Africa
Asia
Caribbean
Central America
Europe
Middle East
North America
Pacific
South America
Thailand's two coastlines and countless islands attract schools of water babies. Take a dive and explore underwater or cruise caves in an inflatable canoe. If inland waterways are your thing, try a raft trip up North. The Northern regions are also the best place to head for trekkers and cyclists; while you're there, learn a little about the arts of Thai cooking and massage. Meditation classes are a great way to bring yourself into tune on the road. If you like your therapy with a little more aggression, try kick-boxing. An 'intensive' Thai massage also provides a jolt.
Comprising Nai Thon, Nai Yang and Mai Khao beaches, as well as the former Nai Yang National Park and Mai Khao wildlife reserve, Sirinat National Park encompasses 22 sq km of coastal land, plus 68 sq km of sea. The beaches were looking rather glum in the wake of the tsunami, but they will recover in time and suspended park facilities will no doubt be restored.
Improved roads to Hat Nai Thon have brought only a small amount of development to this broad expanse of pristine sand backed by casuarina and pandanus trees. Swimming is quite good here (except at the height of the monsoon), and there is some coral near the headlands at either end of the bay. Down on the beach, umbrellas and sling chairs are available from vendors.
89/1, Mu 1
Sakhu
tel info 0 7632 7152
This sheltered pocket of the Andaman Sea is blessed with verdant limestone cliffs, odd rock formations, submerged karst caves and quaint fishing villages. Around the coast, turquoise waters and scenic islands await the swooshing of your paddles. Hire a canoe, kayak or private boat from the visitors' centre or join a tour organised through an agency in town.
Tours usually include a stop at a Muslim fishing village and James Bond Island (the island rock in The Man with the Golden Gun) within Ao Phang-Nga National Marine Park. The tours take from two to three hours and can be arranged through tour agencies at the Phang-Nga bus station.
Phang-Nga province
(Tha Dan or Takua Thung Piers)
tel info 0 7643 0348
tel info 0 7641 1247
Ancient City ( Muang Boran), south of Bangkok, is billed as the largest open-air museum in the world. Over 100 of Thailand's most impressive monuments are rendered slightly less impressive in this 80-hectare (200-acre) collection of scale models. The grounds follow the basic shape of Thailand itself and the monuments are placed accordingly.
Visions of Las Vegas and tiny tacky treasures may spring to mind, but the Ancient City is architecturally sophisticated and a preservation site for classical buildings and art forms.If you're an architecture buff on a brief stay, or just a lover of these sorts of educational theme parks, Ancient City is well worth the trip out of town.
Samut Prakan province
(33km (20mi) south of Bangkok)
www.ancientcity.com tel info 0 2323 9253
bus
| full | Baht 300.00 |
| child | Baht 200.00 |
Wat Benchamabophit, built under Rama V in 1899, is made of white Carrara marble and is a stunning example of modern temple architecture. The real treasure here is a rear courtyard containing a large collection of Buddha images from all periods of Thai Buddhist art.
cnr Th Si Ayuthaya & Th Phra Ram V
city centre
bus 503, 72
| full | Baht 20.00 |
Wat Traimit shelters a 3m-tall, 5.5-tonne, solid-gold Buddha image - an impressive sight. This gleaming figure was once covered in stucco, but during efforts to move it in the 1960s, the figure fell, cracking the stucco and revealing the treasure inside. The covering was probably intended to hide it during one of Burma's many invasions.
cnr Th Yaowarat & Th Charoen Krung
Phahurat
tel info 0 2623 1226
| full | Baht 20.00 |
Chiang Mai has a striking mountain backdrop, over 300 temples and a quaint historical aura. It's also a modern, friendly, internationally-flavoured city with much to offer the visitor - food, accommodation and shopping are all top quality and cheap, and the nights are relatively cool.
Thailand's second-largest city and the gateway to the country's north was founded in 1296. You can still see the moat that encircled the original city. Doi Suthep, topped by one of Thailand's holiest wats, rises behind the city, providing a dramatic backdrop and fine views of the city.
Low-key and likeable, modern Chiang Mai is easily managed and very traveller-friendly. It's well known for its restaurants, has heaps of good guesthouses and is a good base for mountain treks to visit the hill tribes who live in the surrounding area. You may want to think twice about joining such an excursion if you have qualms about interrupting the traditional patterns of life in hill-tribe areas. This part of Thailand has become considerably overtrekked in the last decade: don't expect untouched hill-tribe villages. At the same time, it is a privilege to be in this part of the world so come with a respectful attitude and leave only footprints.
Bangkok has dominated Thailand's urban hierarchy as well as its political, commercial and cultural life since the late 18th century. Distinctly modern and Westernised, Bangkok is still a sleepy Thai village with a louder soundtrack of traffic and nightlife.
Bangkok proper seethes on the east side of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya (Chao Phraya River), drawing rural Thai folk into its cluttered fold daily. The city is reportedly sinking at a rate of 5cm (2in) every year, but there's too much sànùk (a Thai sense of fun) going on for that to get anyone down.
It's worth putting up with the coronary-inducing traffic jams, pollution, annual floods and sticky weather to experience the contrasts of the city: glass and steel buildings competing for sky space with glittering temple spires; jasmine wreaths decorating the on-board shrines of buses and taxis to ward off accidents, shaven-headed, orange-robed monks fielding calls on their mobile phones. Just like any good Buddhist you may have to struggle a bit to reach enlightenment in Bangkok, but when it hits you'll understand that famous Thai smile.
Party island Ko Samui has long been the locale of choice for paradise-seeking voyagers of all stripes. Its turquoise waters and sun-bleached, sandy bays are lined with multiple bungalows and resorts, a plethora of restaurants to satisfy hungry epicureans, and thumping nightlife providing a soundtrack to the temperate, starry nights.
Ko Samui is not everyone's cup of tea; some revel in its coastal buzz while others cringe at the Khao-San-by-the-beach bustle. But even as the most popular beaches attract the sorts of crowds most people come here to escape, the large island somehow manages to maintain its relaxed atmosphere. Pockets of calm can still be found by those willing to look.
Samui has plenty of beaches to choose from, but it's wise to book ahead in busy periods. The most crowded beaches are Hat Chaweng and Hat Lamai, both on the eastern side of the island.
The beaches on the island's northern coast, Mae Nam, Bo Phut and Big Buddha Beach (Hat Bang Rak), are home to quieter accommodation options.
Ao Thong Yang, on the island's western side is even more secluded. The southern part of the island now has many bungalows set in little out-of-the-way coves.
On the northwestern side of Ko Samui, Na Thon is the arrival point for ferries from the piers in Surat Thani. Although it's basically a tourist town, Na Thon still sports a few old teak Chinese cafes along Th Ang Thong, where descendants of the island's original Hainanese immigrants gather.
Many festivals are linked to Buddhist or Brahman rituals and follow a lunar calendar. New Year/Songkran, is celebrated in mid-April by 'bathing' Buddha images, paying respects to monks and elders by sprinkling water over their hands, and generally tossing a lot of water in the air for fun. Expect to get soaked, unless you'd prefer to skulk in your room. The sowing and harvesting of rice has given rise to a cycle of festivals. To kick off the official rice-planting season in May, the king participates in an ancient Brahman ritual in a large field ( Sanam Luang) in central Bangkok; a Rocket Festival is held in May in the country's northeast, using a volatile mixture of bamboo and gunpowder to convince the sky to send rain for the new rice season; and the rice harvest from September through to May leads to joyous local celebrations throughout Thailand.
The Vegetarian Festival in Phuket and Trang, during which devout Chinese Buddhists eat only vegetarian food, runs for nine days from late September to early October. Merit-making processions are the most visible expression of this festival, but there are also ceremonies at Chinese temples. The Elephant Roundup in Surin in November is a festival popular with the kind of people who enjoy watching pachyderms play soccer. During the Loi Krathong Festival, held after the rainy season (usually in November), candle-lit floats are cast into waterways to bring good fortune for the coming year. Bangkok and Thailand's northern provinces are especially good places to catch this celebration.
