Chiang Rai or Pattaya?

Only Pattaya offers a beach vacation. Chiang Rai lies far inland in the northern hills, so swimming there means a hotel pool or a cool pool below a forest waterfall.

Pattaya's main beach is better for deckchairs than swimming, with cloudy water and jet skis. Jomtien is calmer, though, and the ferry to Koh Larn reaches clear sea at Tien and Samae. The water stays warm all year.

The two are close for eating, but the cooking is different. Chiang Rai is the place for northern dishes such as khao soi, nam ngiao and sai ua sausage, eaten cheaply at the night bazaar and the walking-street markets, with hill-grown coffee in garden cafés as a bonus.

Pattaya's strength is seafood, chosen by weight on the Naklua waterfront and in the fishing villages to the south. It also has far more international food for long-stay visitors, though the quality is patchy. Neither city has much fine dining.

Chiang Rai has much more to see. Its modern temple art is unlike anything on the coast: the white plaster and mirrored glass of Wat Rong Khun, the sapphire Blue Temple and the dark teak halls of Baan Dam. Wat Phra Kaew and the Lanna temples add older history.

Pattaya grew from a fishing village and has almost no historic architecture. The carved teak Sanctuary of Truth at Naklua is well worth a visit, but beyond Big Buddha Hill the attractions are illusion galleries and wax museums.

Chiang Rai's evenings are modest: a short street of small bars near the clock tower and beer tables at the night bazaar, with no clubs to speak of and the town asleep by midnight.

Pattaya is in another league. Walking Street, the beer-bar sois off Second Road, big dance clubs and rooftop bars keep going into the small hours. The sex trade is a visible part of much of this, so couples who want quieter nights tend to stay in Jomtien or Naklua.

Chiang Rai is the stronger choice outdoors. The Kok River valley is ringed by forested ranges, with waterfalls such as Khun Korn, hill-tribe trekking, the tea terraces of Doi Mae Salong and sunrise over the clouds at Phu Chi Fa. Go in the cool months, because the spring smoke spoils the views.

In Pattaya, the outdoors is mostly offshore: snorkelling around Koh Larn and Koh Sak, dives on sunken naval ships and kitesurfing at Na Jomtien. Inland the land is flat and built up, and the heat limits walking.

Both have a fair range of outings, but of different kinds. From Chiang Rai the trips head into the border country: the walled town of Chiang Saen, the Golden Triangle above the Mekong, the market at Mae Sai and the Yunnanese tea village of Doi Mae Salong.

Pattaya's big outing is Bangkok, about two hours away. It makes a long day but brings the royal palace and the riverside temples within reach. Koh Samet's beaches and the small island of Koh Si Chang are the coastal alternatives.

Pattaya has more for children. Water parks on the edge of town, an aquarium with a walk-through tunnel and the night safari at Khao Kheow Open Zoo can fill several days, as long as you stay in Jomtien, away from the bar streets.

Chiang Rai welcomes children but has little built for them beyond the open space of Singha Park and the elephant sanctuaries. Long drives to the sights and the smoky spring also count against it.

Chiang Rai's centre around the clock tower, the night bazaar and the bus station is small and flat enough to cover on foot, but the temples and hills lie well outside it. Days out depend on tuk-tuks, songthaews, a hired driver or a scooter, though a local bus does run south to the White Temple.

Pattaya stretches along the coast instead, and the shared songthaews that loop Beach Road and Second Road and run out to Jomtien and Naklua cover most of a beach stay once you know to flag one down. Walking is harder there, with broken pavements and heavy traffic, and the zoo, the gardens and the water parks still need a taxi.

Chiang Rai's shopping happens at markets. The night bazaar and the Saturday walking street on Thanalai Road sell hill-tribe textiles, silver and carved wood, and oolong from Doi Mae Salong or hill-grown coffee makes the best thing to take home.

Pattaya is a little easier for practical shopping, with large air-conditioned malls on Beach Road and Second Road and tailors who will make a suit or shirts in a few days. Its night markets lean towards clothes and branded copies rather than local craft, and there are few boutiques in either town.

Both are cheap, but your money goes further in Chiang Rai. Guesthouses, market meals and garden cafés cost very little and many temples charge little or nothing to enter, though drivers and tours to the outlying sights add up.

In Pattaya, a large surplus of rooms keeps hotels cheap, especially in the wet season. Beachfront resorts, imported drinks, speedboat trips and water parks push the bill up, and jet ski and taxi prices need agreeing before you set off.

Neither city has a theatre or concert season, and Pattaya has more to watch. Chiang Rai's performances are small and traditional: Lanna dance on the night bazaar stage, khantoke dinners and music at temple festivals and Loy Krathong.

In Pattaya, ladyboy cabaret plays nightly in large theatres, dinner shows add Thai dance and martial arts, and cover bands fill Walking Street. It is entertainment staged for visitors rather than a local arts life.

For rest the two are level, but the setting differs. Chiang Rai's calm comes from the town itself, slow and quiet, with massage on every street and simple hot-spring pools at Pong Phrabat and Mae Kachan, though the smoky spring breaks the spell.

Pattaya has fuller spas at the resorts in Naklua, Na Jomtien and on Pratamnak, but the centre stays loud late into the night. How restful a stay is depends on where you sleep, and there is no hot-spring tradition.