Chiang Rai or Hua Hin?

There is no contest here. Chiang Rai lies far inland in the northern hills, so swimming means a hotel pool, a forest waterfall pool or a reservoir on a hot afternoon.

Hua Hin is built around its main beach, several kilometres of pale sand running from the old fishing pier to Khao Takiab. Khao Tao, the pine-shaded Suan Son Pradipat and the empty stretches towards Pranburi are there for quieter days. The Gulf is warm and calm, though the water is often milky rather than clear and jellyfish appear at some times of year.

Both cities eat cheaply and well at their markets, but from different kitchens. Chiang Rai serves northern Thai food: khao soi, nam ngiao, sai ua sausage and chilli dips with sticky rice. It also has a deep café culture, fed by coffee and oolong grown in the surrounding hills.

Hua Hin's strength is seafood, chosen by weight at the stilted restaurants by the pier and grilled or stir-fried with chilli and basil, plus the night market on Dechanuchit Road. It also has more European and resort dining for a longer stay, where Chiang Rai's range runs thin after a few days.

Chiang Rai has the more distinctive sightseeing. The White Temple, the Blue Temple and the Black House are contemporary works unlike anything else in Thailand. Wat Phra Kaew, where the Emerald Buddha was found, adds older Lanna history.

Hua Hin's sights trace its past as a royal seaside retreat: the red-and-cream railway station, the teak palace of Maruekhathaiyawan and the monkey-filled temple hill at Khao Takiab. The main palace is a working residence that visitors can rarely enter, and there are no museums of note, so the sights fill less of a stay.

Neither is a destination for nights out, but Hua Hin has more going on after dark. The lanes around Soi Bintabaht stay lively past midnight with beer bars and sports screens, though the scene there caters largely to older Western men. Rooftop and beachfront bars suit a sunset drink.

Chiang Rai has a short street of small bars near the clock tower playing reggae or acoustic covers, and beer tables at the night bazaar. The town is mostly asleep by midnight, so evenings are dinner and a drink or two.

The two are close here and differ mostly in kind. Chiang Rai is green hill country of forest, farms and villages. Within an hour or so there is the Khun Korn waterfall, trekking through hill-tribe villages and the tea terraces of Doi Mae Salong. A longer drive reaches the sunrise cloud sea on Phu Chi Fa and the broad Mekong at the Golden Triangle. From late winter into spring, smoke from burning fields spoils the views for weeks.

Hua Hin's outdoors is wilder and better for wildlife. An hour south, Khao Sam Roi Yot rises in limestone peaks out of marsh and mangrove, with the cave pavilion at Phraya Nakhon. Inland, the rainforest of Kaeng Krachan shelters gibbons, hornbills and wild elephants. The bay adds kitesurfing from about February to May, though the heat keeps most activity to the early mornings.

Each fills two or three days with outings, though nothing is famous enough to come for on its own. From Chiang Rai the usual loop runs north to the old walled town of Chiang Saen, the Golden Triangle viewpoint and the border market at Mae Sai. The Yunnanese tea village of Doi Mae Salong makes a separate day.

Hua Hin's best outing is Phetchaburi, an hour north, with its hilltop palace, the Khao Luang cave temple and some of Thailand's finest temple murals. Damnoen Saduak and the canal town of Amphawa make a longer day. Hua Hin's trips lean towards palaces and old towns, Chiang Rai's towards border country and hill villages.

Chiang Rai is friendly to children but has little built for them, so a family trip there depends on the sights themselves. The mirrored White Temple and the elephant sanctuaries can hold a child for a morning, and grazing at the night market makes an easy supper. The hill outings suit older children who can cope with hours on the road better than toddlers. With little ones, avoid the smoky months of late winter and spring.

Hua Hin is easier because most of the day happens in one place. The beach, the warm shallows and the hotel grounds are all together, so a tired toddler is never far from a nap. When the sand loses its charm, the sheep farms and storybook European parks inland and the monkeys on Khao Takiab are a short taxi ride away. The drawbacks are the heat around noon and a town laid out for cars rather than prams, with a main road that is hard to cross on foot.

Both are hard work without a car, scooter or driver, for different reasons. Chiang Rai has a small, flat centre around the clock tower, but its temples and hills are spread across the countryside, so tuk-tuks, a hired driver or a scooter do most of the work.

Hua Hin is a long ribbon along the Phetkasem highway. Green songthaews run up and down the strip, but the highway is daunting to cross on foot, and the national parks and Phetchaburi need a car and driver.

Shopping is mostly markets in both, with no design or luxury scene in either. Chiang Rai's night bazaar and the Saturday walking street on Thanalai Road sell hill-tribe textiles, silver and carved wood, and Doi Mae Salong oolong makes the best souvenir. Hua Hin's weekend art-and-craft markets offer handmade jewellery and ceramics under the trees, while its malls and tailors cover everyday needs.

Both are cheap by Western standards, but Chiang Rai stretches a budget further. Guesthouses, market meals and even the garden cafés cost very little, and the main expense is a driver or tours to the sights out of town.

Hua Hin's market food, songthaews and massages are similarly cheap. Costs climb along the beachfront, though, where resorts charge international rates, imported drinks are heavily taxed and Thai weekenders push room rates up on Fridays and Saturdays.

Neither city has a concert, theatre or opera season, so performance should not decide between them. What Chiang Rai does offer is traditional: Lanna dance on the night bazaar stage and khantoke dinners pairing northern food with dancing. Hua Hin's live music is mostly cover bands and resort dance shows, with a long jazz connection through the royal family.

Hua Hin is the better place to rest. It has some of Asia's best-known destination spas, offering detox, yoga and fitness programmes in seafront gardens, a spa in almost every resort and massages under the trees on the beach.

Chiang Rai's appeal is its slow small-town pace, plus something Hua Hin lacks: natural hot springs at Pong Phrabat and Mae Kachan for a simple soak, along with meditation retreats in the countryside. Its smoky season in late winter and spring is the time it feels least restful.