Our 10 Favorite Towns in Thailand and why

Here is the list of our 10 Favorite Towns (including Islands) in Thailand. This list is our list so very subjective. We are more interested in quiet place with activities for family. It can explain a little bit more this sort.

1. Chiang Mai
2. Hua Hin
3. Bangkok
4. Krabi
5. Phuket
6. Koh Samui
7. Lampang
8. Lopburi
9. Ayyuthaya
10. Pattaya

1/ We adore Chiang Mai, this is the place where we would like to live. The second biggest place in Thailand after Bangkok but with a quiet atmosphere. You can find everything in Chiang Mai: very good restaurants, shopping, night markets, temples and so on. This is also a very beautiful town with verdure. To have a great view of Chiang Mai, visit the temple located in a mount near the town. You just have to climb more than 300 steps to get there!

Amazing hotel where we went in the suburb of Chiang Mai

You also have a very big and free zoo. So you can stay few days there.

2/ Hua Hin is a little town at the seaside, very very quiet with all amenities.
This is one of the favorite place of the retirees because of that. You also have a night market very interesting because it is a reconstruction of an old time. The sea and the beach are quite good but the water is dark blue (not the best colour in Thailand) and sometimes, there are jellyfishes. However, that's a great destination !
Hua Hin Station

Hua Hin Station

3/ Bangkok is a town that looks, at a glance, ugly, dirty, noisy, ... But, you can learn to appreciate it. Few years ago, I would have set Bangkok at the 10th place, but it may come to the 1st one in the near future !
It's a very very big town. Each district is a town with everything that you need. Fortunately because there are so traffic jams that you can become mad with impatience. The only thing missing is the sea.

Bangkok Streets

4/ Krabi, bigger than Hua Hin but also very attractive for the same reasons. Like Hua Hin, this is a town not invaded by the tourists yet. Because of the south region, there are much more muslims thai there. That's also interesting to visit.

5/ Phuket is one of the most famous island of Thailand with its beautiful beaches, animated towns, great hotels. You can rent a scooter or a car to take a tour of the island to see the towns, the markets, the waterfalls. There is also a specific point to see the sunrise. On this island, you can take the boat to join different little islands with monkeys, great beach and lots of tourists !!!

One of these islands

6/ Koh Samui is smaller than Phuket. People may prefer this island because wildest but this is, unfortunately, not the case anymore. However, visit it to be sure of that. This is the place where I had the best massages of Thailand with Chiang Mai.

Koh Samui near Hin Ta Hin Yaï

7/ Lampang is less famous than the other towns. This is where my wife comes from. It can explain why this town is the 7th one in our top 10. Very quiet with all the amenities. This is in the north so very green. You can find there several elephant farms.

8/ Lopburi is not very interesting for the town itself. It is amazing for its population of monkeys. They are anywhere, on the ground, on electric cables, on roofs... They are not wild at all and it gives a very specific atmosphere to this town that you won't find anywhere else in Thailand.

9/ Ayyuthaya is well known for its temples and its history. You have there great parks.

10/ We wondered if Pattaya had to be in our top 10. That's an international famous town for its prostitution and quite difficult for a family to go there without being embarassed. However, the new mayor of this town is very active to transform this. He created pedestrian streets and he tries to "clean" the other streets. There is also the biggest mall of south east Asia. Just wait few years to see if all these efforts will be efficient. But I'm sure it will.

Park near Patthaya