Bangkok)
12-day tour to Thailand with a visit to Pattaya, Bangkok and accommodation on the island of Koh Samet. The cost of the tour is from 43,890 rubles per person. Go on a trip to amazing Thailand - a land of exotic entertainment. Holidays in Thailand will impress everyone who wants to not only visit the beaches, but also see local attractions.