Rayong

History

Rayong, on Thailand’s eastern Gulf coast, is known for its quiet beaches, fishing towns, and strong local identity. While it’s less touristy than places like Pattaya, that’s exactly what makes it appealing — especially if you’re after a more down-to-earth coastal escape.

The area has a long history, once tied to old Khmer trade routes and later used as a base during the Ayutthaya period. Today, visitors come for beaches like Mae Ramphueng and for island trips to Ko Samet, which offers white sand and clear water just a short boat ride offshore.

In town, you’ll find relaxed markets, seafood restaurants, and a few surprises — like a reclining Buddha at Wat Pa Pradu that faces the “wrong” way, and old neighborhoods like Yomjinda Road where wooden shophouses still line the street. Rayong also produces some of the country’s best tropical fruit, so come hungry.

When to go

Most of Thailand falls in to the generic high and low season categories, including Rayong.

High season - begins in November and runs through to February, bringing cooler temperatures, lush greenery from the previous months of rain, good air quality, and less rain. The downside is larger crowds and sometimes higher prices for tours, flights and accomodation.

Low season - begins in July and runs through to October. During low season the temperatures are higher, the chance of rain and storms are higher. That doesn't mean it's a bad time to visit though, if you can be flexible, there are deals to be found on flights and accomodation.

While it's always hot in Rayong, the small change in temperature between high and low season can be just enough that the heat isn't unbearable when out and about.

Need more? Read our post discussing the best time to visit Thailand.

Where to stay

Instead of recommending hotels, we think it will be more useful to share our process so you can pick based on your own critera for location, budget and style.

We always start our search on either Booking.com or Agoda. They have an easy to user interface and have some extra benefits for "Genius" and "VIP" users. You can also sometimes pay with credit card in advance if you're playing the cashback or air miles game.

Process:

1. Search for specific province, city or town.
2. Apply rating filters for a minimum rating or either 7, 8 or 9.
3. Apply other filters: budget, fitness, breakfast, etc.
4. If you have a specific location in mind, use map view to browse and make a final selection.

If there are too many properties available to choose from, increase the rating filter for less, higher rated selections.

Final notes: Prices are dynamic. Check the same hotel on both Booking.com and Agoda to see which has the best deal at any given time (go through to checkout to make sure all VAT and service charges are factored in). You can go one step further by calling the hotel and checking the price for booking directly. In our experience this saves money 50% of the time but you have less guarantees.