We’ll pick you up from your hotel. The whole structure is made of teak, with shuttered windows and tiled roofs. After breakfast we’ll leave for the National Park at Kaeng Krachan – vacation.thaibounty.com – . The palace consists of a series of one and two floor units on stilts, linked by covered walkways. This is the seaside summer palace used by King Rama VI. Once you have checked-in to your hotel you’re free to wander along the longest beach in Thailand, swim or just relax in a deck chair. We’ll stop at the visitors centre so you can see where you are. You’ll be able to end the day with a relaxing dinner beside the sea. Enjoy lunch in a Thai restaurant right opposite the main beach at Cha Am. First stop will be in the town of Petchaburi where you can see the rainy season palace built by King Rama V. It was a model of the summer palace of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, built in a mixture of Baroque and Art Nouveau style.

1. Temperature controls in 560 rooms
2. Pets not allowed
3. Smoke detectors
4. Hotel staff trained in cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
5. Building meets all current local, state and country building codes

This is a good place for a snack before going on the boat. Created a new island which has become home to a small group of hermit monks. We’ll take the short nature trail. It’s time to return to the city so sit back. Vendors or deck chairs on Wednesdays. To preserve the integrity of wildlife habitats, off-the-road vehicle access is prohibited. Visit the temple at the top of the hill. You can walk the track around the base of the island. Also, the Summer Palace is closed on Wednesdays. To preserve crocodile habitat, rafting is no longer permitted from K.U. The man-mad dam here caused local farmland to be flooded. Cha Am beach does not allow. You can expect to be back at your hotel about 6:00pm depending on the traffic. Hopefully see some of the birds for which this park is famous. Relax while the drive takes you back to Bangkok. Camp to Bong Luk.

Salt lick below for your best chance to see wild elephants. I suggest including it in a tour of central Thailand, journeying onward to Ayutthaya and Kanchanaburi. Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa sits on the edge of the park, against a backdrop of forest-clad hills. A two-night stay leaves you long enough to explore the park. If you’d prefer a more languid approach to visiting one of Thailand’s national parks, then consider a day in Ang Thong National Marine Park. I joined a small-group speedboat tour (private charters are also available), and spent the day hopping between the park’s collection of inland marine lakes, coves and forest-topped islets. There’s a 12-room spa complex, turquoise pool and a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus. The park is an hour-and-a-half drive from Bangkok. An archipelago of 42 limestone islands, the park is tucked into the east of the Gulf of Thailand, just an hour’s speedboat ride from Koh Samui or Ko Pha Ngan.

Unlike some of the busier marine parks, Ang Thong has relatively healthy coral.

A guide will lead a number of activities off the boat, or you can just relax at each stop on deck or on the beach. If you join the guided snorkelling tour from the boat, there’s a chance you’ll see a green sea turtle or reef shark glide past. Unlike some of the busier marine parks, Ang Thong has relatively healthy coral. Stopping on Ko Mae Ko Island, you can follow a gentle trail to Tale Nai, an emerald saltwater lake that’s connected to the sea through underwater caves. You also have the option to take a guided kayak tour around the smaller islands, where you can get close to the craggy limestone cliffs and mangrove forests that spill out into the ocean. On Ko Wua Talap they’ve set up a small restaurant where you can lunch on piles of freshly caught prawns and calamari. The Anantara Rasananda is set on the quiet northeast coast of Koh Phangan, on a crescent of soft white sand. A couple of the islands are home to small communities of Moken, nomadic fishing people.

Each of the modern suites and villas has its own pool, and many look out across the park. I suggest visiting the park in a day from Chiang Mai. Your guide, from the Karen tribe, might also impart a little botanical knowledge. You can often hear the roar of the water as you walk through the forest. The trails aren’t well marked, so you’ll need a local guide as well as a decent level of fitness to navigate the steep inclines and bamboo bridges. A few roads cross the park, but the best way to explore is by foot. Finish your hike at Ban Sop Had and you can enjoy a cup of fresh coffee made from beans grown in the village’s plantations. These itineraries are simply suggestions for how you could enjoy some of the same experiences as our specialists. I’m an avid coffee drinker. Designed using timber beams, whitewashed walls and clay-tiled roofs (all traditional in northern Thai buildings), it’s a sanctuary of spacious rooms and flower-filled courtyards. The area has long been inhabited by the Karen hill tribe, whose village, Ban Sop Had, is on the park’s border. Along the trails you pass a series of waterfalls, some more than 250 m (820 ft) high, which plunge down stark granite escarpments. Start thinking about your experience. Tamarind Village is within Chiang Mai’s old city walls, and the Sunday market runs right by it. I suggest being driven up into the park, and taking a hiking trail back down. Mine showed me which barks were good for making rope and which leaves had a medicinal use (a huge range, treating everything from toothache to jaundice). Can recommend it – as long as you like yours brewed strong. Known locally as the ‘roof of Thailand’, the surrounding national park has a cool, cloudforest climate that nurtures some of Thailand’s rare lady’s slipper orchids. Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest peak at 2,565 m (8,415 ft), is part of the Thai highlands that stretch north toward the Laos border. They’re just for inspiration, because your trip will be created around your particular tastes. You can join the speedboat tour from the hotel’s jetty.