TravelWise with Phil Blizzard

Off-The-Beaten-Path Thailand: Beaches, Bicycles, And Fresh-Baked Bread In Pranburi

• Phil Blizzard

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Looking for Thailand without the noise? We escape to Pranburi, the quiet stretch south of Hua Hin where pine trees shade a coastal bike path, fishing boats rest on the sand at low tide, and breakfast is served with warm, homemade bread and jars of jam made from the market’s best fruit. Joined by Nico, the multilingual “Swiss army knife” behind the Beach Boutique Hotel Resort, we explore how a small seaside property can feel like a hub for authentic travel: eight rooms in a main building, a few bungalows, a palm-framed pool, and a terrace that catches sea breeze and sunrise in one sweep.

We dig into what makes Paknam Pran tick: an honest fisherman’s market where crabs, prawns, and squid are steamed on the spot; scooters-turned-mobile shops tinkling past with ice cream; and low-key bars where the soundtrack is the tide rather than thumping bass. Cyclists will love the dedicated coastal route, a smooth ribbon under pine shade that attracts weekend pelotons and first-timers alike, with quirky coffee stops and temple views along the curve of the bay. For curious travellers, Pranburi doubles as a springboard to nearby highlights—mangroves at Pranburi Forest Park, elephant-spotting in Kui Buri National Park, and the luminous cave temple at Sam Roi Yot.

We also break down the practicalities: the easiest ways to arrive from Bangkok, when to swap a taxi for a train or VIP bus, and why many guests base here and dip into Hua Hin only when they want bustle. It’s a portrait of slow travel done right—where connection, routine, and place matter more than checklists. If you’re craving real Thai coastal life with room to breathe, press play and plan your ride by the pines.

Enjoyed the journey? Follow the show, share it with a travel friend, and leave a quick review so more explorers can find authentic Thailand.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Travelwise and this Travelwise Vignette, a short snappy podcast with under 10 minutes duration, giving you useful information, travel tips, and more about a particular destination, a resort hotel, airline, and even cruise liners. So let's get traveling with Travelwise as we head south of Bangkok to the coast of Pramburi where the beaches are pristine, the sunsets are fiery, and the vibes are chill. So grab a Chang beer as we go off the beaten track with Phil Blizzard. We're diving into the heart of Pramburi, exploring the best spots, insider secrets, and local experiences that'll make your trip unforgettable.

SPEAKER_03:

Travel wise with Phil Blizzard. News, views, and interviews.

SPEAKER_01:

Travel wise off the beaten track down in southernish part of Thailand, down at Kau Kao Lok. And my favorite hotel, my featured hotel, is the Beach Boutique Hotel Resort. And um with me is the general manager, owner, uh it does everything here. Nico, nice to be talking to you.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's uh Swiss army knife.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, things I remember are so many, and one of the fondest memories is what waking up to the lovely aromas of freshly baked bread. And who's the baker for that? Who's the baker?

SPEAKER_02:

I'm usually do-its, but now I teach also my team to do it. They are able to do it perfectly. Just Ning here, she do it's even sometimes better than me.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so I want to talk a little bit about the the resort, the range of rooms you've got, facilities, and also the type of travelers, and also the location and uh how you uh ended up here running this this lovely resort. I mean you're luckyly lucky. Luckily, yeah. You you speak French. Well, you are French, aren't you?

SPEAKER_02:

You speak I'm all French, half Italian, so I speak French, Italian, a little bit of English, yeah, yeah, yeah. And some words of German, a little bit of Spanish also.

SPEAKER_01:

I was trying to teach you Welsh, but I think I'm trying.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. I I have a survival tie. Um so the location. Yeah. So we're nearby the fishermen markets, yeah. Uh by the sea, uh near the temple of Kalkalok, um in the little town called Paknamphan. Yeah. Uh it's a nice authentic uh Thai town.

SPEAKER_01:

It is, isn't it? It it's real Thai. Um a few well.

SPEAKER_02:

If you guys tend to be more sort of travelers rather than sort of tourists, there are some tourists around, um but most of the tourists concentrate in the big city on the north called Wahin. Yeah, Wahin. Uh it's a more authentic city. You will no find the usual uh image of Thailand that's tourists have like uh crazy bars. Uh no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01:

Complete opposite, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02:

There are some bars, but there are normal bars where you can have a drink.

SPEAKER_01:

Um I sat with you on your terrace where you served breakfast and the uh wonderful bread, and you have a reputation for a nice range of homemade jams.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I do my my jam myself. Uh depending on the fruit I find on the markets. I I try to do some jam with uh local fruits, but as I have also a lot of foreigners, I also do classic ones like strawberry or red berries, apricots, fruits. I need I need to satisfy everybody.

SPEAKER_01:

Of course, we got bikes going around, uh motorbikes and scooters, but a lot of cyclists come by, don't they? You got people who are trying it for the first time, maybe, and a lot which look like professionals, they got all the kit on, they got lightweight bikes, they come along with a peloton.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, there are a lot of uh cycling clubs uh around, and the cycling road here is very well known and very nice. You can go from Wine to here, but using only cycling roads, yeah. And it's quite famous for a cycling.

SPEAKER_01:

I see you're on a tricycle. I don't give the game away. Tricycle, yeah. Um to the right, you got the the road and you got a cycleway, and you got these lovely what?

SPEAKER_02:

Pine trees alongside the shelter. Pine trees, you can along the beach ride your bicycle. Uh under the shadow of the pine trees, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Lovely, fantastic. And a few little quirky coffee shops along the way. And you go fine if you get to the mountains at the end of the bay. So uh and you can sleep here. And you sleep here. You can sleep here. You need to sleep after a long pedal like that. And as you said, the fishing village over there, those boats are going out.

SPEAKER_02:

Fishing village, you have some you have some market also in town. Yep. Just authentic market, Thai markets. You just you will not find a uh souvenir or things like that there.

SPEAKER_01:

It's real Thailand, and uh, okay, and the tide is out.

SPEAKER_02:

It's low Thai now. Yeah. So you have uh some fishermen boats lying on the sand, and it's quite nice.

SPEAKER_01:

It's very nice. Yeah. And a backdrop of the mountains as the bay curves to the right.

SPEAKER_02:

I I used to say you you're sitting in in my office. Yeah. It's a lovely office by the sea, just uh amazing view. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um nobody can take it. It's difficult to make people imagine what kind of view is.

SPEAKER_01:

We're creating a picture, so we've got the uh on the on the left hand side, and at the bottom of that, the fishing boats all sort of moored on the sand at the moment, and there's a little uh restaurant in the corner, seafood restaurant, and then coming to where we are, as you said before, the seafood market, the fish market. Yes, fish market, which is rams-hackled stands really.

SPEAKER_02:

You you you uh on fisherman market, you've been fresh. Most of the things you find is crabs because a lot of Thai people love crabs, uh, shrimps, queds, that's the most common product you find. They can steam it for you, yeah, so you can eat it uh on site.

SPEAKER_01:

As we were talking there, you might have heard the motorized sound, not this one, that's a big truck going by, but a small one. It was a it was a scooter, it was a mobile shop because it's got uh a panion on the side and it is selling ice creams and uh other delights like that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, some some some Thai little scooters come here and they sell ice cream or food, any you can find anything.

SPEAKER_01:

Now we're looking out to see what we haven't spoken about is what's behind us, and that's the the the hotel, of course. Great swimming pool in a very tropical setting, all sorts of trees.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh we have we have a main building um with eight rooms. Um we have also three other bungalows with two rooms in each bungalow, um and a big pool. Yeah. Well I saw you swim many times.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, done a fair few less. Did enjoy that, and then sort of stretched out on the sun bed uh under the shade of the tree.

SPEAKER_02:

Next time, please put uh a swimsuit.

SPEAKER_01:

I forgot. I left that behind cheeky cheeky, none of that sort of stuff here. So, yeah, a brilliant setting behind. And uh uh rustic, real authentic is how I would describe your results.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, yes. The world is authentic, yeah. Um and it's uh loved by Thai people here uh during the low season, and um we can a lot of Thai people come here. Just uh they like and they enjoy this area. They prefer here than stay in Wahin. Yeah, that's the business and the hustle and bustle of the commercial. I know some people who discover this region and could not go away anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, exactly. I will not say mentioning names, but uh back and forth, third time in a matter of five or six weeks. So that says how good it is. And one final thing, really, uh before I say thank you to you. To get here, it's about on the road driving down coach and whatever, four hours, four and a bit hours from Bangkok.

SPEAKER_02:

It's about yes, four hours from Bangkok. So best way to come here, just rent a taxi. Yeah, that's the best way. But if you cannot afford a taxi, you just uh take uh a van, minivan, bus or train till Wahin and then come with a grab.

SPEAKER_01:

Or from Bangkok Airport, get the VIP bus, which is like flying business class, but at uh road level. Yeah, declining it, fantastic.

SPEAKER_02:

But uh, the experience of train is very nice here in Thailand. You should try once. I did it.

SPEAKER_01:

Many years ago from Singapore came up here, copied by old ladies with chickens and all sorts of uh animals and vegetation as part of their luggage. So that's another story. But uh fabulous. Oh, by the way, if you go south from here for about eight hours, you'll get to the port for go Samui, won't you?

SPEAKER_02:

Um if you go south, okay. Yes, going south you find some royot with a cave. Okay, it's a temple in the cave, which is uh one of the most famous attractions there. You find Kuiburi National Park. Yeah. Just on north, you find a mangrovia with um in the Pranbury Forest Park.

SPEAKER_01:

So there we are. Tourist guy, Swiss Army knife when it comes to running the hotel. A man has so much information and uh passion for his work and passion for his guests. I want to say thank you so much. I hate my guests.

SPEAKER_02:

No, I absolutely don't say lies about please, please.

SPEAKER_01:

Nico, Nico, look at my watch because we're on tie time. My taxi to take me up to uh Hwahin and then on to Bangkok. Should have been here about seven or eight minutes ago. But this is Thai time. Are you sure you want to leave? I don't want to leave. I know. So okay. Messi.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks for being my guest. Thank you very much. Kopkumakra. Thank you very much. Thanks for being my guest. So a lovely guest. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03:

Travel wise with Phil Blizzard.

SPEAKER_01:

News, views, and interviews. And if you'd like to have your own podcast, do drop me an email on PhilBlizzardmedia at gmail.com. A PhilBlizzard Radio Production. Available on Apple, Amazon, Engami, Spotify, Deezer, and all good podcast channels, and also now on YouTube.