Phetchaburi
Three royal palaces, UNESCO gastronomy city (2021), Thailand's largest national park—but Cha-Am beach dropping from 4th to 6th popularity due to sea-level erosion.
Phetchaburi is where Thailand's kings built their escapes—and where the sea is now taking back the coast. Three royal palaces mark the province: Phra Nakhon Khiri, King Mongkut's 19th-century summer retreat blending Thai, Chinese, and European styles; Phra Ram Ratchaniwet, designed by German architect Karl Dehring for King Chulalongkorn in Baroque and Art Nouveau fashion; and Maruekhathaiyawan, King Rama VI's all-wooden 1923 beach palace. UNESCO designated Phetchaburi a Creative City of Gastronomy in 2021—the "city of desserts" where khanom mo kaeng (coconut and egg custard) carries the province's sweetness reputation.
But Cha-Am beach, once Thailand's fourth most popular destination, has dropped to sixth. Coastal erosion accelerated by rising sea levels is "deteriorating scenery"—the sand that drew Bangkok weekenders is retreating. The province still produces more sugar palm trees than any other, still harvests salt from 9,880 rai worked by 137 families, still contains Kaeng Krachan National Park (2,915 square kilometers, Thailand's largest). But the beaches that supplemented the palaces are losing ground.
Phetchaburi has been important since the 8th century; 12th-century artifacts confirm its age. The kings chose well—130 kilometers from Bangkok, cool enough for retreat, coastal enough for pleasure. Now the province tests whether heritage tourism can compensate for beach erosion, whether palaces can survive when the shorelines that surrounded them cannot.