Krabi Town - is a nice little fishing port on the Krabi estuary, south of Phuket on the Andaman coast.   It tends not to get too crowded with tourists, because most of them head straight out to the lovely beaches around Ao Nang and Rai-ley, less than an hour away on a song-tao. 

How to get there - Krabi's now got a little airport which connects with Bangkok about twice a day, but most people still arrive by bus or minibus from one of the other travel centres in Phuket, Surat Thani, Trang or Hat Yai.  If you want to travel the slow way from Bangkok, you need to know that it's an 800km journey which will take you more than 12 hours.   

Where to stay -  There are plenty of little guest houses and a few moderate hotels in town.  I've only ever stayed there a couple of times, so I can't tell you much about the range of places.  The first time, I  stayed in the Chao Fa Valley bungalows on Chao Fa Road, just outside the centre to the south.  It's only a five minute walk into town, and there are a selection of little wooden bungalows on stilts, with fans and showers, but the last time, I went for something a little more expensive - 1,000B a night for the Krabi City Sea View Hotel (I think), just south of the pier and night market on Kong Ka Road.  I'm getting increasingly attracted to the creature comforts of western toilets, hot showers and air conditioning. 

What to do in the day - There's not an awful lot to see in Krabi during the day, but there are some excursions you can organise to nearby attractions including Phang Nga and Phi Phi (see the Phuket section for more details about these places), and the mangrove swamps up the estuary.  The rogues hanging around in boats by the floating restaurant can take you - but bargain on the price.   The one source of endless amusement is the dozens of backpackers trudging around the town centre in the middle of the day, sweating under their 40lb rucksacks.  Just pull up a chair in a cafe or restaurant and watch them walk up the street, red-faced and grumpy, and then two minutes later, watch them come back down the same road, redder-faced and grumpier.  I heard that Thais jokingly refer to people wearing these gigantic rucksacks as falang tok kreuang bin - literally "westerner fall out of airplane" - an apparent reference to the fact that it looks like they're wearing parachutes.  

What to do at night - Find a restaurant and settle down with some seafood and a beer or two to watch the world go by.  There's one particular Chinese restaurant - I can't remember the name of it or which road it's on - where the chef makes a big deal out of cooking Pak Boong Fai Daeng - or flash fried morning glory leaves.  He's got a big fan next to the wok, and he switches it on just as he's about to add the leaves and sauces to the burning hot oil.  There's a huge whoosh of yellow flame which shoots out onto the pavement in the direction where the fan sends it.  You can also eat cheaply and well at the night market which sets up near the pier.  There are some little bars opposite the night market where you can grab a beer and listen to some Thais singing Hotel f...ing California again.  And again.  The Rough Guide recommends the Thammachat restaurant on Kong Ka Road, but I haven't tried it personally.