Where to live in Suphan Buri.

The town of Suphan Buri sits on the Tha Chin River in Mueang district, across the tambons of Tha Philiang, Rua Yai and Tha Rahat. It is a small municipal town, but an unusually well-built one — the province was heavily developed under the late Banharn Silpa-archa, a Suphan Buri native and prime minister in 1995–96, and his public works left wide boulevards, an unusual number of pedestrian bridges and the 123-metre Banharn-Jamsai Tower. Chao Phraya Yommarat Hospital, the City Pillar Shrine complex, the Suphanburi National Museum and the daily markets are all in this radius. Housing is mostly shophouse rooms, small apartment blocks and older Thai townhouses. It is the natural base for anyone who wants to walk to the hospital and the markets.

Best for: Retirees and anyone who wants walkability and proximity to the provincial hospital and markets

Highway 340, the Bang Bua Thong–Suphan Buri road, is the province's spine. Where it passes Tha Rahat on the edge of Mueang district you get Suphan Buri's modern commercial face: the Robinson Lifestyle Suphanburi mall with its cinema and chain retail, big-format stores, car dealerships and the newest gated moobaan (housing estates) in the province. This is also where the small stock of modern low-rise condominium buildings has appeared, built for local professionals rather than foreign buyers. It is car-dependent by design and short on street life, but it is the practical choice for a new-build house with parking, mall access and the shortest drive to Bangkok.

Best for: Families and commuters wanting a modern house with parking, mall access and the quickest Bangkok run

U Thong is one of the most historically significant places in central Thailand: a moated Dvaravati-period settlement associated with the old Suphannaphum polity and with the name Suvarnabhumi, now home to the U Thong National Museum and a cluster of archaeological sites. The district runs up against the limestone hills on the Kanchanaburi side, so the landscape is drier and more broken than the rice plains east of town. Practically this is deep-value provincial living — houses rented directly from owners, a district hospital and market-town services, and essentially no apartment stock. It suits people with their own transport who want history, quiet and the lowest costs in the province.

Best for: Long-stayers with their own vehicle who want history, quiet and the province's lowest costs

North of town the Tha Chin winds through Bang Pla Ma, Si Prachan, Sam Chuk and Doem Bang Nang Buat into some of Thailand's most productive rice country. Sam Chuk is the draw — a riverside Chinese-Thai market community of century-old wooden shophouses whose conservation earned an Award of Merit in the 2009 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards, and which now pulls domestic weekend visitors from across the country. Further north, Bueng Chawak in Doem Bang Nang Buat is the province's big family attraction, with an aquarium and zoo on the lake. Living here means village and small-market-town life, houses and shophouse rooms let directly by owners, and a real drive to reach the provincial hospital.

Best for: Anyone wanting an authentically rural riverside Thai base, with a vehicle and no need for urban services