Baan Krood in Thailand is downright delightful

A brief sojourn in Baan Krood, Thailand.

As I mentioned last week, I have been travelling a lot recently but only locally. I live in Thailand, so local travel is what a lot of people travel around the planet to see (I don’t mean to gloat, we also have the coronavirus and pollution at the moment). In the last couple of weeks we – the Word of Ward family – have decided to have a short trip where we drove up the west side of the Gulf of Thailand. Not a long trip, as work beckoned, but it was long enough to get a taste of that section of coast. It is a part of Thailand that is around 5 hours from Bangkok but sees remarkably few tourists. Our principal plan was to drive direct to Baan Krood and then after a few days, head north to Prachuap Khiri Khan and then Hua Hin and then home to Bangkok. This post is about the absolutely delightful Baan Krood. Please note that you can also take a train there which is hard to do on most islands.

I had heard about Baan Krood from a good friend of mine who does bike tours all over Thailand and named the small town one of his favorite places. His company actually does a tour from Hua Hin to Baan Krood if you are a keen cyclist, so he knows the area well and I have always wanted to visit. (The link is not an affiliate thing but Chris is a mate of mine and I might get a big Chang out of it.)

First thing to note if you are planning to visit, is that like a lot of places in Thailand, the spelling of the place may change, sometimes on signs within a few feet of each other. So Ban Grood, Ban Krut, Baan Grut and so are common. No matter how hard I searched however, there were no Ban Groot signs or you would see an amusing picture of that right now. I went with Google’s spelling because, well, it makes it easier to google. We stayed at the Baan Grood Arcadia and it was nice, central and had a great pool.

Baan Krood is a nice quiet place on a ridiculously long beach. To the north of the town is a headland with a really nice temple on it. (See picture further up.) The views from up top are superb and worth checking out if you can drag your lethargic self from the beach. As an added bonus, the temple is really nice too. If you visit, please remember to wear appropriate clothing for a temple – no vests, for example (although that is a good rule for life). The temple sits on top of the hill and there is also a stupa a bit below.

It’s a nice place that is slightly different from a lot of other temples in that it also has a lot of stained glass. This is not a common thing in a Thai temple and I can’t think of any in temples I have visited in Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam either but it is more than possible that I’m just not that observant.

If you look at the very top picture of this post – that is the view of central Baan Kroot looking south. (So the temple is behind you.) Ahead of you is miles of largely empty beach.

We took a drive south, just to see what was at the promontory bit of land sticking out. If you are driving or cycling, just remember to keep taking the left option and you will be able to see the sea and beach for most of the trip. At the far southern end of the beach is a delightful couple of coves on either side of a monastery. It’s well worth a trip. On one side is an empty bay looking north back up toward town which makes for a good panorama:

On the other side was a really nice spot full of local Baan Kroodians (that might not be the correct term). There are restaurants with delicious seafood lining the beach where parents could pig out while watching their kids play in surf. It was a Sunday, so I don’t know how busy it is normally but it felt distinctly like a place where locals (and it was entirely local) have a family day out.

Baan Krood itself is a quiet place. We went to two bars (the only ones we found) and they both were relaxed and very friendly – one was near the northern part of town called the Gecko Bar (also near the 7-11) and the other was 15 minutes walk to the south called Ae&DaDrink . Both were great. The town has a few small shops and several restaurants. There are also a couple of markets that are interesting – they are mostly near the train station – but it is best to check each day which one is where. The night one we visited was very local and sold things like fresh veg, Baby Yoda T-shirts and meat on sticks. There is also one in the morning where you can get great coffee.

Just to be annoying, it should be mentioned that it is also a delightful place to work.

This is a beach that is on the mainland. So don’t expect the white sands and turquoise seas of the islands. On the other hand, do expect gorgeous golden sands, loads of empty space and a chilled non-touristy atmosphere that is easily reached by bus, train, car or if you have the energy – bicycle. It is just a really nice chilled small town that feels like a place occupied by locals who grew up there. I really liked it a lot.

The whole region is damned pleasant generally and I am somewhat reticent about mentioning it, except for the fact that most people will still head for the islands. But if you have the time, there are lots of lovely places around to cycle and wander. I will be going back.