Leaving Bangkok: five destinations, three ways to get there

1 of 10 · The starting point

Every road in this guide leaves from the same Bangkok crossroads

The camera settles in Watthana district, just north of Sukhumvit: the median point of the 3,235 developments we track in Bangkok, the city's centre of gravity, where you may already live. Five roads leave from here, towards Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Samui, Phuket and Chiang Mai, where we track 3,200 further developments. At each stop, car, rail and air are compared in door-to-door travel time.

2 of 10 · Pattaya

Pattaya is one motorway away from Bangkok

The line heads east and barely leaves Motorway 7: 125.9 of the trip's 139.1 km run on it. Without traffic, it takes 1 h 40 min to reach the heart of the 652 developments we track in Pattaya. Rail is slower: one daily train leaves Hua Lamphong and takes 3 h 39 min to Pattaya station; on Saturdays and Sundays, an express does it in 2 h 28 min. The state bus company runs 6 departures a day from Don Mueang airport. The asking price in Pattaya stands at 53,834 ฿ per m².

Road time without traffic; asking prices, not sales.

3 of 10 · The three-airport line

High-speed rail to the east coast remains a contract, not a line

Three points light up: Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and, beyond Pattaya, U-Tapao. A 220 km high-speed line is meant to link them; its concession was signed in 2019. The CP-led concessionaire gave notice in July that the contract would end on 1 October 2026, and confirmed it in late August; what follows is for the Eastern Economic Corridor policy committee to decide. As of 14 September 2026, nothing had been decided: Asia Era One keeps running the Airport Rail Link until 31 January 2027, when an SRT subsidiary is to take it over. For now, Pattaya is reached by motorway.

4 of 10 · Hua Hin

To Hua Hin, rail offers the choice; the road keeps the lead

The road runs south-west on Rama II, then along the gulf on Phetkasem: 202.9 km, 2 h 43 min without traffic to the 384 developments we track in Hua Hin. Rail offers more choice: 11 trains a day leave Krung Thep Aphiwat, the fastest in 3 h 1 min. Counting the ride to the station and from the station to the developments, the train gets you there in 3 h 35 min. The asking price is 47,774 ฿ per m², the lowest of the seaside destinations in this guide.

Road time without traffic; asking prices, not sales.

5 of 10 · Koh Samui, by air

Samui is an hour's flight away, with planes in close succession

An arc leaves Suvarnabhumi and lands on the island's north-east. On Thursday 1 October 2026, Bangkok Airways schedules 22 direct flights to Samui; the fastest take 1 h 5 min. Add the drive to Suvarnabhumi and the few kilometres from the airport to the developments: you reach the heart of the 284 developments we track on the island in 1 h 48 min in motion.

Time in motion: no airport waiting, no traffic.

6 of 10 · Koh Samui, by land and sea

By road and ferry, Samui is as far as Phuket

The line runs down the peninsula to the Don Sak pier: 713.7 km, 8 h 47 min at the wheel. Raja Ferry runs 15 crossings a day from there to Lipa Noi, and Seatran one an hour to the island; both advertise 1 h 30 min at sea. Once ashore, 29 min remain to the developments: 10 h 46 min in all, barely less than Phuket by road. Rail offers a night on board: the 22:50 train reaches Surat Thani 9 hours later, then coach and ferry bring the trip to 12 h 31 min. The asking price on the island is 66,411 ฿ per m².

Time in motion: no waiting at the pier, no traffic.

7 of 10 · Phuket

Phuket takes a day's drive, or an hour and a half's flight

The longest line on the map: 833.6 km, of which 338.6 on Phetkasem and 171.4 on Route 41, then the bridge onto the island. Without traffic, 10 h 48 min at the wheel to the 1,208 developments we track on the island. The state bus company runs 5 daily departures from Bangkok, 4 of them in the late afternoon. By air, Bangkok Airways schedules 6 direct flights a day, 1 h 30 min each: 2 h 35 min in motion in all. The asking price in Phuket is 82,718 ฿ per m², the highest in this guide.

Time in motion: no airport waiting, no traffic.

8 of 10 · Chiang Mai

To Chiang Mai, the night train turns the journey into a bedroom

Heading north, on Routes 32 and 1, then Route 11 down into the valley: 684.8 km, 8 h 35 min without traffic to the 672 developments we track in Chiang Mai. Rail makes a night of it: 5 trains a day, including the 18:40 night express, which arrives 12 h 35 min later, with two-berth first-class cabins. By air, 4 direct Bangkok Airways flights of 1 h 20 min each get you there in 2 h 4 min in motion. The asking price is 37,291 ฿ per m², the lowest in this guide.

Time in motion: no waiting at stations or airports, no traffic.

9 of 10 · All the roads

Two destinations are a drive, three are a flight

The five lines are drawn together from Bangkok. Pattaya, at 1 h 40 min, and Hua Hin, at 2 h 43 min, are the only two destinations a car reaches in under three hours. For Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket, flying wins clearly: 1 h 48 min, 2 h 4 min and 2 h 35 min in motion, against 10 h 46 min, 8 h 35 min and 10 h 48 min overland. The table gives each one's shortest trip.

Time in motion: no waiting, no traffic.

10 of 10 · At the end of each road

At the end of the five roads, five markets of different sizes and prices

Developments light up at the end of each line. Phuket has 1,208, the largest market outside Bangkok, and the highest price per m², at 82,718 ฿. Then come Chiang Mai, 672 developments at 37,291 ฿, Pattaya, 652 at 53,834 ฿, Hua Hin, 384 at 47,774 ฿, and Samui, 284 at 66,411 ฿. The table sets out each destination's median asking price per m².

Asking prices, not sales.