All you need to know to visit Cha Am
Travel guide to go and visit Cha Am
25 km in the North of Hua Hin, Cha-Am has a long white sand beach (about 7km). The sea is not turquoise and really suitable for swimming at high tide, otherwise it may take a long walk before you have enough water to swim, but it is the case on all this region of Thailand. Less hipe destination than its neighbor, it is also very popular with Thai people who arrive very numerous on weekends and holidays. If you want a taste of partyng and enjoying holidays in thai style, a few days in Cha Am will do surely be a good idea. Backpackers will probably feel more in their element here than in Hua Hin. Their wallets too. Especially around Ruamjit Road where cheap accommodation, restaurants and bars abound. No hotel, except the one in the luxury hotels area, has direct access to the sea, they all are separated by a small road. For the points of interest near the waterfront, Wat Neranchararam and its Buddha with multiple arms covering his ears and eyes is interesting to see, the harbor, a good place to stroll and eat very good seafood and fish for cheap. Cha-Am fresh market is impressive too if you like markets.
Outside the city you can go visit, the Phra Ratchaniwet Mrigadayavan, wooden summer Royal Palace and see all the attractions in the Phetchaburi and Hua Hin area (Tham Khao Luang, Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park, the huge Kaeng Krachan National Park or Wat Huay Mongkol and its gigantic statue of the monk Luang Phor Thuad).
Accommodations in Cha Am
To find where to stay in Cha-Am is not complicated. Just go on Ruamjit Road and you will find a wide selection of hotels and cheap guesthouses mixed with some more luxurious establishments. Backpackers who like cheap guest houses will be more happy in Cha Am than in Hua Hin where the standard and prices are higher. The least expensive rooms in Cha-Am are mainly located in Soi Bus Station and the surrounding streets. But if you are used to go to bed early, avoid Soi Bus Station. It is very busy at night. The noisiest bars and gogo bars in Cha Am are located in this Soi.
Find accommodation in Cha Am
People often ask me what accommodations I recommend in Thailand, here are my recommandations in Cha Am.
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Practical information about Cha Am
All buses from Bangkok to Hua Hin go to Cha Am. From Hua Hin, bus 420 to Phetchaburi can drop you there in 30 minutes on Phetkasem Road about one kilometer from the seafront. Most hotels and cheap guesthouses are on Ruamjit Road or in the small perpendicular sois. Here, in comparison with Hua Hin, you will not have any trouble to find rooms for 300-400 THB a night. Of course there are also accommodation a little more upscale in this area. Prices are especillay low on week days and often rise on the weekends and holidays because of the large crowd coming from Bangkok. The luxury hotel are a little remote, further in the South. At night, hte most animated area is Soi Bus Station.
To go around you can easily rent bikes everywhere along the beach. And you can also take a shower without returning to your hotel room. There are paying toilets and showers (shower 10THB) at regular intervals, often also offering bicycle rental.
How to go to Cha Am ?
All buses to Hua Hin stop in Cha Am. One bus every hour from the Southern Bus Terminal of Bangkok. There are also many minivans from further in the South or from Bangkok stopping in Cha-Am. More surprisingly, the 816 bus departing from Nakhon Ratchasima can also drop you there. From Hua Hin, bus 420 to Phetchaburi will drop you on Phetkasem Road while minivans to Bangkok will drop you off at Soi Bus Station near the beach. Otherwise, there are only two trains a day stopping in Cha-Am.
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Festivals in Cha Am ?
Here is a list of the main festivals taking place every year in Cha Am. I mention their dates as soon as they are official on
Thai Festivals page.
Cha-Am has a tropical savanna climate. The temperatures there are hot all year round, with only small variations. The year begins with the dry season from December to April, before the monsoon comes in May. The rains slow down somewhat from June to August and are the strongest in September until November.
The best time to come to Cha-Am is from December to April. Then monsoon comes with heavy rainfalls generally quite brief from May to September. It is in October that it rains most in Hua Hin, this is why it is not the best time to come to Cha-Am.
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How to ask in Thai to go to Cha Am ?
I want to go to Cha Am / Yak paï ti Cha Am.
Where is Cha Am ? / Cha Am you ti naï ?
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