Getting around Cha am beach

Cha am is a fairly spread out town, getting around it is made much easier with some form of transport. The beach road itself is some 6 km long and from the beach it's a further 2 km to the main town with the wet market and shops.

You could spend all your time strolling along the beach road, where you can find all the restaurants, shops and bars you need, but if you want to go anywhere else, especially to see some of the attractions outside of town, some wheels are essential.

Motorbike taxi's are the easiest way of getting around town. They charge about 20 Baht per person for most places in town. If you want to go further afield you will have to negotiate a price. Being a tourist, the drivers may try to charge you a bit more so you will need your negotiating skills.

Taxi's can be organised by your hotel or you can hire one from near the Methavalai hotel or at the bus stop on the main road. They are usually made up of a mixture of cars and minivans, and you wouldn't know they were taxi's apart from the hand written signs. Again, negotiate the price!

Hire your own motorcycle or scooter.

There are plenty of places to hire your own motorcycle along the beach road for about 200-300 Baht per day ( cheaper for longer periods - again you will have to negotiate a price ).

Legally you need an international motorcycle license to drive in Thailand, but it is rarely enforced. Be prepared to pay a bit of "tea money" if stopped.

Also, helmets are a legal requirement too. You will however ( in Cha am ), see very few people wearing them as the police rarely enforce this law. In Hua hin it's a different story. But wear one for safety!

Check if they are insured, and that you have insurance too, otherwise you may be facing a large bill if you do have an accident.

A word of warning

Riding a motorcycle or driving a car in Thailand is very different if you are used to western standards.

Not only do you have to look for hazards in the road, such as large holes, manholes, raised bits of tarmac, unpainted speed bumps, you also have to be very aware of what others (especially motorbikes ) are doing.

Thai motorcyclists tend to drive where they like. They will drive on the wrong side of the road, rarely look for oncoming traffic when doing a left turn, ride drunk and much, much more. All this is often done at high speed.

So, be very careful and ride slowly.

bicycle made for 3 Hire a bicycle. ( the safest and best option )

Getting around on bicycle is a much more relaxing. There are many places to hire bicycles all along the beach road for a few Baht. This is a very popular thing to do for Thais on weekends, when you will see hundreds of people cycling up and down the beach road on bicycles made for 1/2/3/4.

leave getting around for home page