SRC:https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/thailand/ Thailand Best Beaches
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From its enchanting rainforests, rambling mountains and lumbering elephants to its far-flung islands, heavenly beaches and kaleidoscopic marine life, not to mention its frenetic cities strewn with glittering Buddhist temples, cloud-piercing skyscrapers and honking traffic, Thailand will impress you at every turn. And then there’s the food. A symphony of flavours and zingy fresh local ingredients – tangy lemongrass, sweet coconuts, chillies that will give you double vision, seafood plucked straight from the ocean – which varies from region to region.
Having honed its place as Southeast Asia’s leading tourism destination over the last 50 years, the Land of Smiles has the widest variety of attractions in the region. Get your big city kicks – temple tours, bargain shopping, eating and drinking at riotous night markets, rooftop bar-hopping – in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Venture into the countryside – Chiang Rai, Surin, Khao Sok National Park – for supersized jungles, rolling rice fields, fascinating hill tribes and wondrous wildlife. Explore, swim, snorkel and go scuba diving along a coastline that stretches over 3,000 kilometres, from the Andaman Sea in the west to the Gulf of Thailand in the east, peppered along the way with more than 1,400 palm-painted islands. Sail through the emerald karst-studded waters of Phang Nga Bay. Practise yoga along Krabi’s sea cliffs. Catch a Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan. Recuperate a spa retreat on Koh Samui. One thing that Thailand can guarantee is that you will not be bored.