Hua Hin or Phuket?

Hua Hin has one long stretch of pale sand running south from the old pier to the temple hill at Khao Takiab, with quieter beaches towards Pranburi. The sea is calm for most of the year and easy to swim in, but it is often milky and the beach narrows at high tide.

Phuket is the better beach destination by some distance. It has a whole coast of separate bays, from crowded Patong to Kata, Nai Harn and the empty sweep of Mai Khao, with clearer water and boats out to island beaches. The catch is the monsoon, when rip currents and red flags make its west coast dangerous for months at a time.

Both are good for seafood chosen by weight and grilled, and both have night markets for grazing. Hua Hin's stilted restaurants by the old pier and the Dechanuchit Road market are enjoyable, but the cooking is ordinary provincial Thai, and much of the rest is aimed at long-staying Europeans.

Phuket has the edge because it has a cuisine of its own. Phuket Town serves Hokkien and Peranakan dishes such as thick yellow noodles, pepper-braised moo hong and morning dim sum, along with fiery southern curries. You will need to go into town to find them, because the beach strips serve far more generic food.

Neither is a culture destination, and in both the sights run out within a day or two. The difference is in character. Hua Hin's history is royal, seen in the railway station with its royal waiting pavilion and the teak seaside palace of Maruekhathaiyawan. Phuket's history is commercial, written in the pastel Sino-Portuguese shophouses and clan houses of Phuket Town's tin-boom streets, with Wat Chalong and the Big Buddha out on the island.

Evenings in Hua Hin centre on a few old-town lanes around Soi Bintabaht, full of beer bars and sports screens, plus a handful of sunset rooftops. Most people are back at the resort or the night market well before late.

Phuket has a real party scene. Patong's Bangla Road fills with neon, go-go bars and big clubs that run until dawn, and it is rough around the edges. Away from it there are beach clubs at Bang Tao and Kamala and small shophouse bars in Phuket Town, so the island also offers a choice of mood.

Hua Hin's outdoors are mostly on land. Khao Sam Roi Yot has limestone peaks, marshes and the cave pavilion of Phraya Nakhon, Kaeng Krachan has rainforest with gibbons and hornbills, and from February to May the bay is excellent for kitesurfing.

Phuket comes out ahead because of the sea around it. You can kayak among the limestone towers and lagoons of Phang Nga Bay, and in the dry season boats run to the Similan Islands for some of Thailand's best diving and snorkelling. On land it is more modest, with short rainforest trails at Khao Phra Thaeo and sunset at Promthep Cape.

Hua Hin has the better day trips because history is within reach. Phetchaburi, an hour north, has a hilltop palace, a cave temple lit from above and some of the country's finest temple murals. The floating market at Damnoen Saduak and the canal town of Amphawa make a longer day out.

From Phuket a day out usually means a boat, either to busy Phi Phi or to the quieter Koh Yao islands, or a long drive to Krabi and Ao Nang. These trips are pleasant, but they mostly swap one beach for another rather than giving you a change of scene.

Both work for families who settle into one resort with big pools and a kids' club, and in both Thai people are warm towards children. The main difference is the sea. Hua Hin's Gulf is gentle for most of the year, while Phuket's west-coast shallows are calm only in the dry season and have dangerous rip currents in the monsoon.

For days out, Hua Hin has water parks, sheep farms and the monkeys at Khao Takiab. Phuket adds the aquarium at Cape Panwa, elephant sanctuaries and short snorkelling trips. In both places, busy roads and poor pavements mean most outings start with a car or taxi.

Neither is easy without transport, but Hua Hin is simpler. Its compact old centre between the station, the night market and the pier can be explored on foot, and green shared songthaews run up and down the main road, so many trips need no taxi.

Phuket is a large, hilly island. Its songthaews link Phuket Town to single beaches but not the beaches to each other, and the west-coast bus is infrequent and stops early in the evening. Most visitors end up relying on expensive taxis, and riding a hired scooter on its steep roads is risky.

Hua Hin's best browsing is at the weekend craft markets on the southern side of town, where handmade jewellery, ceramics and clothing are sold from stalls under the trees in the evening. In Phuket the more interesting finds are in the old quarter of Phuket Town. Its shophouses hold small galleries, batik and local design shops, and on Sundays a walking-street market fills Thalang Road, which gives the island a little more character.\n\nBeyond that, the two are much alike. Both have large malls for everyday brands, tailors along the tourist streets and the same souvenir stalls, and neither has fashion or luxury shopping worth planning a trip around.

Hua Hin is the cheaper stay. Market meals, songthaews and hotels with pools cost little, and the main thing to plan around is higher room rates at weekends, when Thai visitors arrive.

Phuket is still good value by Western standards, but costs climb faster. With no real public transport, taxis add up quickly, and beach room rates rise sharply in the December to February peak. The monsoon brings big discounts, but those are also the months when the west-coast sea is at its roughest.

Hua Hin's evenings lean towards music rather than spectacle. There are cover bands in bars and hotel lounges, the odd Thai dance show for resort guests, and a long royal connection to jazz that brings a beach festival in some years. Phuket puts on bigger shows, with large ladyboy cabaret revues and staged cultural evenings for tour groups. The Muay Thai fights in Patong also make a loud night out, though they are a sport rather than a performance.\n\nThere is no regular theatre, classical or concert programme in either place, so anyone who travels for live performance will find little in both.

Both are serious places to rest. Each has residential spas with detox and yoga programmes and massage on almost every street, and neither has a hot-spring or bathhouse tradition.

What differs is how you find the calm. In Hua Hin the whole town moves slowly, so rest comes without effort. In Phuket you base yourself in a quiet corner such as Mai Khao, Nai Harn or the east coast to get away from Patong, and the Muay Thai and fitness camps in Chalong cater to those who would rather train hard than unwind.