30 Thai Province Guides

Phitsanulok is a significant historical city in lower northern Thailand, birthplace of King Naresuan the Great (one of Thailand's most celebrated monarchs who expelled Burmese rule…

Uttaradit is a quiet, unhurried northern province that few foreign visitors reach, which is much of its appeal. The province is famous as the birthplace of King Taksin — the genera…

Nan is one of northern Thailand's most rewarding and least-visited provinces — a river valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, with an old city that has barely changed in de…

Lampang is northern Thailand's second-largest city and one of its most charming — a prosperous market town with Burmese-Shan architectural heritage, handsome teak houses, and the o…

Lamphun is Thailand's smallest province by area and one of its oldest cities — the capital of the ancient Haripunchai kingdom, which predated the founding of Chiang Mai by several …

Mae Hong Son is Thailand's most mountainous province and most isolated — a narrow strip of highland valleys along the Myanmar border where 90% of the population belongs to ethnic m…

Phrae is one of Thailand's least-visited northern provinces and one of its most rewarding for travellers who seek authentic Thai provincial life off the tourist circuit. The city h…

Tak is a large, forested province in western Thailand along the Myanmar border, bisected by the Ping River and containing some of the country's most significant historical and natu…

Prachuap Khiri Khan is a long, narrow coastal province that forms the southern extension of the Gulf of Thailand's western shore. Hua Hin sits in the northern part of the province …

Phetchaburi (often written Phetburi) is one of Thailand's oldest and most culturally rich provinces, an hour south of Bangkok and rarely given the attention it deserves. The provin…

Nakhon Pathom claims the title of Thailand's oldest city, and its central landmark — the Phra Pathom Chedi — is the world's tallest Buddhist stupa at 127 metres, visible for kilome…

Samut Prakan lies at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River where it meets the Gulf of Thailand, and is effectively Bangkok's southeastern urban extension. The province is best known f…

Nonthaburi is Bangkok's immediate northern neighbour, connected by the Chao Phraya River and the MRT Purple Line which links Nonthaburi to Bang Sue Grand Station. The province is p…

Pathum Thani ('Lotus City') is a riverine province immediately north of Nonthaburi and Bangkok, and is primarily known as home to Thailand's science and technology corridor, major …

Lopburi is one of Thailand's most historically layered cities — it has been continuously inhabited since the Dvaravati period (6th century), was a major Khmer provincial capital, a…

Nakhon Sawan — 'City of Heaven' — sits at the confluence of the Ping, Wang, and Yom rivers, which merge here to form the Chao Phraya River that flows all the way to Bangkok. This c…

Saraburi is a central province best known for two things: it is Thailand's most important centre for Buddhist pilgrimage at Phra Phutthabat (the Footprint of the Buddha shrine) — w…

Sing Buri is one of Thailand's smallest provinces and one of the most overlooked — a quiet agricultural region along the Chao Phraya River between Ang Thong and Lopburi. The provin…

Ang Thong is one of Thailand's smallest and flattest provinces — a fertile agricultural delta between the Chao Phraya and Noi rivers, known for rice farming, fruit orchards, and tr…

Chai Nat is a quiet central province at the point where the Chao Phraya River branches into its main delta distributaries, making it a critical node in Thailand's central irrigatio…

Chonburi province encompasses Pattaya and the broader Eastern Seaboard region — Thailand's industrial powerhouse and one of its most visited coastal areas. Beyond Pattaya (covered …

Rayong is the fruit province of eastern Thailand — home to the famous Rayong durian, mangosteen, and rambutan orchards that ripen each May and June. But the province also contains …

Trat is Thailand's easternmost coastal province, bordering Cambodia and containing the Koh Chang archipelago — one of the country's largest island groups and the gateway to the les…

Surat Thani is the gateway province to the Gulf of Thailand islands — Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao all lie within its waters, and most travellers pass through without stoppi…

Nakhon Si Thammarat is one of southern Thailand's oldest and most historically significant cities, home to Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan — a revered temple with a 77-metre chedi …

Songkhla province is home to Hat Yai — the commercial capital of southern Thailand and a major hub for travellers heading to or from Malaysia. The province also contains the twin-s…

Trang is a relaxed and authentic province on Thailand's Andaman coast that remains significantly less visited than its neighbours Krabi and Phuket. The province has some of the mos…

Phang Nga province contains some of the most dramatic landscapes in Southeast Asia. Phang Nga Bay — a UNESCO-tentative site — is filled with over 40 limestone karst islands rising …

Ranong is Thailand's wettest province — receiving over 4,500 mm of rainfall annually — and one of its least visited. This rainfall sustains extraordinary biodiversity: Kaeng Kracha…

Chumphon sits at the narrow neck of the Thai peninsula where the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman coasts nearly converge, making it a genuine crossroads province. For travellers, it is…