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Khao Yai National Park

      Go wild and glut yourself on greenery

      Khao Yai, the country’s oldest and biggest national park, is an Asian safari park that stretches across four provinces and 2,000 kilometers. Sometimes sambar deer graze in the parking lot. Bull elephants lock tusks on salt licks and, in one fell swoop of an outing, trekkers can spot rhinoceros hornbills, whooping gibbons and Asiatic jackals.

      Some 70 percent of these environs are made up of moist evergreen forest. Named after the park’s centerpiece, Khao Yai (“Big Mountain”), the roads twist and wind around photogenic foothills. Though around one million people visit the park every year—most are weekend picnickers from Bangkok, less than three hours away—it still shelters and succors some 350 different species of bird, like the Siamese fireback pheasant, and around 80 different mammals, from Asiatic black bears to Malayan porcupines.

      The lords of these jungles are the elephants. At least a hundred wild ones live within the confines of the park. Oftentimes they’ll be spotted on the roads or heard trumpeting in the distance.

      The park is also rich in orchid species. For its phenomenal bounty of flora and fauna, Khao Yai was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site Status in 2005.

      One of the best things about the park is that it can be done on so many different levels, from five-star opulence to guest-house grittiness. You can go on one of the guided tours led by the resorts lining the main road near the town of Pak Chong or wander around on your own. Any jaunt can be combined with an array of other options, like wine tasting tours of the local vineries or making a pit stop at the area and shopping plaza called “Little Tuscany”.

      Opening Times Daily 6 am–9 pm

      Address The park is spread over Nakhon Ratchasima, Saraburi, Prachinburi and Nakhon Nayok provinces

      Getting There Those in need of accommodation stay in the town of Pak Chong in Nakhon Ratchasima province, while those coming on daytrips use the park’s south entrance, which is about 13 km north of Prachinburi. Head north on the roundabout on Road 3077.

      Contact The Visitor’s Center is at (025) 620 760 and it’s open from 8.30–4.30 pm. Make sure to hire a guide here if you plan to do any serious hiking. In case you get lost, the local tourist police office is at (044) 341 7778. Also note that because of all the mountains, mobile phone service can be sketchy.

      Admission Fee 400 baht for foreigners

      14 Diving at Ko Tao Island

      Into the deep blue yonder for a psychedelic adventure

      Perhaps Arthur C Clarke, the fabled author of 2001: A Space Odyssey described scuba diving in the most memorable terms, as the closest you’ll ever get to feeling as weightless as an astronaut floating in outer space.

      Thailand is overflowing with reefs, pinnacles and wrecks for divers to chart and explore. If you’re yet to get your fins wet, then Ko Tao (“Turtle Island”), located near the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand, is the place to get your license. In fact, more divers get certified on this island (only 21 square kilometers) than anywhere else in Southeast Asia.

      Because of the glut of dive shops on the island, the prices are competitive. Most shops offer the world’s number one course for aspiring aquanauts, the PADI Open Water Dive Course. You will need to set aside three or four days to earn this globally recognized certificate. Each course combines classroom learning with lessons in a swimming pool or in shallow water off the beach, a final written exam and a proper plunge to around 15 meters.

      Thanks to Ko Tao’s abundance of shallow reefs and mostly gentle currents, newbies will not be out of their depth. Admittedly, learning to breath through the scuba device—and especially hearing your own breath rattling like the raspy voice of Darth Vader—takes some getting used to, but the rewards are well worth the risk.

      Imagine if Alice fell through the looking glass and ended up in the world’s biggest aquarium, swimming with exotic creatures like angelfish, moray eels, black tip reef sharks, and even the world’s biggest fish, the humongous whale shark, while surrounded by brain coral, purple sea anemones and psychedelic reefs (the so-called “rainforests of the sea”), it’s easy to see why diving is the best and most potent legal high on the market.

      The island also offers some hiking, rock climbing and bouldering on granite boulder strewn beaches. Ko Tao is also a mecca for game fishermen on a budget.

      Getting There Take a ferry from Surat Thani (4 hours), Chumpon (2–3 hours), Ko Samui (2.5 hours or Ko Ph Ngan (1 hour) to Ban Mae Haad. Prices depend on type of boat.

      15 Chiang Mai’s Wat Chiang Man

      Get to the spiritual heart of Lanna culture

      For a sampler of the northern capital’s archaic and contemporary sides, the Old City is the nucleus. To set the historic scene, it’s surrounded by red ramparts with four gates, a moat and fountains all lit up at night.

      Within these hallowed walls is the city’s oldest temple, Wat Chiang Man. Its history stretches back to AD 1297 when King Mengrai founded this bastion of Lanna culture. The oldest part of the temple, a golden chedi propped up by a base of 15 brick and stucco elephants, is fit to be framed.

      Another bulwark of the city’s Buddhist-leaning spirituality is Wat Phra Singh. It may date back to AD 1345, but with all the monks and supplicants around, the temple still plays a pivotal part in the present.

      Those who mock “temple huggers” as an effete breed of politically correct travelers will find plenty of other distractions in the Old City, from pubs and cafes to specialist bars and restaurants galore.

      Prominent among the temple alternatives is the Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Center. Set within the confines of a beautiful old building, the center has rooms for permanent and temporary exhibitions, exhibitions on the city’s prehistoric past, audiovisual displays on the hilltribes and, from time to time, cultural jamborees of the old-school variety.

      Out in front is the Three Kings Monument composed of a holy trinity of god-like monarchs: Mengrai and Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai and Ngam Muang of Phayao.

      As a city that has reinvented itself many times over, Chiang Mai’s latest reincarnation is as a hub of art and design. On and off the bigger streets and little lanes of the Old City, that word-of-mouth hype is made manifest in all the little shops and stalls specializing in cool curios and funky fashions.

      The best time to sample the area is on Sundays when the main byway of Rachadamnoen Road is turned into a serene street party for shoppers, foodies and families replete with musicians, dancers and plenty of bonhomie.

      Opening Times Daily 8 am–5 pm

      Address Ratchaphakhinai Road near intersection with Si Phum Road

      Getting There Situated in the old walled part of town, the temple is within walking distance of the Chang Phuak Gate

      Contact +66 (0)5 321 3170

      Admission Fee Free

      16 Bangkok’s Infamous Patpong Street

      One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble

      Yes, it’s noisy, gaudy, saucy, silly and a bit sleazy at times, but when in Asia’s neon Rome do as the neo-Romans would and head for a stroll down the lanes of Patpong 1 and 2. By day it’s as if the street is sleeping off a hangover, but at night it’s back on another bender, doing a roaring trade in the world’s oldest profession, which revolves around the chrome poles of go-go bars, while the stalls in the night market

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