We will be traveling with 2 friends in Thailand in late March for about 7 - 9 days. We are all in our mid-late 30's. We were thinking of a few days in and around Bangkok, and then a few days at the beach. We are looking for a beach town that has a Thai feel to it, not too overdeveloped, but still with good restaurants and interesting places to walk. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

we just came back from Hua Hin about 2.5 hours drive from BKK. Beach OK but the resorts are fab (we stayed at the hyatt regency in a club room) and loved it. Great seafood restuarants all over town.

Check out Khao Sam Roi Yot national park (300 peaks)- South of Hua Hin and north of Prachuap Kiri Khan very scenic and unspoilt and is used mainly by Thias weekending from Bangkok.

I just got back from Koh Chang (about 4.5 hours drive from Bangkok). It was really nice-small little towns with hotels on the beach. It does cater to tourists, but not nearly as much as Phuket and Railey Beach. Very much a Thai feel to it, and kind of off the beaten track (you have to take a ferry to it)

Thanks so much for your responses--Kaley, do you have a recommendation of where to stay in Koh Chang?

we stayed in Barali on koh chang and loved it!!! it is my wifes favorite place in the world, and now that work has us going everywhere thats saying a lot! bob stayed there to and liked it, we both agree that the restuaraunt is nt that great tho.

Some of the major resort areas are popular for a reason - stunning beaches and great weather.

All you really have to do is head up the road about a half an hour and you will have the same thing - but no tourist hoards.

On Phuket, for example - get out of Patong, Kata and Karon - and head up to the "Gold Coast" the Kamala, Surin, and Bang Tao Beach areas.

Try: http://www.phuketgoldcoast.com/

for lots of information including walks through the village areas, birdwatching, local village fish markets, night markets and more.

on the suggestion of travelduo, we stayed at barali and really liked it as well....the area is weak on nice restaurants, but some of the hotels have really nice food....the barali's food we found to be only fair....next door at the tropicana we really liked the food...the best food we had was at the amari emerald cove....it is also a very nice place to stay---the best we saw during our visit...

we also stayed at the hyatt at the same time as smeagol....we also loved it, but we actually liked the regular part of the hotel better than the club part....we stayed two days in each area...i would highly suggest hua hin as a destination...the town is not fabulous but it meets your criteria for 'thainess'...