Welcome to Chanthaburi!

Chanthaburi should be a must-visit destination if you are travelling overland East from Bangkok into Cambodia. A stop here also conveniently breaks up the route to the idyllic islands of Ko Chang and Ko Kut but Chanthaburi is definitely worth a visit in its own right. In fact, we decided to go out of our way to visit Chanthaburi and I’m really glad we did. I hope you find my Chanthaburi itinerary useful for planning your own trip.  Especially if you’ve got young children – H and Zizi were 4 and 2 when we enjoyed Chanthaburi.

This is the view back across the waterfront from the bridge across to Chanthaburi Cathedral.

Chanthaburi is an intriguing and interesting town to visit because it’s so different to other places in Southern Thailand.  This is why we ventured out of our way – choosing a Chanthaburi focussed mini-loop from Bangkok, taking in some beach-time in Mae Pim and North Pattaya.  Other than Bangkok, so much of South Thailand is about beaches and we wanted to experience this inland town popular with Thai tourists.  After our incredible trip to Krabi, Ko Lanta and Bangkok and enjoying the beaches of Mae Phim, we were ready for a change.

So why Chanthaburi? I was craving two things: a more traditional glimpse of Thailand away from the beaches, and a jungle trip for H and Zizi to experience a walk amongst tropical plants and trees. Chanthaburi offers both and we had a fantastic two days in Chanthaburi.

Our 2 days in Chanthaburi itinerary is further down this page, but the following Chanthaburi highlights show why it’s a great destination for all ages.

This Cuban style mural of ‘Floridita’ shows some of the quirkiness of Chanthaburi. The funky cafes often mirrored this style.

Perhaps the most famous woman associated with Chanthaburi is Queen Sunandha Kumariratana (1860-1880). She was one of King Rama V’s four wives (and also his half-sister!)

The Queen absolutely loved Pliew Waterfall in what is now Namtok Phlio National Park. Tragically when the Queen was pregnant with her second child she drowned in a boating accident.

The strange twist to the tale is that she only drowned because she was a member of the revered royal family. By law, commoners were not allowed to touch members of royalty. When the Queen’s boat capsized, the Queen’s guards refused to let any of the many onlookers rescue her and tragincally, she drowned in front of the crowd.

Although Queen Sunandha didn’t drown within Namtok Phlio National Park, the park is associated with her because it is here that King Rama V built a memorial stupa to her and lay some of her ashes to rest. The now moss-covered stupa and a statue of the late Queen still stand within the national park.

There were a few monuments to the former Queen in Namtok Phlio National Park.

Our Great Family Chanthaburi Highlights

Chanthaburi Highlight #1:  Chanthaburi has a strong Chinese heritage and this is evident in the wooden architecture, Chinese temples and cramped alleyways.  Walking along Chanthaboon Waterfront is a real treat.  There is so much to look at as you peep into people’s open-fronted houses and shops such as craftsmen painting lanterns, mechanics working away on motorbikes and ladies cooking all sorts of delicious-smelling Thai food. We ambled up and down this street umpteen times during our Chanthaburi itinerary to absorb as much as we could.

You have to dodge the motorcyclists along Chanthaboon Waterfront!

Chanthaburi Highlight #2:  Although it is touristy, Chanthaburi offered a break from the usual Western backpacker and holiday routes.  Instead, the vast majority of the visitors were Thai.  As virtually the only white faces in town, I felt like I was off-the-beaten-track.  H and Zizi were treated like royalty with everyone stopping to say ‘Hi’ or for a quick photo. It seemed like every Thai kid wanted to play with H and Zizi too, which was great for them.

This local child loved showing off his dragon costume to an entertained H and Zizi.

Chanthaburi Highlight #3:  Chanthaboon Waterfront backs on to the river that runs through the centre of town.  The buildings overlooking the river are all constructed from dark wood and are perched on stilts.  The river views back across these buildings are spectacular and define my mental image of Chanthaburi.

The wooden buildings on stilts housed many cafes and restaurants along Chanthaboon Waterfront.

Chanthaburi Highlight #4: H and Zizi had an amazing time at Namtok Phlio National Park where we could do a short jungle walk. We followed the river where they both loved climbing the rocks and looking at the abundance of fish in the pools.  Our destination was the Pliew waterfall where there is a very large pool where we took a swim.  The pool has hundreds of fish in it and many had a nibble on our skin.  This put H and Zizi off a bit but all the older children around were fine.  It was a wonderful experience for Rhino and I too; despite having done similar treks and swims in the past, we had never swum with so many fish in such a setting before.

Rhino had to hold H and Zizi who were a bit overwhelmed by the quantity of fish. What a setting for a swim!

Our Chanthaburi Family Travel Tips

• H and Zizi were 4 and 2 when we did the jungle walk at Namtok Phlio National Park. There is an electric car to take you to the start of the walk and much of the walk itself is paved. Therefore it’s an incredibly easy walk to do with young children – H and Zizi managed it with no problems.  They were so excited they didn’t ask to be carried at any point to and from the waterfall.

H and I loved clambering over rocks on this wild trail, with Zizi not far behind.

• Our guidebook didn’t contain Chanthaburi. Choosing good restaurants to eat in was easy though as the reviews on Google were up-to-date.  The majority of the cafes and restaurants were family friendly.  In fact, everyone seemed to love having our kids eat at their place.

• Apart from dodging the motorbikes(!!!), Chanthaburi felt a very safe place to walk around. Half of the fun was walking up interesting looking alleys to see what we might find. Quite often a Chinese Temple!

There are a few Chinese Temples in Chanthaburi. You just need to go wandering in the backstreets to find them.

• Chanthaburi was very hot when we visited in April. Namtok Phlio National Park offered shade and the chance for a swim so the intense sun wasn’t an issue there.  But it did sap H and Zizi’s energy when we were visiting Chanthaburi town during the day.  Luckily I’d thought about this in advance and booked a hotel with a swimming pool.  This gave us a refreshing cool-off plus kept the H and Zizi occupied in the run-up to dinners.

We stayed on the edge of town and the river and mountain views from our hotel were spectacular.

• Since H and Zizi were only 4 and 2, travelling by public transport isn’t the most relaxing thing to do! Our hotels in Mae Phim (previous stop) and Chanthaburi were able to easily organise us private taxi transfers to our next destinations at standard prices. Taxi transfers were a really convenient and affordable way to travel around as a family.

Our 2 days in Chanthaburi itinerary

Day 1:  It was a Sunday and there is a gem market in Chanthaburi on weekends so we chose to spend our first day in Chanthaburi town.  H and Zizi weren’t really interested in the gem market though, so we only had a quick walk up that street.

The Chinese Temples were generally empty so we could relax and explain a bit to the kids about what it was.

The rest of our day was spent meandering around the town at Chinese temples, surprisingly funky cafes, the fascinating Chanthaboon Waterfront and seeing the local Cathedral which is the largest in Thailand.  The Cathedral was interesting as it was like reverse tourism for us – the Thai tourists seemed really interested in the architecture which we found typical, which is the complete opposite of when we fawn over their temples.

The Thai tourists flocked to Chanthaburi Cathedral. It must be really unique for them.

Day 2:  The morning was all spent at Namtok Phlio National Park which was wholly enjoyable for all of us.  The trek is relatively short but is exciting with rocks to clamber over plus fish and jungle foliage to see on the way.  We cooled off by swimming with the fish at Pliew waterfall, which I loved. After a quick afternoon dip in our hotel pool, we returned to Chanthaburi town for a riverfront dinner and to enjoy those spectacular views and an amble up Chanthaboon Waterfront one more time.

H and I loved clambering over rocks on this wild trail, with Zizi not far behind.

Comments Welcome! Help other families have a great time in Chanthaburi

Welcome to the World for a Girl community. Please share your own ideas and thoughts about Thailand family travel and Chanthaburi. Do you agree with our Chanthaburi highlights or do you have others to add? What changes might you recommend to our 2 days in Chanthaburi itinerary? Have you done a similar Chanthaburi itinerary?

You can see one of the Chinese Temples poking out above the start of Chanthaboon Waterfront