Chiang Mai or Pattaya?

Chiang Mai has no beach at all. The nearest you get to a swim is Huay Tung Tao reservoir, the quarry lakes on the edge of town, waterfall pools and your hotel's pool, and most people who want sand fly south before or after their stay.

Pattaya puts the sea at the centre of a stay, though you need to choose your beach. The main town beach is better for deckchairs than swimming, Jomtien and Na Jomtien are calmer, and the clearest water is at Tien and Samae on Koh Larn.

Chiang Mai is the better place to eat. Its northern cooking, from khao soi to sai ua sausage and nam prik noom with sticky rice, is a cuisine of its own, served at Warorot market and the Chang Phueak Gate stalls, and the hill-grown coffee gives the city a deep café culture.

Pattaya's strength is seafood, bought by weight on the Naklua waterfront and in the fishing villages to the south. Along Beach Road the cooking is mostly for tourists, but there is a far wider choice of Western and Indian food if you sometimes want a change from Thai.

These two are far apart for sightseeing. Chiang Mai's square old city, ringed by its moat, has Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phra Singh, the silver Wat Sri Suphan and carved teak monasteries on almost every lane, and two or three days of slow walking barely run out of temples.

Pattaya was a fishing village until it became a resort, so it has no old quarter. The Sanctuary of Truth at Naklua is a genuinely striking carved building and Big Buddha Hill is worth the climb, but most of the rest is illusion galleries and wax museums.

Pattaya is the place for a big night out. Walking Street and the beer-bar sois off Second Road stay busy into the small hours, with large dance clubs, rooftop bars and the gay quarter at Boyztown, though the sex trade is hard to miss in the centre.

Chiang Mai's evenings are gentler and finish around midnight: cocktails and craft beer among the students in Nimmanhaemin, backpacker bars near Tha Phae Gate, and Loi Kroh Road as its one brasher strip.

Chiang Mai has mountains right on its edge. Doi Suthep-Pui National Park begins at the western edge of town, Doi Inthanon's cloud forest is about an hour and a half away, and the Mae Taeng valley adds rafting, treks to hill villages and elephant sanctuaries.

In Pattaya the outdoors means the sea: snorkelling off Koh Larn and Koh Sak, dives on wrecked naval ships and kitesurfing at Na Jomtien. The land behind the coast is flat and built up, and the heat makes long walks hard work.

Both have a handful of good outings, but of different kinds. From Chiang Mai they lead into older Thailand: the gilded chedi at Lamphun, the teak mansions and horse carts of Lampang, and craft villages such as Bo Sang. Chiang Rai and Pai work better as overnight stays.

From Pattaya the big trip is Bangkok, a long day there and back, and the others are mostly coastal: Koh Si Chang's old royal palace by ferry from Si Racha, or the white sand of Koh Samet.

Children are equally welcome in both, but the outings differ. Chiang Mai has elephant sanctuaries where children can feed and walk with the animals, plus the zoo on Doi Suthep, the Night Safari and ziplines. Avoid it with young children in the hazy burning season.

Pattaya has big water parks, an aquarium with a tunnel and the Khao Kheow Open Zoo. Families usually stay in Jomtien or at pool resorts, away from the bar streets.

Getting around is equally awkward in both: there is no metro, the pavements are broken and the traffic is heavy. Chiang Mai has the advantage that its quiet old-city lanes are pleasant to walk, while the red songthaews run on flexible routes and the hills call for a scooter or a driver.

Pattaya's songthaews follow a fixed loop along Beach Road and Second Road out to Jomtien and Naklua, which is simple once you know it, but the zoo, gardens and water parks all need a taxi.

Chiang Mai is the better place to buy something worth taking home. The Sunday Walking Street on Ratchadamnoen and the Saturday market on Wualai Road sell hill-tribe embroidery, carved wood and silver, Bo Sang paints paper umbrellas and San Kamphaeng weaves silk.

Pattaya's shopping is practical: air-conditioned malls with chain stores, night markets around Thepprasit full of copies and phone cases, and tailors who will make a suit in a few days.

Both are cheap by Western standards, and Chiang Mai comes out a little cheaper. Street food, teak guesthouses, songthaews and daily massages cost very little, and the temples are almost free. What adds up is the organised trips: sanctuaries, treks and cooking classes.

Pattaya has so many hotel rooms that prices stay low, especially in the wet season, but speedboats, water parks, shows and imported drinks push the bill up, and jet skis and unmetered taxis need a price agreed first.

Neither has theatre, opera or a classical season, so what you find is mainly bars and shows put on for visitors. Chiang Mai's live music has more character: nightly jazz and blues jam sessions near the north gate, khantoke dinners with Lanna dance, and street processions at Yi Peng.

Pattaya's signature is ladyboy cabaret in big theatres, along with rock and pop cover bands playing late on Walking Street and in Jomtien.

Chiang Mai is the more restful place. It is Thailand's best-known city for learning Thai massage, temples such as Wat Umong and Wat Suan Dok run meditation retreats, and the San Kamphaeng hot springs are under an hour away. The pace of the green old-city lanes helps too.

Pattaya has plenty of massage and good resort spas on the Pratamnak headland and in Naklua, but some parlours belong to the nightlife trade, and central Pattaya is loud late into the night.