Many Thais visit Lampang for a taste of a more sedate urbane life. The main pull for faràng (Western) travellers is the renowned Elephant Conservation Centre, and Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, for many the most beautiful wooden temple in northern Thailand.
Category: Thailand Destinations
The Laem Son National Park (0 7782 4224; www.dnp.go.th; adult/child 200/100B) covers 315 sq km of the Kapoe district of Ranong and Khuraburi district in Phang-Nga. This area includes about 100km of Andaman Sea coastline – the longest protected shore in th
Laem Ngop is the jumping-off point for Ko Chang. TAT (0 3959 7259; [email protected]; 100 Mu 1, Th Trat-Laem Ngop; 8.30am-4.30pm) has an information office right near the pier. Further north on the road to Trat there is an immigration office (0 3959 7261;
Around 60km southeast of Roi Et town are the minor ruins of Ku Phra Koh Na (admission free; daylight hours), an 11th-century Khmer shrine. The monument comprises three brick prang facing east from a sandstone pediment surrounded by a sandstone-slab wall t
Krabi is the most beautiful province in Thailand. It’s the kind of place that comes to mind when you’re daydreaming about paradise. A fairytale creation of dramatic giant karst formations juxtaposed, and sometimes enveloped, by a warm emerald silk sea.
Most travellers just breeze through Krabi (gra-bee), using the provincial capital as a jumping-off point for wonderful surrounding destinations – Ko Lanta to the south, Ko Phi Phi to the southwest and Ao Nang, Railay and Tham Phra Nang to the west. Althou
Ko Yao Yai (Big Long Island) and Ko Yao Noi (Little Long Island) are actually part of the Ao Phang-Nga Marine National Park, but are more easily accessible from Phuket. Together they encompass 137 sq km of forest, beach and rocky headland with views of th
Protected partly by its national park status, and mostly by its relative inaccessibility, Ko Tarutao Marine National Park (0 7478 1285; adult/child under 14 200/100B; mid-November–Apr) is one of the most exquisite and unspoiled regions in Thailand. This m
Most of Ko Tarutao’s whopping 152 sq km is covered in dense, old growth jungle that rises sharply up to the park’s 713m peak. Mangrove swamps and typically impressive limestone cliffs circle much of the island, and the western coast is lined with quiet wh
Scuba virgins from all over flock to Ko Tao to learn how to dive. Not only is this lush, pistachio-coloured island blessed with crystal clear water and trippy coral reefs shallow enough for beginners to explore; it’s also is one of the world’s cheapest an