Pailin

The change since early 1997 is dramatic. There was only one choice, a guesthouse run by a one-legged former rebel. It featured a wooden bed with no mattress, no mosquito net, no electricity and bathing facilities that you didn’t want to use. There are a number of places now.

This guesthouse is located west from the town’s centre in direction to the border crossing. It is probably one of the best ones in town. It is quite a new place in town and also by far the top digs. The rooms feature all the amenities (including satellite TV, h/w shower) and the hotel has twenty-four-hour power, a Pailin exclusives. US$ 11 gets you a nice room, with more tricked-out rooms going as high as US$50. Obviously, the owners are high on Pailin’s prospects. The hotel also features a restaurant and nightclub.

This guesthouse is located just some steps from the market uphill. They have some light and attractive rooms with fan or air-con and bathroom and some very small, windowless rooms. Prices are around US$5.

This is a very basic guesthouse with fan (some with air-con) and bathroom. US$4-6.

That’s the only name on the sign. The rooms are small, but clean. The bathroom is to share, with fan, 150 Baht.

These are bungalows that have a large bed, Western bath, a/c, TV and fan. They are overpriced at 500 Baht.

There is a nice second-floor terrace with a view of the main drag and the mountains to the west. Most rooms are windowless, dark and stuffy places as the power is turned off in the middle of the night, which means you wake up sweating and bump your head on the way to the toilet. The cleaning leaves a lot to be desired. Mosquito net included, 300 Bath.