i am planning a drive from pattaya to samui. i plan on a stop in bangkok, hau hin then chumpon and maybe prachuap and i want to ask a few questions.

!. where are nice places to stay along the way , cheapish nice bungalow resorts along the coast .

2. can i get boat from chumpon to kao tao or samui or pang na ?

3 . is pratuap kiri khan worth a visit / overnight stay and where , what to see ?

on a budget so no 4-5 star hotels recommendations.

CHEERS .

Stop before the water.

Stop before the water.

What a witty rat!

Cha Am might be a more value for money option than Hua Hin - moderate drive time to explore HH, have dinner and return

Pratchup KK has one of the best natural bays for a resort town (far better than HH) BUT there's not too much else to do there

- best drive from Cha Am to Surat Thani, stay overnight then ferry to Samui the next day

Plenty of accom. options listed on Trip Advisor

I don't think there is a car ferry from Chumpon, (not 100% sure but pretty certain....can anyone confirm?)

You'll probably need to drive to Donsak... where there are choices of ferries,,, Raja, Seatran... 1/2 km from each other and ferries run every hour during the day.

But this creates a bit of a problem trying to see all three islands, if you have a car! Mostly passenger ferries between the islands.... i believe one a day from Samui to Koh Phangan and visa versa....going to / from Nathon Samui.

I am pretty certain to get to Koh Toa, you have to go to Donsak there and back... Unless you leave you car on KP or Samui and do a walk on trip to KT for a day or two... Using Lomprayah or SeaTran, walk on ferries from Maenam or Ban Rak for Seatran, but I am not sure about parking in Ban Rak terminal (Lomprayah Maenam should be no problem, just ask where to park... I leave my bike there with no problem ... If you know how long you will be buy a return ticket to get a discount! (if you need to change return time, I know Lomprayah charges 50 baht...)

I don't think you'll have a problem finding accommodation en route.. lots a pretty decent places at very low prices... signs are usually only in Thai, but fairly obvious ... along the Chumphon to Surat thani and on to Dansak.... road...

Same for accommodation on Samui, especially in the Ban Por to Maenam, area there are fairly good places from 299 baht with no A/C and 500 baht with A/C

Some of these are very close to the beach .... Of course there are many higher priced places too! So many you don't need to pre-book at any price... (usually!)... some areas like Chawang and Lamai, it might be a different story, especially in high season... but that is about done now until Late July August...

Hope this helps a little!

you can also leave your car in chumpon and just take a passenger only ferry to any and all of the kohs.

The Chumphon ferry is a high speed catamaran…no cars…but very fast and efficient. it stops at koh tao….koh phangan and some snorkelling island that people visit for a day trip.

Beautiful scenery and a laid back vibe throughout…you're in for a treat.

A quiet area you might enjoy is Chaya, North of the town of Surathanee on the coast. If you don't want to push on to the ferry you could arrive there (only a few places to stay, some near the beach) and then continue on the next morning. There is a very interesting Chedi there quite close to the highway, this is worth a stop even if continuing on. When you return, a day at Khao Sok National park inland of Surathanee might be of interest.

hua hin area juntima boutique hotel.

The road from Pranburi to Chumphon is basically road works all the way. Lots of contraflows and queuing traffic.