Photographes à Hua Hin

Hua Hin grew into a resort after the southern railway reached it in the 1910s, and it has kept a gentler, older pace than the islands. The beach faces east, which makes it a sunrise town: the sand runs for kilometres along the bay and the morning light comes in low off the Gulf, ideal for families with early risers. The railway station, a small red-and-cream wooden building, is one of the prettiest in the country and an easy stop on the way in or out. At the southern end of the bay, Khao Takiab — Chopstick Hill — has a standing Buddha about twenty metres tall at the foot of the hill, facing the water, and a resident troop of monkeys best watched rather than fed. About an hour further south, Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park adds limestone peaks and, at the end of a hike, a pavilion inside Phraya Nakhon Cave, lit by sunlight falling through the open roof. The heaviest rain usually falls in September and October, and the cool months from November to February are the most comfortable.