Chonburi (ชลบุรี) is both a city and a province in Eastern Thailand, 83 km or two hours from Bangkok. Chonburi, or "Mueang Chon", is the closest beachside city to Bangkok.

This article will focus on Chonburi the city. Other destinations in the province are well-described in their own articles. Most notably, the province is home to the tourism hotspot of Pattaya, and its enormous Jomtien beach. Chonburi province also has Ko Sichang, the nearest island to Bangkok, as well as Ko Lan and other islands.

Chonburi province has significant amounts of agriculture (sugar cane, cassava, rubber, etc.) and has even more industry. This includes factories, petrochemical plants, and the enormous port at Laem Chabang, all of which are growing as part of the Eastern Seaboard Development Project.

Due to all this heavy industry, if you are looking for pristine clean beaches then Chonburi city isn't for you, travel further south. But if you want to see the real working Thailand, fishing and surviving and delivering seafood on your table, then this is the right place.

• Ang Sila ((อ่างศิลา). A seaside fishing village. Most villagers are skilled in making implements from granite, mainly mortars and pestles, still widely used in Thai households, and figurines of animals. 
• Khao Sam Muk (เขาสามมุข). A low hillock situated between Ang Sila and Bang Saen Beach, along the road facing the seashore. A habitat of scores of wild monkeys, the hilltop affords a panoramic view of the Bang Saen Beach. 
• Laem Thaen (แหลมแท่น) (In the area of Bang Saen Beach near Khao Sam Muk). It is a cape reaching out to the sea where there are pavilions for relaxation and restaurants. People come here to fish the area. 
• Phra Phutthasihing Shrine (หอพระพุทธสิหิงค์). The shrine houses a replica of the Phra Phutthasihing cast in silver. 
• Wat Thammanimit (วัดธรรมนิมิตต์). Constructed in 1941 and where the Phra Phutthamongkhon Nimit Buddha image resides. It is a concrete Buddha image decorated with mosaic tiles in the Boarding a Boat posture. 
• Wat Yai Inthraram (วัดใหญ่อินทราราม). An ancient and significant temple of Chonburi, influenced by the late Ayutthayan architectural style. The ubosot was built with a curved gunwale base and inside displays murals. 
• Wihan Thep Sathit Phra Kitti Chaloem or Nacha Sa Thai Chue Shrine (วิหารเทพสถิตพระกิติเฉลิม หรือ ศาลเจ้าหน่าจาซาไท้จื้อ). A Chinese shrine. It is a 4-storey building decorated in extraordinary Chinese architectural style and housing various Chinese deity images. 

• Chonburi Annual Festival (งานนมัสการพระพุทธสิหิงค์และงานกาชาดประจำปีจังหวัดชลบุรี). This fair is held about mid-Apr during the Songkran Festival. Phra Phutthasihing, Chonburi’s principal Buddha image, is put in a procession around the city. 
• Chonburi Buffalo Races ((งานประเพณีวิ่งควาย). This is a long-established celebration of this most useful animal. A fun-filled event, it is held not only in Chonburi itself, but also in Ban Bueng and Nong Yai Districts. The beasts of burden are dressed outrageously or with admirable creativity by owners, bounded only by their imaginations. Assembled in the courtyard in front of the town hall, the buffaloes partake in racing, or take part in physical fitness and "fashion" contests. (updated Oct 2022)
• Ko Phra Sai Wan Lai Festival (งานประเพณีก่อพระทรายวันไหล บางแสน) (Bang Saen). A festival long celebrated by the Saen Suk people. Originally, it was called "Ngan Thambun Wan Lai", a gathering of people from various villages to make merit during the Songkran Festival or the Thai New Year Day, taking place on 16-17 Apr every year. Monks from every temple in Saen Suk sub-district are invited to perform the religious ceremony. There is merit- making, food offering, and a bahting ceremony. Later, there are activities of sand pagoda making, water splashing, local games, and sports. 
• Ngan Bun Klang Ban and Phanat Nikhom Basketwork Festival (งานบุญกลางบ้าน และเครื่องจักสานพนัสนิคม). Traditions that have been passed on for a long period of time by the Phanat Nikhom people. They are organized on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the first week of May or the Thai 6th lunar month. The locals will bring food, offer it to the monks, and dedicate the merit to the guardian spirits, enemies from a former life, deceased relatives, as well as to drive out bad things, to ask for rain during the season, and to wish for abundant food and crops. After the religious ceremony, there is lunch, games, and a demonstration of Phanat Nikhom basketry making. 
• Pattaya–Na Kluea Wan Lai Festival and Na Kluea Kong Khao Fair (งานประเพณีวันไหล พัทยา- นาเกลือ และงานกองข้าวนาเกลือ). Held from 18-20 Apr every year at Lan Pho Public Park, Na Kluea, and Wat Chai Mongkhon in south Pattaya. 
• Songkran Si Maha Racha Festival and Kong Khao Tradition (งานประเพณีสงกรานต์ศรีมหาราชาและงานประเพณีกองข้าว). An ancient Chonburi festival. Si Racha District preserves this tradition and organizes it every year, from 19-21 Apr, to worship the gods who have been protecting them throughout the year. Activities comprise of the procession led by the elderly and various organizations in traditional Thai costume, a worship ceremony, spirit offering ceremony, Kong Khao tradition demonstration, games, demonstrations, and sales of traditional foods. 
• Wan Lai Festival (ประเพณีวันไหล). A merit-making day for seamen on the Thai New Year during the Songkran Festival, organised during 13-20 Apr every year. There is alms-offering to the monks, the ceremony of pouring water onto the Buddha’s image, sand pagoda making, splashing water, and local games and sports in Chonburi. 

Enterprising food vendors set up clusters of stalls, transforming major street corners, empty lots and alleys into lively food bazaars. Many are mobile, peddling from one area to another on tricycles and motorcycles with fixtures attached, or pushing mini-kitchens around on wooden carts, offering "boat noodles," curries over rice or an assortment of kanom (sweetmeats and snack foods).

Nibbling on street food is an inexpensive way to dine out. You can fill yourself at lunch for 30 baht, and spend not much more for a hearty, well-balanced supper of several courses. A snack can cost the same or less. But the low price does not indicate a low quality. In fact, a lot of street cuisine is very good, and the variety to choose from is immense, including many wonderful treats rarely seen on restaurant menus. Among these are traditional delicacies that are complicated to make that many street vendors are able to give owing to their specialisation in only one or a few items. They become experts at cooking their specialties, after having done it every day for years, and often become well-known.