A sleepy seaside town, Prachuap Khiri Khan is a delightfully relaxed place; one of the real jewels of this part of Thailand. The broad bay is a tropical blue punctuated by bobbing fishing boats and there are tremendous beaches close by, all overlooked by honeycombed limestone mountains – scenery that you usually have to travel to the southern Andaman to find.
In recent years, foreigners have discovered Prachuap's charms and begun defecting from the overdeveloped Samui archipelago. Families especially are flocking here. But their numbers are still small compared to better-known destinations, leaving plenty of room on the beaches, at the hilltop temples and the many excellent seafood restaurants.