Choosing your base in Thailand
Our guides cover Bangkok, regional cities and many beach destinations. Compare the exact local base and the journeys it creates; an island or province name alone does not tell you where the hotel sits.
Explore destinations in Thailand
Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya, capital of Siam until 1767, stands about 85 km north of Bangkok on an island formed by the Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak rivers. Most temple ruins of the Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lie in the north-west of the island, guesthouses and restaurants gather in the north-east, and the railway station is across the river on the east bank.
Read the guide →Bangkok
Bangkok spreads along both banks of the Chao Phraya River, with the old royal quarter of Rattanakosin on the east bank and quieter Thonburi opposite. Two airports sit roughly 30 km out on opposite sides of the city, and most visitors move around on the Skytrain, the metro and the river boats, so the nearest station or pier matters more than the postcode.
Read the guide →Buriram
Buriram is a city in northeastern Thailand. Let the specific places you need to reach guide the hotel search, particularly when a visit centres on an event.
Read the guide →Cha-am
Cha-am is a coastal destination in Phetchaburi Province. Choose the part of the coast that fits your stay and the amount of time you want outside the hotel.
Read the guide →Chanthaburi
Chanthaburi is a town in eastern Thailand on the Chanthaburi River. Decide whether the trip centres on the town or visits elsewhere in the province.
Read the guide →Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai, the former capital of the Lanna kingdom, sits on a plain about 700 km north of Bangkok, with Doi Suthep rising to the west. The old city is a square inside a moat roughly 6.5 km round, and most hotels lie either within it or east of it towards the Ping River. The airport is just 3 km south-west of the centre.
Read the guide →Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai is the capital of Thailand's northernmost province and the usual base for the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. The centre around the Clock Tower and Jet Yod Road is small enough to walk, the White Temple is about 13 km south, and the airport sits about 8 km north. There is no railway; the nearest station is Chiang Mai.
Read the guide →Chonburi
Chonburi city is distinct from the wider province of the same name. Confirm the local area you need before comparing accommodation under a broad Chonburi label.
Read the guide →Hat Yai
Hat Yai, in Songkhla Province, is the largest city in southern Thailand, though not the provincial capital, and a road and rail junction about 60 km from the Malaysian border. Most hotels sit in the compact old centre near the railway station, along the parallel Nipat Uthit 1, 2 and 3 roads, while the main bus station and newer malls lie further out.
Read the guide →Hua Hin
Hua Hin is a long-established royal resort on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand, about 195 km south of Bangkok. Phetkasem Road, the main highway, runs through the town parallel to the sea, and the beach continues south from the old centre towards the temple hill at Khao Takiap. Bangkok residents come for weekends; foreign visitors often stay for weeks.
Read the guide →Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi is a provincial town west of Bangkok where the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai rivers meet. It stretches north to south along Saeng Chuto Road, which links the bus station, the railway station and the Bridge over the River Kwai; most guesthouses sit one street closer to the water on Mae Nam Kwae Road. The town is also the base for waterfalls and national parks further up the valleys.
Read the guide →Khao Kho
Khao Kho is a district in Phetchabun Province. Choose a local base around your planned outings rather than treating every hotel in the district as nearby.
Read the guide →Khao Yai
The wider Khao Yai hotel area needs an exact-address check. Decide whether your stay centres on visiting the national park or spending time at a countryside property.
Read the guide →Khao Yai National Park
Khao Yai, Thailand's first national park, covers forested mountains about 200 km north-east of Bangkok and forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage forest complex. Most visitors sleep outside it in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima, where resorts line Thanarat Road (Highway 2090) between the town and the northern gate. Inside, the park's own lodges and campsites are few and must be booked online.
Read the guide →Khon Kaen
Khon Kaen is a provincial capital and university city in central Isaan, on Highway 2 and the Bangkok–Nong Khai railway. The centre is a grid of wide roads and long blocks, built more for cars than pedestrians, with Bueng Kaen Nakhon lake on its south-east side and the Khon Kaen University campus about 4 km out on the roads towards Udon and Loei.
Read the guide →Ko Lipe
Ko Lipe is an island in Satun Province near Thailand's southwestern border. Choose the local beach and arrange the full arrival connection before selecting a room.
Read the guide →Ko Phi Phi
Ko Phi Phi is a small group of islands in Krabi Province, about 50 km south-east of Phuket, within a marine national park. Only Phi Phi Don has hotels: most cluster in Ton Sai Village on a sandy isthmus between two bays, with quieter resorts on outlying beaches. Phi Phi Leh, home to Maya Bay, is uninhabited and visited by boat.
Read the guide →Ko Samet
Ko Samet lies off Rayong Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Choose the local beach and plan the connection from the mainland before comparing rooms.
Read the guide →Ko Tao
Ko Tao is a small island of about 21 square kilometres in the Gulf of Thailand, north of Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui, and is best known for learning to dive. All ferries dock at Mae Haad on the west side, where a single main road links Sairee Beach to the north with Chalok Baan Kao to the south.
Read the guide →Koh Chang
Ko Chang, in Trat Province near the Cambodian border, is Thailand's third-largest island: a steep, forested ridge about 30 km long, much of it inside Mu Ko Chang National Park. Ferries from the mainland land on the east coast, which has mud and rock shores, while the sandy beaches and almost all the hotels face west along a single coastal road heading south.
Read the guide →Koh Kood
Koh Kood, also called Ko Kut, is an island in Trat Province. The arrival connection and the local beach should be chosen alongside the hotel.
Read the guide →Koh Lanta
Ko Lanta is a group of islands in Krabi Province, and visitors stay on Ko Lanta Yai, an island over 30 km long with a string of beaches down its west coast. Boats land at Saladan, the main village in the north, while cars cross on two short ferries via Ko Lanta Noi. Roads become rougher towards the national park at the southern tip.
Read the guide →Koh Phangan
Koh Phangan is an island in the Gulf of Thailand between Koh Samui and Koh Tao, with no airport of its own. Boats arrive mainly at Thong Sala on the west coast, the island's main town. Haad Rin, on the southern tip, hosts the monthly Full Moon Party, while the north and east coasts are quieter and harder to reach by road.
Read the guide →Koh Samui
Ko Samui is Thailand's second-largest island, in the Gulf of Thailand about 80 km off the mainland. A road circles the coast: Chaweng and Lamai on the east are the busiest beaches, the north shore from Mae Nam to Choeng Mon is calmer, and Nathon on the west is the main ferry port. Driving round the whole island takes only a couple of hours.
Read the guide →Krabi
Krabi Province takes in a long stretch of the Andaman coast and more than 130 islands. Most visitors sleep at Ao Nang, the developed beach about 15 km from the provincial capital, Krabi Town, or on the Rai Leh peninsula, which has no road access. The airport lies about 15 km from the town centre and 40 km from Ao Nang.
Read the guide →Lampang
Lampang is a city in northern Thailand. Choose a local base around the places you want to visit and the route used to reach the city.
Read the guide →Nakhon Nayok
Nakhon Nayok is a town and provincial destination in central Thailand. Choose the local base around the visits or activities you intend to make.
Read the guide →Nakhon Si Thammarat
Nakhon Si Thammarat is a city in southern Thailand. Choose the hotel area around your planned visits and any onward journey through the province.
Read the guide →Nakhonratchasima
Nakhon Ratchasima, often called Korat, is a major city in northeastern Thailand. Separate a city stay from travel across the wider province before booking.
Read the guide →Nan
Nan town is a possible base for a visit to the wider northern province. Decide how much time belongs in town and which outings require a separate journey.
Read the guide →Nan Province
Nan Province is in northern Thailand and covers more than Nan town. Choose the parts of the province you want to visit before deciding on a single hotel base.
Read the guide →Pai
Pai is a small town of about 3,000 people in a river valley in Mae Hong Son Province, north-west of Chiang Mai. It lies on Route 1095, the mountain road of the Mae Hong Son Loop, about 135 km from Chiang Mai by a steep and heavily curved route. The centre is compact, but many guesthouses are scattered across the surrounding farmland.
Read the guide →Pattaya
Pattaya is a beach city on Thailand's eastern Gulf coast, south-east of Bangkok along the Sukhumvit Road highway. Central Pattaya is a compact grid between Beach Road and Second Road, with numbered sois between them; Jomtien Beach lies to the south and the calmer Naklua and Wongamat to the north.
Read the guide →Phattalung
Phatthalung is a town in southern Thailand; some listings use the spelling Phattalung. Check whether a property is in town or elsewhere in the wider province.
Read the guide →Phitsanulok
Phitsanulok is a city in northern Thailand. Decide whether you want time in the city or a stop within a longer journey before selecting a base.
Read the guide →Phuket
Phuket is Thailand's largest island, about 48 km long, joined to Phang Nga province on the mainland by two road bridges. The resort beaches line the west coast facing the Andaman Sea, from quiet Mai Khao in the north to Rawai in the south, while Phuket Town, the provincial capital, lies inland on the east side. The airport is in the north-west.
Read the guide →Ratchaburi
Ratchaburi is a town in western Thailand and the name of its surrounding province. Choose the local area your itinerary needs before comparing accommodation.
Read the guide →Rayong
Rayong is an industrial provincial capital on the Eastern Gulf Coast, about 180 km from Bangkok, with Map Ta Phut, the country's largest industrial estate, close by. Holiday stays are mostly on the coast east of the city: the long Mae Ramphueng beach road, the ferry town of Ban Phe for Ko Samet, and quieter seafront towards Laem Mae Phim.
Read the guide →Surat Thani
Surat Thani is a city in southern Thailand, distinct from the wider province and its island destinations. Identify the actual arrival and departure points before choosing a hotel.
Read the guide →Ubon Ratchathani
Ubon Ratchathani is a city in northeastern Thailand. Decide whether it is your main base or one stop in a wider route before booking accommodation.
Read the guide →Udon Thani
Udon Thani is a commercial city in northern Isaan, about an hour by road south of Nong Khai and the Friendship Bridge to Laos. The centre is easiest to read from three roundabouts on Highway 2 and two landmarks: Central Plaza beside the railway station and the Nong Prajak lake park. The airport is only about 4 km out.
Read the guide →
Before choosing a room
Check beach access, transfer costs and the room-specific evidence for noise when those details affect your choice.
Compare the exact room category, including bed layout, cancellation terms and the full stay total. Hotel photographs may show several categories. If a detail matters to you, look for it in the room description or ask the property.
Where guest evidence is available, use it to investigate specific questions about the stay. Read the supporting comments and their dates. A neighbourhood description cannot establish how quiet an individual room will be.
Planning resources
- Thailand: geographical background
- Tourism Authority of Thailand
- How Hotel Unfiltered uses guest reviews
Our stay advice is editorial guidance. Room facilities, transport services and hotel offers can change. Confirm the details for your trip before booking.