Hua Hin or Siem Reap?

This is the clearest difference between the two. Hua Hin has several kilometres of pale sand running south to Khao Takiab, warm and usually calm water, and quieter stretches towards Pranburi. The sea is milky rather than clear and the sand narrows at high tide, but this is a proper beach town.

Siem Reap is far inland, and the Tonle Sap is a muddy working lake, not a place to swim. Swimming there means the hotel pool, which is welcome after the temples but is no substitute for the sea.

Hua Hin eats better for most visitors, mainly because of the sea. You can choose crab, squid and whole fish by weight in the stilt restaurants by the old pier, and the night market on Dechanuchit Road is reliable. It is good provincial Thai cooking rather than a reason to go.

Siem Reap's Khmer dishes, such as fish amok and num banh chok, are less familiar, and a handful of kitchens rework them in tasting menus. The catch is that backpacker pizza dominates the centre around Pub Street, so the good meals take more finding.

Here Siem Reap is in another league. The Angkor temples begin a short tuk-tuk ride from town, from Angkor Wat itself to the root-split galleries of Ta Prohm, and the Angkor National Museum gives useful context first. Three days there is not too many.

Hua Hin's interest is its royal seaside past: the red-and-cream railway station, the teak palace of Maruekhathaiyawan and the hilltop temple at Khao Takiab. That makes a pleasant morning or two rather than the purpose of a trip, and there are no museums worth the name.

Neither town has clubs, and in both the night out is packed into a few blocks. Siem Reap's Pub Street has the slight edge for a sociable evening, with a young backpacker crowd, cheap draught beer, music spilling into the street and quieter wine bars along the river.

The lanes around Soi Bintabaht in Hua Hin are a different scene of beer bars, sports screens and hostess bars aimed at older Western men. The rooftop and beachfront bars at sunset are the better choice there.

Hua Hin has more countryside worth heading out into. The limestone peaks of Khao Sam Roi Yot and the sunlit cave pavilion at Phraya Nakhon are an hour away. Kaeng Krachan shelters gibbons and wild elephants in its rainforest, and the windy months bring good kitesurfing.

Siem Reap is flat paddy country, best for cycling between villages and for boat trips to the storks and pelicans of Prek Toal. The waterfall on Phnom Kulen and the riverbed carvings at Kbal Spean are the closest it comes to hills.

Both have good days out, but of different kinds. Hua Hin's are about Thai towns and markets: the hilltop palace and lit cave temple at Phetchaburi, and further north the floating market at Damnoen Saduak and the canals of Amphawa.

From Siem Reap nearly every outing means more temples, from the fine pink carving at Banteay Srei to the overgrown ruins of Beng Mealea, plus the stilt villages on the Tonle Sap. No other town is close enough for a comfortable day there and back.

Hua Hin is set up for families in a way Siem Reap is not. Beyond the resort there are the themed sheep farms and mock-European parks inland for younger children, pony rides on the sand and the monkeys on Khao Takiab. Most families stay in one resort and go out by car or taxi, because the main highway has few safe crossings and the midday heat drives everyone back to the shade.

Siem Reap makes a cheap family base, since a family room with a pool costs little, and Cambodians are just as warm towards children. For children who like adventure, tuk-tuk rides, walkways through the collapsed halls of Beng Mealea and boats to the stilt villages are the entertainment. Avoid March to May if you can, when the heat is heaviest, and keep the temples to the mornings.

Hua Hin is a long ribbon of resorts along the Phetkasem highway, many kilometres from end to end, while Siem Reap's centre around the Old Market and the river is small enough to cross on foot. In Hua Hin the green shared songthaews running up and down the strip are the easiest way along it. The highway is daunting to cross, and the national parks and Phetchaburi need a car and driver.

Siem Reap has no public transport, but tuk-tuks wait on every corner, and hiring a driver for the day is the usual way round Angkor. The flat temple circuits also suit a bicycle or e-bike. In both towns, broken pavements and the heat mean you will be driven more than you walk.

The two differ less in how much there is to buy than in what you take home. In Hua Hin the most enjoyable shopping is at the weekend craft markets on the southern side of town, with handmade jewellery and ceramics under the trees in the evening. Its large malls and the tailors on the tourist streets also make it the easier place to replace something you forgot to pack.

Siem Reap is stronger on things made locally. In its workshops and social enterprises you can watch silk weaving, stone carving and lacquerware being made, and the quality is far above the market stalls. The Old Market adds kramas, spices and silver, and bargaining is expected there.

Both are cheap by Western standards, but your money goes further in Siem Reap. Guesthouses with pools, Khmer meals and a tuk-tuk driver for a whole day at the temples all cost very little. The Angkor pass is the one large expense.

Hua Hin is also good value for market meals, songthaews and massages. The beachfront resorts charge international rates, though, and Thai weekenders push up room rates on Fridays and Saturdays.

Siem Reap has at least two evenings worth planning: classical apsara dance, best seen at the smaller and more serious performances rather than the buffet halls, and the contemporary Cambodian circus with its acrobats and live music. Hua Hin offers little beyond cover bands and resort dance shows, despite its long link with jazz.

Hua Hin is the better place simply to rest. It has residential destination spas with detox and yoga programmes, a spa in nearly every resort and massages under the trees on the beach. The days take an easy shape of early swims, long lunches and quiet evenings.

Siem Reap does massage well and cheaply, with Khmer herbal compresses in the hotel spas and yoga classes easy to find. There, though, rest has to fit around early temple starts, and the streets around Pub Street are noisy at night.