Thung Wua Laen Beach, Chumphon

Thung Wua Laen is the best known beach in Chumphon province, a long arc of sand on the Gulf coast about fifteen kilometres north of the town. It is broad, shallow and almost entirely free of the development found further south.

Chumphon is where most travellers change between the night train or bus and the boats to Koh Tao, and the beach is what to do with the day in between. There are a few resorts and seafood restaurants along it and little else.

Offshore islands and coral make Chumphon a quiet dive area in its own right. The town itself is also the site of the shrine to Prince Chumphon, the father of the modern Thai navy.