Cha Am Thailand
- Beaches, Palaces and Temples

by Graham
(Cha Am, Thailand)

Cha Am's long stretch of white sandy beach along the Gulf of Thailand, has long been a favourite place for Thai families escaping Bangkok for the weekend or the long hot summer school holidays.

The heat of the city is left behind, and just two and a half hours drive to the south, the cooling sea breezes and abundant supply of mouth watering tasty seafood, take away the stresses of city life.

Cha am beach is said to be twinned with it's much larger neighbour Hua Hin. I am not too sure why, as they are two very different places.

Hua Hin is a large resort town with all the western trappings people expect of such a place - sometimes you wouldn't even know you were in Thailand!

Cha Am on the other hand is still very much a Thai town, geared to supplying activities that Thai families enjoy - Horse riding along the beach, banana boat rides, riding up and down the long beach road on a bicycle ( made for 2 or 3 ) and of course the Thai's favourite activity - Eating!

Grab yourself one of the many deck chairs under the sea of parasols and spend the day relaxing and eating the local seafood supplied by the many passing vendors.

For a bit of peace and quiet just walk along the beach out of town and you can have the beach to yourself!

If lazy on the beach is not your thing, then not to worry, there are plenty of things to do around the area.

Six world class golf courses are within a short drive from the beach.

Visiting some of the old Royal Palaces, there are three that you can visit and one where the King of Thailand now lives.

Temples on the beach, Temples in the hills and even Temples in caves.

You can even spend a few hours trekking in the beautiful limestone mountains overlooking Cha Am.

As for accommodation - There is a large selection of Cha Am hotels to choose from - Budget guest house for just a few hundred Baht a night to 5 star luxury Spa resorts.

Getting to Cha Am is easy too - there are direct minibuses from Bangkok, buses from both Bangkok and many destinations to the south. There is also the train, although only the slow ones tend to stop here.

Only a few western tourist have discovered this real slice of Thailand.

So take a day out & "escape" from Hua Hin or Bangkok and pay Cha Am a visit!.