Prachuap Khiri Khan

Prachuap Khiri Khan province stretches along a narrow strip of Gulf coast and is home to Hua Hin — Thailand's original beach resort, favored by the royal family since the 1920s. The night market on Dechanuchit Road is legendary: fresh seafood grilled to order, with the best prices you'll find at any major Thai beach town. Cicada Market on weekends showcases art, crafts, and live music. The beaches improve as you head south — Pranburi and Sam Roi Yot have quieter sands and fewer hawkers.

Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park is the main natural attraction: a dramatic landscape of limestone peaks rising from coastal marshes, with Phraya Nakhon Cave as the showpiece — a collapsed-roof cavern with a royal pavilion bathed in shafts of sunlight. The park's mangrove boardwalks and viewpoint hikes are excellent. Further south, the provincial capital of Prachuap itself is a charming, unhurried seaside town with Ao Manao — a gorgeous military-controlled bay with cheap seafood — and Khao Chong Krajok, a monkey-filled hill with a golden chedi. Hua Hin also serves as the gateway to Myanmar's Tanintharyi coast via the Singkhon Pass.