Kantary Bay Rayong Hotel, Thailand

As a long-term business stay in what's known as Thailand's eastern seaboard economic zone, or, as an overnight stay on a road trip to see the Nong Nooch Tropical Garden outside of Pattaya, the Kantary Bay Rayong Hotel is a great choice.

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We're staying at the Kantary Bay Rayong Hotel and Serviced Apartments and this is a great place for either a long business stay or a short stopover if you're on your way driving down the southeast coast of the Gulf of Thailand.

This is the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Zone. Toyota and Ford are here, along with international oil and petrochemical companies. There are engineers and business people from all over the world, although we notice there's a large number from Japan. The Kantary Bay Rayong Hotel satisfies all of these "suits".

The Kantary Bay properties are doing very well because of their long term stays although Thailand's economy itself is sluggish and tourism has suffered with the recent flooding.

"Thailand has always had flooding. Bangkok is on a river and the whole delta ebbs and flows. But it's the scale of the flooding that was different this time," explains general manager Simon.

I remember driving yesterday on the concrete highway, four years new, raised high above the flood plain. It's a full hour outside of Bangkok before the raised highway returns to ground level.

Simon continues. "I was driving from Chaing Mai to Bangkok during the flooding and only one highway on the north side was open because it was raised. The government was allowing people to park their cars on it so only a trickle of cars could get through at the worst of it. A forty kilometre stretch took me six hours. But there was no point being frustrated. You just had to relax."

Simon has caught the Thai buzz of life. Chill. Keep a cool heart.

The hotel is across the road from the water. There's a small beach, its sand protected by a break-water. Years ago, the beaches along this part of the coast lost their appeal for foreigners and even locals. Unless you enjoy the view of petrochemical installations to the right and container ships straight ahead, this area is not a beach vacation. Still, if you're on business, or passing through, you can enjoy eating fresh fish on the beach, barbecued to order from a selection laid out on ice in stalls that open up at night. You find yourself a picnic table, bring your own beer, and it's cheap and easy.  Gazing at the horizon, the stars colide with the lights of distant tanker ships.

For business people, the Kantary Bay has everything you need for a long stay in its studio or one- to three-bedroom suites. There's a spacious fitness centre overlooking a pool with modern equipment. There's two pools, each one as lovely as the other. There's also a tennis and squash court, pool table, an atrium reading room, restaurant and a bakery with real gelato. And of course its bread and butter are the conference rooms.

Best of all, it's just a five minute drive down the beach road to the Laem Cha Reaon Seafood restaurant, an open-air seafood eatery on the wharf where you can choose your own crab.


While Rayong is not a destination for most travelers in Thailand, stopping here isn't a bad way to break up a trip south to your Koh Chang resort. For us, it was a lay-over after our visit to Pattaya's Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, a must-see attraction in Thailand. But that's another story.

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Practical Information: You can rent a car in Bangkok's International Airport and you'll be on the far east end of the city at that point, directly in line with where you want to go. It's a two-hour drive on an excellent freeway to Pattaya, and then another hour to Rayong.

It's possible to get a Studio for as little as $67 Canadian these days off Agoda.