Chanthaburi is the province in the east of Thailand. It’s the closest border province from Bangkok if you want to across Thailand to Cambodia by land transportation’s. It will take you around 5 hours by car. I rode the bike myself from Pattaya to Chanthaburi with the speed of 80 km per hour approximately and it took me around 5 hours to get there. Motorbike is not as comfortable as the car and it took longer time due to the safety but still it’s a new adventure and different experience. We started the trip from South Pattaya, rode along the Sukhumvit road No. 3 then continue with the road Number 36 and back to number 3 again. The route was so simple. We just kept riding straight until we reached to Chanthaburi and then turn left on the road number 316 to Pong Num Ron District which is the district where the border is at. Like I said, the route was pretty simple and safe. The only thing you have to worry about the trip was the sharp curves because there were some sharp curves along the way. I was so lucky that I didn’t get any problem with the tires of the motorbike, I can finish the trip without getting the bike repaired.
After we finished our trip at the border, we decided to ride the bike back to the town of Chanthaburi and stayed one night at the beach in Chanthaburi. The fact that Chanthaburi is the province next to the sea is very rare in people’s mind. When we think of the beach, we will go to Koh Samet (Rayong) or, of course, the south of Thailand. But we decided to explore the beach which is not so famous like Chanthaburi. We ended up spend the night at Chao Lao beach. The beach is pretty quiet, also because it was during the weekdays by the time I was there. I found no tourists there at all but only a few groups of Thai people. The beach in Chantaburi is not as nice as the beaches in the South part of Thailand but I want to give it the credit for being the private beach with few people. It’s perfect for people who like to spend time chilling at the beach with quiet moments. By the time I was there, we were only the customers of the hotel and another group of Thai family and that’s it. We spent the day there just lying down get the wind and eat. There is nothing special there, it’s all about relaxing, doing nothing. So I don’t think Chantaburi is the place for a group of young people but perfect for Thai families to come and that fact was confirmed by the owner of the hotel I stayed. He said most of the customers who stayed in his hotel were Thais and they come on the weekends normally.
Chantaburi was not bad for me, at least I had some cool quiet place to relax after the long journey on the bike to the border and it’s the pass way back to Pattaya anyway.
