I want to get out of Bangkok for the weekend, what is the beachside town of Bang Saen like?
Sassy Not Classy, Dec 27, 2007
Not a bad beach, lots of food vendors and junky tourist crap. Near the end is a pier with a really good seafood restaurant.
As for what to do, well.. it’s a small town. There’s a fairly large university though, so there’s no shortage of young people. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays there is a night market in the parking lot of the strip mall that the church is in. Also in that strip mall is a karaoke bar called 420 MaryJane, which I didn’t get to check out. On the weekends there is a market called Chonburi Chatuchak, which is no where near the size of it’s Bangkok counterpart but is definitely worth checking out if you like shopping as much as I do. About 30 minutes away is Sri Racha Tiger Zoo. It’s an interactive zoo where you can feed tigers and taunt crocodiles with chickens on a fishing line, among other things. All in all, it’s good for a weekend beach getaway since it’s only an hour from Bangkok, but there isn’t a whole lot to do when you live there.
Sassy Not Classy, Dec 26, 2007
It’s pretty much halfway in between Bangkok and Pattaya. The beach is ok, it’s a weekend beach town for Bangkok businessmen and their families, for the most part. It’s actually worth checking out for Wat Saen Suk. It’s called the Heaven & Hell temple and has giant statues depicting what will happen if you sin/ don’t make enough merit. If you do stop in, you can rent huts across the street from the beach for ridiculously cheap (even for Thailand). Also since there’s very few foreign tourists, prices on everything are very, very cheap. I lived there for 3 months (rent free) and shopped enough to fill a giant suitcase, took 2 day trips to Bangkok a few times, as well as Pattaya and Poi Pet (ewww) ate out every meal and managed to only spend 600 CDN. If you’re looking for a cheap beach town, this is it.
