The East Coast

The east coast has several crossings into Cambodia and makes a popular tourist route for travels wishing to pass onto the neighboring countries.  The coastal stretch is also crucial to Thailand’s industrial economy with its natural gas fields and deep sea ports. Offshore however you may find a different story with some of the kingdoms up and coming Small Islands developing to suit the western holiday maker. One of these islands is the picturesque Koh Samet; it remains within a suitable distance to travel to by bus comfortably and offers some near perfect un-spoilt beaches. However despite Koh Samet being one of the prettiest beach resorts the popular Koh Chang is the newest member of Thailand’s holiday destinations. A whole host of smaller islands fill the sea between Koh Chang and the Cambodian coast; the most notable are Koh Whai, Koh Mak and Koh Kood.

In absolute contrast to these quaint little islands is Thailand’s number one package destination, Pattaya. Pattaya is beachside resort towns with a twist, instead of catering for families wishing to get away from the busy life and enjoy the sun, sea and sand the majority of Pattaya customers are middle aged men seeking female companionship from the sex industry that drives the wheel of industry there. However Pattaya is not all bad as it is home to some fine resorts and there are still plenty of things on offer besides the vibrant night life such as Crocodile farms and water parks. Transportation to and from Pattaya is quite easy as the bus route from Bangkok is a pretty straight forward road which only takes around an hour a half.  If you are travelling from further afield then the U-Tapao airport is only 30minutes drive from Pattaya and Bangkok airways has regular flights to and from here.

Transport in general along the east coast is reasonable and traveler wishing to move up the cost north to Issan or Chiang Mai can do so via the regular bus service running the route.