Beaches Near Bangkok: The 10 Best, From 90 Minutes to 6 Hours

Beaches near Bangkok compared

Times are door to door from central Bangkok on a normal weekday. Add an hour on Friday evenings and Thai holiday weekends, when everyone else has the same idea.

The 10 best beaches near Bangkok

Ranked on the beach: the water, the sand and how it feels once the weekend crowd arrives. Distance is in each entry, not in the ranking, which is why the closest beach is sixth and the best two are the furthest away.

1. 1. Samae Beach, Koh Larn, off Pattaya

   Best water within half a day

   Forty baht on the ferry from Pattaya and you're on Koh Larn, and Samae is the beach to aim for once you land: a long stretch of white sand with genuinely clear water, quieter than the beaches nearest the ferry pier, lined end to end with restaurants and drink stalls at prices that don't sting. A concrete walkway climbs the hill at one end, and the view back over the whole bay is the reason to do it in the first hour, before the heat.

   It's the best swimming within two hours of the capital, and it isn't close. The honest caveats: chairs are everywhere and the stall holders vary in how they treat you, and on a weekend the sand fills by late morning. Go on a weekday, take the early ferry, and ride a songthaew straight to Samae rather than stopping at Tawaen by the pier.

   Getting there

   Bus from Ekkamai to Pattaya (฿148, about 2 hours), then the public ferry from Bali Hai pier, ฿30 one way and 45 minutes, every 30 minutes; speedboats cross in 15 minutes for around ฿150. On the island, shared songthaews run between beaches for about ฿30 and scooters rent for ฿200–300 a day.

   When to go

   November to April for calm sea; weekdays year-round for space.

   

   Samae Beach

   4.5(7,145)Open 24 hours daily

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   Hotels in Pratumnak (Pattaya South)

2. 2. Sai Kaew Beach, Koh Samet

   Best weekend island

   Koh Samet is the island Bangkok goes to on a Friday night: three hours to Ban Phe pier, forty minutes on the ferry, and you're on bright white sand inside a national park that happens to be one of the driest spots on the Gulf, so it works in months when the Andaman doesn't. Sai Kaew is the busiest beach, lined with loungers, seafood restaurants and speedboats, with an upscale resort at one end and a lively evening scene.

   The trick with Samet is to keep walking. Ao Phai and Ao Hin Khok, the next coves south, are quieter; Ao Wai in the far south is the one reviewers rate highest; and Ao Prao on the west coast is the upscale, sunset-facing side. Foreigners pay the ฿200 park fee on arrival. It's popular with Thai university students and the domestic crowd, and a late-night acoustic guitar session by the sand is the classic Samet evening.

   Getting there

   Bus or minivan from Ekkamai to Ban Phe pier in Rayong, 3–3.5 hours, then the ferry to Na Dan pier (40 minutes, ฿100 return) or a speedboat (15 minutes, ฿300–500). A taxi from Bangkok to Ban Phe is the family option.

   When to go

   Most of the year; the island is drier than the coast around it. November brings the Gulf's wettest weeks.

   

   Sai Kaew Beach

   4.4(1,217)

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   Hotels in Sai Kaew Beach

3. 3. Hua Hin Beach, Hua Hin

   Best resort town

   Shallow water is the selling point: it stays wadeable for something like a hundred meters out, which makes this the beach for families, nervous swimmers and anyone who wants to stand in the sea with a drink waiting on the sand. The sand is pale and a little coarse, and big rocks scattered through the shallows are the sunbathing spots everyone photographs. There's no entrance fee, and the town behind it has a night market, real restaurants and a train station.

   Set expectations properly. There's litter in places, the hotel restaurants on the front charge hotel prices, and five minutes inland the food is half the cost. It's convenient and pleasant rather than remote and pristine, and it's honest about that. The Bangkok to Hua Hin guide has every train and bus.

   Getting there

   Train No. 43 from Krung Thep Aphiwat, about 3 hours (฿330), one of ten trains a day; or the minibus from Ekkamai, ฿200 at the counter, 3.5–4 hours, roughly hourly from 05:00 to 19:00. From Suvarnabhumi, the ฿361 coach runs direct.

   When to go

   November to April for the driest weeks; Hua Hin stays workable most of the year, with October its wettest month.

   

   Hua Hin Beach

   4.2(7,136)

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   Hotels in Hua Hin

4. 4. Suan Son Pradiphat Beach, Hua Hin

   Best quiet family beach

   Come here for a beach day with nothing sold to you. This is the long, pine-backed stretch beside the military base south of central Hua Hin, and the trees are the whole point: real shade, a sea breeze through them, and sand clean enough to walk barefoot. The water is calm with a small break, easy on kids, and the crowd is Thai families; even on a busy day the beach is big enough to feel half empty.

   A chair, umbrella and small table go for about ฿100 as a set, toilets and showers cost ฿10, and a couple of food halls cover lunch. Khao Takiab, the brown-sand beach between here and town, is the long-walk alternative, with the monkey temple on the hill at one end.

   Getting there

   Ten minutes south of Hua Hin town by songthaew, taxi or the local train, which stops at Suan Son Pradiphat station.

   When to go

   November to April. Weekends and Thai holidays fill the good spots under the pines early.

   

   Suan Son Pradiphat Beach

   4.6(2,943)

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   Hotels in Khao Takiab

5. 5. Tien Beach, Koh Larn, off Pattaya

   Best calm beach on Koh Larn

   The eight-minute walk in is exactly why this Koh Larn beach stays calmer than the rest. Leave the access road, walk down to the sand, and the small barrier keeps the crowds thinner than at the easier beaches: clear water, clean sand, and geese wandering the shoreline that nobody warns you about and everybody remembers. Loungers rent for ฿100, and jet skis are there if you want them.

   Eat in the market area near the pier rather than on the beachfront, which prices for a captive audience, and bring water. In peak season and on weekends it fills properly by early afternoon; a weekday morning is a different beach. Nual Beach, on the southern side, is the early-riser's alternative, open from six with monkeys at the far end, but the coral there is long dead and the current is stronger.

   Getting there

   As Samae: the ฿30 ferry from Bali Hai pier to Na Baan, then a shared songthaew (about ฿30) to the Tien access road and the walk down.

   When to go

   November to April for calm water; weekday mornings year-round.

   

   Tien Beach

   4.5(5,258)

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   Hotels in Jomtien

6. 6. Bang Saen Beach, Chonburi

   Closest beach to Bangkok

   The nearest sand to Bangkok, about 90 minutes from Ekkamai on the minibus, and a beach Thais go to and tourists mostly don't: a long palm-lined promenade with street food carts, mats and low tables on the sand, seafood restaurants, and a weekend walking street. The water is brown and shallow and few people swim in it. That's not the point of Bang Saen; a late-afternoon walk, a plate of grilled squid and the sunset are.

   Two things make it a day out rather than a stop: Wat Saen Suk, the temple with a garden of graphic sculptures of Buddhist hell, and Khao Sam Muk, the viewpoint hill at the southern end with monkeys and a view over the whole bay. If you have one free day in Bangkok and want to see the sea, this is the answer; if you want to swim, take the extra hour to Koh Larn.

   Getting there

   Minibus from Ekkamai bus terminal, roughly hourly, about ฿110 (the mid-2025 fare) and under two hours; Grab bikes and taxis run around town once you arrive.

   When to go

   Any month; the water isn't the reason you're here. Weekday afternoons for space, weekend evenings for the food and the walking street.

   

   Bang Saen Beach

   4.4(8,327)

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   Hotels in Naklua

7. 7. Jomtien Beach, Pattaya

   Pattaya's better beach

   Pattaya's own beach is for a stroll, not a swim; Jomtien, a six-kilometer tree-lined stretch just south of the city, is where people who stay on the mainland actually put a towel down. Loungers, bars and restaurants run the length of it, water sports fill the middle, and the sand is wider and calmer than the city beach. It's a base rather than a destination, two hours from Ekkamai and ten minutes from the Koh Larn ferry.

   If the beach is the point of the trip, the ferry to Koh Larn is the better use of the day. If you want a hotel with a pool, a night market and a beach you can walk to, Jomtien does that job well.

   Getting there

   Bus from Ekkamai to Pattaya (฿148, hourly 05:00–22:00, about 2 hours), then a songthaew down Thappraya Road; or bus 389 straight from Suvarnabhumi.

   When to go

   November to April for calm sea; the rest of the year is showery rather than washed out, and Pattaya is sheltered.

   

   Jomtien Beach

   4.4(6,308)

   DirectionsSave
   Hotels in Jomtien

8. 8. Cha-Am Beach, Phetchaburi

   Best Thai weekend beach

   Twenty-five kilometers north of Hua Hin, Cha-Am is the beach the capital's Thai families drive to: a long, straight, pine-lined stretch of sand with deck chairs, umbrellas, banana boats and horse rides, seafood carts along the road behind it, and hardly a Western tourist in sight. The water is the same shallow, slightly cloudy Gulf as Hua Hin, easy for children and unremarkable for snorkelers.

   It's quieter than Hua Hin on weekdays and busier on Thai holiday weekends, when the whole beach turns into a picnic. Come for the atmosphere and the seafood, base in Hua Hin if you want the night market and the trains, and check the Cha-Am Wednesday Night Market if your dates line up.

   Getting there

   The Hua Hin trains stop at Cha-Am, one station before Hua Hin, about 2.5–3 hours from Bangkok; by road it's 30 minutes short of Hua Hin.

   When to go

   November to April.

   Hotels in Cha-Am

9. 9. White Sand Beach, Koh Chang

   Best if you have five hours

   Five to six hours east of Bangkok and a short ferry, Koh Chang is Thailand's second-largest island and the first place on this list where the beaches are the kind you'd fly for. White Sand Beach on the northwest coast is the most developed strip, backed by a dense row of hotels, guesthouses and open-air restaurants, with a narrow beach that feels intimate rather than expansive and a laid-back rather than party atmosphere. It's the natural first-timer's base.

   Klong Prao, the next beach south, is large and open with the island's best sunsets, and Lonely Beach further down is the backpacker strip, quiet by day and social by night. Kai Bae sits between them. Three nights is the minimum that makes the journey worth it.

   Getting there

   Bus or minivan from Ekkamai or Mo Chit to Ao Thammachat pier, 5–6 hours, with combined bus-and-ferry tickets at ฿300–500; the car ferry takes 30–45 minutes. Bangkok Airways flies to Trat in about an hour.

   When to go

   November to April. Koh Chang has the wettest July in the country; skip it in monsoon.

   

   White Sand Beach

   4.5(821)

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   Hotels in White Sand Beach

10. 10. Bang Bao Beach, Koh Kood

    The best beach in reach of Bangkok

    Six hours from the capital via Laem Sok pier in Trat, and the best beach on this list by a distance: a sheltered, palm-fringed horseshoe on Koh Kood's west coast where shallow, bathtub-calm water grades from clear to aquamarine over clean sand, with a long wooden pier reaching across the bay and a few low-key resorts behind the palm line. Even in high season it rarely feels busy. Klong Chao, the next bay over, adds a river you can kayak up to a waterfall swimming hole.

    It's the one place on this page that belongs on the national best-beaches list, and it's why a long weekend from Bangkok can beat a week on Phuket. Go for four nights, not two; the journey is the price.

    Getting there

    Bus to Trat and on to Laem Sok pier, then the speedboat; about six hours all in. Flying to Trat cuts it to three.

    When to go

    November to April.

    

    Bang Bao Beach (Koh Kood)

    4.7(1,300)Open 24 hours daily

    DirectionsSave
    Hotels in Koh Kood

What Bang Saen actually looks like

The closest beach to Bangkok, filmed on a rainy-season weekend: the promenade, the street food, the minibus from Ekkamai and the temple's hell garden. It loads only when you press play.