Where to Stay in Thailand: Areas and Resorts Honestly Compared

Thailand is not one holiday, it is about six of them sharing an airport code. The couple who books Patong because it came bundled with the cheapest flight and the family in a Laguna resort forty minutes up the same island are having completely different weeks. Where to stay in Thailand matters more than which hotel you pick, because the area sets your transfer times, your dinner options and how well you sleep. Here are the main Thailand areas, who each suits, rough nightly rupee bands and the split stay that settles it for most Indian travellers. Prices are approximate, outside peak dates.

Bangkok: pick a station, not a view

Bangkok traffic is the whole argument. A hotel four kilometres away can be forty minutes away at 6 pm, so one rule wins: stay walkable to a BTS or MRT station.

• Sukhumvit (Asok, Phrom Phong, Thong Lo): the default for a first trip. Malls, Indian restaurants, good hospitals, Thailand hotels at every price. Approx Rs 3,500 to 7,000 for a solid 4-star like Novotel Sukhumvit 20 or Aloft Sukhumvit 11.
• Silom and Sathorn: business district, quieter on weekends, walkable to Lumphini Park. Similar rates.
• Riverside: the prettiest rooms in the city (Shangri-La, Avani+, Mandarin Oriental), approx Rs 9,000 to 20,000. The catch is 30 to 45 minutes back to Sukhumvit for dinner.
• Khao San and Rambuttri: approx Rs 800 to 2,000, walkable to the Grand Palace, loud until 2 am, awkward for the metro.

Two nights in Bangkok is enough on a first trip, three if you want a canal morning and a market day.

Phuket, beach by beach

What most guides gloss over: the airport sits at the top of a big island. Airport to Patong is 45 to 75 minutes in traffic, not the twenty people assume when booking a 9 pm arrival.

• Patong: nightlife central (Bangla Road), cheapest beds, most crowded sand. Approx Rs 2,000 to 4,500 for a 3-star, Rs 5,000 to 9,000 beachfront. Right for friends' groups, wrong for light sleepers and honeymooners.
• Kata and Karon: the family answer. Wide beaches, calmer evenings, walkable restaurants, Patong 15 to 20 minutes away for one loud night. Approx Rs 3,500 to 8,000.
• Bang Tao and Laguna: resort holidays with kids clubs and lagoons (Angsana, Dusit Thani Laguna, Banyan Tree). Approx Rs 8,000 to 20,000, 30 minutes from the airport, little to walk to outside the strip.
• Mai Khao and Nai Yang: 10 to 20 minutes from the airport, quiet, home to some of the best resorts in Thailand for a do-nothing week (JW Marriott, Anantara). Approx Rs 15,000 to 35,000, plus a taxi for every meal outside the hotel.
• Rawai and Nai Harn: cheap local food, expat cafes, 70 to 90 minutes out. For long stays and repeat visitors.

Skip Phuket Old Town as a base: good for a half day of shophouses, poor for sleeping on a beach trip.

Krabi: quieter, cheaper, slower

Krabi does limestone cliffs better than Phuket and nightlife much worse, which is exactly why some people prefer it.

• Ao Nang: the sensible base. Beach town, boats off the sand, approx Rs 2,000 to 5,500, about 40 minutes from Krabi airport.
• Railay: no roads, boat access only, 15 minutes by longtail from Ao Nang. Cliffs on three sides, approx Rs 4,000 to 12,000 (Rayavadee well past Rs 35,000). Longtails stop after dark and in rough seas, so give it a night or two, not the whole trip.
• Klong Muang and Tubkaek: proper resorts (Sofitel, Dusit Thani), quiet beaches, nothing outside the gate. Approx Rs 6,000 to 14,000.
• Krabi Town: cheap, no beach. Skip unless you are counting every rupee.

Koh Samui and the Gulf: the slow half

The reason to cross to the Gulf is weather. When the Andaman coast is wet around September, Samui is usually fine, then it flips: Samui takes its worst rain October to December while Phuket dries out. Pick your coast by the month, not by the photographs.

• Chaweng: the busy strip, most of the nightlife, approx Rs 3,000 to 8,000.
• Bophut (Fisherman's Village): the couples pick. Walkable, good restaurants, approx Rs 5,000 to 12,000.
• Choeng Mon: calm bay, shallow water, families. Similar prices.
• Koh Phangan and Koh Tao: Full Moon parties and diving, by ferry from Samui.

Samui's airport is privately run, so Bangkok flights run high, often Rs 8,000 to 14,000 one way. Surat Thani plus coach and ferry saves real money and costs you about five hours.

Chiang Mai and the north

A different holiday altogether: temples, cooking classes, ethical elephant sanctuaries, cool evenings. Stay in the Old City for walkability (approx Rs 1,500 to 4,000) or Nimmanhaemin for cafes. The warning nobody prints is burning season, roughly February to April, when Chiang Mai air is often worse than Delhi in winter. Go November to January instead.

Two places to skip

Pattaya gets recommended for being two hours from Bangkok, not for the beach, which is poor. Want sea? Fly south. And skip an overnight on Phi Phi Don unless the party is the point: day trip it, then sleep on Koh Lanta or Koh Yao Noi.

The split stay that solves it

• 5 nights, first trip: Bangkok 2 plus Phuket or Krabi 3. One 90 minute domestic flight, approx Rs 2,500 to 5,000.
• 7 nights, couples: Bangkok 1 plus Ao Nang or Klong Muang 3 plus Railay or Koh Yao Noi 3.
• 7 nights, families: Bangkok 2 plus Kata or Karon 5, with two boat days.
• 10 nights, the lot: Bangkok 2 plus Chiang Mai 3 plus Phuket or Samui 5.

Two bases beat four. Every extra move costs a checkout, a transfer and half a day.

Know before you go

• Bangkok is about four hours direct from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, approx Rs 18,000 to 35,000 return. Phuket flies direct from Delhi and Mumbai, approx Rs 25,000 to 45,000.
• Indian passport holders currently get visa free entry for tourism, and everyone must submit the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card online before flying. Rules have changed more than once, so confirm on the official Thai portal.
• Vegetarian food: ask for mangsawirat, or jay for no animal products. "Mai sai nam pla" means no fish sauce, which hides in dishes that look vegetarian. Sukhumvit, Patong and Ao Nang have Indian restaurants; Mai Khao, Klong Muang and Railay have almost none, so warn the resort ahead.
• Rates roughly double from 20 December to 5 January. Book that window three months out.
• Check the map pin, not the photo: plenty of Thailand hotels claim beachfront from across a four lane road.

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Choose the area first, then the hotel. The other way round and you spend the holiday in a minivan.