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Recommended Hotels Hua Hin
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Best of Thailand
Kanchanaburi and the River Kwai
There's much more to Kanchanaburi than the infamous Bridge Over the River
Kwai. Highlights include staying in a raft house on the River Kwai and taking
the train along the spectacular Death Railway, built by World War II POWs at the
cost of countless lives.
Diving and snorkelling trips to Ko Similan
Ko Similan's underwater scenery is rated amongst the ten finest reefs in the
world, and the best place to arrange good value live aboard diving and
snorkelling trips to this remote chain of national park islands is Khao Lak.
Trekking from Umpang
Surrounded by mountains and at the end of a rollercoaster road known as the
Sky Highway, the tiny village of Umpang is the departure point for interesting
and untouristed treks into the Burmese borderlands.
Ko Lanta Yai
Take your pick from a dozen long and lovely beaches on the forested island
of Ko Lanta Yai.
Khao Sok National Park
Stay in a tree house in Khao Sok National Park and wake to the sound of
whooping gibbons and the sight of mist clad cliffs rising from the jungle.
Pirom's Village Tours
Former social worker Pirom runs a guesthouse in Surin from where he
organizes low-key tours to typical villages in his native Isaan, the most
traditional and least visited region of Thailand.
Wat Phu Thok
The uniquely atmospheric meditation temple of Wat Phu Thok is set on a
steep, wooded outcrop - clamber around for the spectacular views, if nothing
else.
The Grand Palace, Bangkok
The Grand Palace is simply the country's least missable sight, incorporating
its holiest and most beautiful temple, Wat Phra Kaeo, and its most important
image, the Emerald Buddha.
Loy Krathong
For Loy Krathong, a nationwide festival held in honour of the water spirits,
Thais everywhere float miniature baskets filled with flowers and lighted candles
on canals, rivers, ponds and seashores.
Ayutthaya
An hour to the north of and providing a sharp contrast to Bangkok, the
former capital Ayutthaya now resembles a graveyard of temples, with grand,
brooding redbrick ruins rising out of the fields.
Thailand
Arts and Crafts
During 1976, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit established the Foundation for
the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Techniques, popularly
known as SUPPORT, with the object of giving rural Thais alternative sources of
income and also of reviving some of the kingdom's traditional crafts. The result
has been a variety of beautiful items available in Thailand through a chain of
outlets called Chitrlada Shops.
Five Chitrlada Shops are located in Bangkok. on the ground floor of the
Decorations Pavilion in the Grand Palace; in the Oriental Plaza shopping
centre,- in the shopping arcade of the Hilton International Bangkok Hotel; in
the compound of Vimanmek Mansion; and at Don Muang International Airport. Others
can be found at the Rose Garden in Nakhon Pathom province, in South Pattaya, and
at the Chiang Mai Airport.
Among the SUPPORT products to be found in these shops are hand woven silks from
the Northeast, particularly in subtle designs known in Thai as mat-mi; elegant
yan liphao handbags, made from a vine that grows in southern Thailand and often
adorned with gold fittings; jewelly in distinctive designs; supple Thai cotton
in classic patterns;. T-shirts with motifs designed by Her Royal Highness
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn; and numerous moderately-priced souvenirs. All
funds raised from the sale of these crafts go to the SUPPORT project.
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