Cycling Thailand: Prachuap Khiri Khan

Pranburi & Prachuap Khiri Khan

I took a couple of days to ride the 190km down to Prachuap Khiri Khan, going a fairly circuitous route. As usual, I tried to ride on quiet side roads, as well as the odd gravel section to avoid any major highways. This was tricky around Hua Hin, where I knew the traffic would be busier, and where I would also have to cross the busy 4 highway.

The first half of the route was the most enjoyable section. The roads were very quiet, crossing through pineapple and banana plantations. Although it was extremely hot, so I stopped a bit more often than usual for refreshments, including at a lively square in Tha Yang.






It's pretty easy to get food and drink in Thailand, but when it is really hot, I've found it is not sometimes so easy to replace electrolytes. Sometimes I would get crisps or peanuts, but they don't actually contain all that much sodium. Coconut water is a good alternative which, as well as sodium, also has a nice balance of potassium and magnesium. I would sometimes drink one bottle and fill up my bidon with another.

There were a few sections on dirt or gravel roads (marked on the route), which always keeps things interesting. The surfaces were very good here and could be ridden on almost any kind of bike (at least in the dry season). Again, this was a typical ride in Central Thailand, there was nothing particularly amazing about the scenery or route, but it was all just extremely pleasant and enjoyable. There was very little traffic, good surfaces and picturesque views throughout.




The section by-passing Hua Hin until Pranburi was the worst part of the ride. After crossing the 4 highway there was a nice section, but before long I had to join slighlty busier and boring roads for around 6km.

There were nice places here to stop for lunch, but I was pleased when I reached the relative calm of the Pineapple Valley hills after around 75km (123km into the total route above).

From Pranburi I joined a nice cycle lane along the Royal Coast Road and then took side roads to my hotel situated close to the beach. I'm not a huge beach person, but this one was quiet and pleasant, aesthetically framed by hills at either end.




The next morning I continued heading south, mostly sticking close to the coast. The first 20km were by far the best part of the ride. There were cycle lanes alongside the beaches (although the roads were so quiet they weren't even necessary), and there were some fantastic views around Ko Kho Ram Island.

After 20km (160km total) the route headed inland and it was a bit disappointing from there. I had been looking forward to riding through the Roi Yot National Park, but it was a fairly featureless road for the most part (I think it's better to explore by foot). The roads were long and straight and, although they were close to the coast, there were no actual views. Pushing into a headwind it was all a bit tedious.

I then had to take a section on the 4 highway (I tried to plot a route through on dirt trails to avoid this, but a new fence blocking access close to the railway line made this impossible). It was very unpleasant riding on the 4 with a lot of fast cars and trucks - fortunately it was only a few kilometres, before I turned off and could join another dull, straight road alongside the railway.

By Thailand standards, it was also quite difficult to get food and drink in this section. There were not so many stands and restaurants as usual, and by the time I got to within 12km of Prachuap, I was in need of water! Fortunately, lots of shops suddenly appeared and the last stretch was very pleasant. I passed the impressive Wat Ai Noi complex and followed a nice cycle lane along the coast. The route finished riding along the beach in Prachuap Khiri Khan which gave a great first impression. I was excited to explore it in the coming three days!

Prachuap Khiri Khan

Prachuap Khiri Khan certainly lived up to my initial impressions and I preferred it to the busier Hua Hin. It's a very laid back place, centered around its seafront and a few parallel streets inland.

On my first full day there I cycled the short distance south to Ao Manao beach. Rather unusually, this is situated inside an air force base, but it is fine for the public to access it - in fact there is a cycle lane through the base to take you straight there! Ao Manao is a very beautiful beach, set in a natural cove surrounded by hills at either end. The water is shallow and clear and the beach itself is very picturesque. There are also plenty of food stands that will deliver a meal or a drink to you at a very reasonable cost. Even though I don't really like lying on the beach too much, I enjoyed spending a few hours there in and out of the water.




The other main attraction in Prachuap is the Wat Khao Chong Krachok - a temple complex situated on a hill to the north of the town. It's a peaceful site, with beautiful views of the coast, as well as some impressive buddha grottoes. The area is also famous for a huge number of monkeys that live at the bottom of the hill and on its slopes. Apparently these can be quite aggressive and people often carry a stick to intimidate them, but they seemed very disinterested in me.

I found Prachaup to have a farily typical atmosphere for a small Thai town. It was extremely laid back and relaxing. There were a few tourists around - mostly an older crowd who were also enjoying the tranquility.



I considered staying at Prachuap for longer than the three days I initially planned, but I was running out of time to get to Bangkok for my flight out. I went to the train station in Prachuap to look at the options, but they told me the only trains that 'might' accept bikes were the ones leaving in the middle of the night, arriving into Bangkok early morning, which didn't sound like too much fun.




Instead, I decided to cycle back up to Hua Hin where I would try to get a bike box to finish the tour. I wanted to take an inland route, hoping it would be quieter and less tedious than parts of the ride into Prachuap. Due to a very strong headwind being forecast, I decided to split the ride into two days to make it more enjoyable, and would stop at a Farmstay roughly half way.





Overall I found this inland route to be much more enjoyable than the coastal route between Prachuap and Hua Hin. The roads were much quieter and I enjoyed the scenery more..

I cycled around 66km on the first day to the farmstay, which felt enough given that there was a pretty strong wind blowing from the north. In theory this was a headwind, but in reality the roads were often quite sheltered or changing direction and so the full force of the wind was only occasionably noticeable.




The ride included some very pleasant sections on gravel trails - one was like riding through a tropical fruit botanical garden. There were fields and orchards with pineapple, coconut, banana, mango and jackfruit all in quick succession. Much of the route was also spent riding on a nice road alongside a canal. Again, this was extremely quiet, apart from the occasional herder with his buffalo.

The farmstay I stayed at was similarly tranquil and beautiful with great som tam and fried rice.



The next ride from the farmstay to Hua Hin would be the final one of my tour. It was only 60km in length, but again was into quite a strong headwind.

I had plotted a route with lots of turns and side roads to avoid the 4 highway, and it worked really well. Most of the side roads were paved and very scenic, and the gravel sections were all easily rideable on my 38mm tyres. Despite the added distance, I'm sure this was a much better route than going on the main road.



I took back roads through Pranbrui before joining a cycle lane alongside the busy 4020 for a short section. Before long I left the main road and continued to the edge of Hua Hin. I took a short gravel climb and followed a rolling road to the Khao Tao Reservoir, where there is a nice singletrack running a short way around the water.




The final part of my route took the cycle lane alongside the 4 highway into Hua Hin. I stopped for lunch next to Khao Takiab beach and then continued to my hotel on the southern part of Hua Hin.

Hua Hin

I had been to Hua Hin before, spending several days cycling around the town. This time I only planned to stay for three nights, before I had to fly out from Bangkok airport.

My only plan in those three days was to get a bike box, pack my bike and enjoy the great food in Hua Hin.




I was able to get a bike box from Hua Hin Bike shop, which was the second one I tried. I think it cost around 250 baht and was a decent Trek Marlin box in good condition. I packed my bike up and spent the rest of the time enjoying Hua Hin.

There is some really great food here. One of my favourite restaurants is Tsunami - which is a kind of seafood buffet place. It has plenty of sushi, as well as loads of scallops, oysters, crab and literally hundreds of other delicious dishes. If you go there having worked up an appetite, you will not be disappointed.

From Hua Hin, I got a transfer (using Hua Hin Transfers) to Don Mueang airport in Bangkok. Everything worked seemlessly, the ride taking around three and a half hours. I flew with Thai Air Asia which is not a great airline, but which does have a very clear bicycle policy (which is not often the case in South-East Asia)! I flew to Hong Kong where I would spend a few days hiking and eating, before returning to Spain.


Part 1 - Ayutthaya to Kanchanbauri


Part 2 - Kanchanbauri to Kaeng Krachan


Central Thailand - Tour Summary


Cycling in Thailand


Cycle Touring Guides