The document summarizes a multi-destination trip through Thailand, including stays in Bangkok, a floating raft village on Lake Racha Praba, Khao Sok National Park, Ko Hai island, Railay Bay, and concluding in Bangkok. Key activities included visiting the Grand Palace in Bangkok, a cycling tour of the city, overnight train travel to Surat Thani, guided walks and boat rides in the floating village and national park, elephant riding in Khao Sok, relaxing on quiet beaches in Ko Hai and Railay Bay. The trip showcased both urban and natural sights in Thailand over several weeks.

2. o Head to Khao San Rd and you’ll
find lots of bars and stalls, as
well as tasty Thai delicacies
cooked right in front of you by
the many street vendors.
o There’s also an abundance of
souvenir shops & massage places.
o Really nice street other side of
road to Khao San called
Rambuttri Rd- more chilled
alternative to Khao San.

3. • The grand palace is walking distance from the Khao San Rd area
(15-20 mins).
• It’s around 400 THB per person to enter the complex & women
must cover their shoulders and arms before entering (i.e. long sleeve
cotton top/light-weight cardigan).
• Men mustn’t wear shorts & must cover their ankles.
• If you don’t have the right clothing, you can borrow trousers/tops
upon arrival for about 200THB deposit.

4. • The palace and temple complexes are
really beautiful. There’s a real sense
of calm and you can easily spend a
couple of hours wandering around.
• A trip to the Grand Palace and
temples added so much more to our
short stay in Bangkok…
• I recommend packing sun cream &
water as it can get very hot in the
mid afternoon sun (however there is a
shop on site). And it goes without
saying that cameras are an absolute
MUST…
• Afterwards, you can walk along to the
river, where you’ll find lots of market
stalls & street vendors.

6.  During our stay in Bangkok, we took part on a
cycling tour around the city- a fantastic way of
seeing the different sides of Bangkok..
 We met with our 3 cycling guides and a group of
other travellers before kick-starting our tour with
a trip through Chinatown.
 We cycled through fresh food markets & weaved our
way through winding streets where locals prepared
food & greeted us with a smile. We felt really privilege
to get a glimpse in to this local way of life!
 We visited temples and a local school and watched
as the children were assembled for lessons outside.

7.  After a boat ride across the
river, we cycled through rural
plantations and over scenic
bridges- a side of Bangkok
we’d never have seen otherwise.
 We ate a traditional lunch of
delicious fried rice & vegetables
followed by some refreshing
pineapple in a hidden riverside
café shack. Before heading
back over the river and cycling
back to Chinatown.
 A really amazing day!

8.  In the afternoon, we said goodbye to Bangkok &
took the overnight sleeper train to Surat Thani.
 The 2nd Class beds were more comfortable than
I’d expected & there was hot food available from
the restaurant carriage on-board.
 It was great to see a mix of western travellers
& locals on board! The curtains also meant that
the beds were quite private.
 We arrived at around 7am and travelled by
mini-bus (a couple of hours) with a few other
travellers to the dock at Lake Racha Praba
to catch the boat to the floating raft houses.
 The boat ride was wonderfully scenic . As we
glided along the glassy lake between limestone
ricks, it was hard to believe that we’d been in
Bangkok a few hours earlier.

10.  The raft houses sat upon the
tranquil lake; a very serene
setting. When the boat’s engine
stopped, only the sound of the
surrounding jungle could be heard.
 Our room had towels & a fan that
came on at around 6pm until around
11pm when generator stopped.
 We sunbathed on the jetty with a
good book before plunging into the
lake & taking a canoe out to the
archipelago of limestone islands.
 Lunch was good & catered for
veggies (curry, tofu, rice,
vegetables, omelette)
 Though the mozzies didn’t really
bother us too much, I’d
recommended bringing insect
repellent just to be safe…

11.  In the afternoon, we
went on a guided walk
through the forest &
the guide told us about
all the flora and
fauna..
 There was a little uphill
walking, but nothing too
strenuous, but insect
repellent and water
are a must!
 We took a bamboo raft
to some limestone
caves & learned about
the formation of the
caves.

12.  We met the guide at 7am (just in
time to see the morning mist rise
above the limestone mountains) &
took longtail boat around the
surrounding islands.
 We turned the engine off and
floated silently as we watched
monkeys swinging in the trees
above.
 We arrived back at the raft
houses at around 8am and-
after coffee and breakfast- we
lounged around and swam in the
lake until 10am when we journeyed
back to the main dock by longtail
boat.

13. • After a couple of
hours drive, we
arrived at our lodge
in the jungle of Khao
Sok National Park.
• Our spacious room
had a big bed with a
mosquito net, a fan
to keep the room cool,
a nice bathroom which
looked out onto the
jungle and a
fantastic balcony
with a view of the
river.

14. Later in the afternoon, we
drove a short way with our
guide to begin our elephant
ride.
Once we’d hopped on, we rode
along a pathway with our
mahout; through the green
jungle and rivers before
arriving at some small water
falls.
After our mahout had
finished cooling the elephant
down with splashes of
refreshing water, we made
our way back and rewarded
our elephant with a bundle of
bananas.

15. We left our Khao Sok jungle lodge at around 8:30am
and after 2 or 3 hours drive and an hour long boat
ride, we arrived on Ko Hai island.
The weather was a little stormy as we hopped off the
boat and waded through the water, but we were
greeted with a very warm welcome.

16. Ko Hai
• This was another favourite
destination on our Thailand
holiday.
• Our cottage was set back on
the second row of huts and
our room comprised of a bed
with a mosquito net, a
wardrobe, a nice outside
bathroom/shower & porch
with two deckchairs.
• We were just footsteps from
the shore.
• We walked all along the beach
which seemed generally quite
quiet during our time there.

17.  We departed from Ko Hai at around 9:30am
and arrived at Pak Meng pier about an hour
later
 We then had a transfer from the pier to
Krabi (which took roughly 2 hours)
 From there, it was only a short boat ride to
the next destination on our Thailand trip, the
hidden Railay Bay.

18. • Go canoeing
• Walk to other side of
Railay to another beach.
• Get a massage
• Go snorkelling
• Climb to the viewpoint
• Go on boat trips to nearby
islands
• Relax by the pool

19. On the last day of our Thialand holiday, we got a longtail boat back
over to the Krabi port.
There are lots of places to sit and have a drink as well as many
souvenir shops and stalls.
At the end of an amazing Thailand travel experience, we caught an
internal flight back to Bangkok (which took less than an hour) and
then caught our flight back to Heathrow.