The Kingdom of Thailand has long been the most visited country in the whole of South East Asia. Most people think of it as a place you stop at to refuel before continuing onto Australia or New Zealand, but it boasts a tempting mixture of natural beauty, magnificent temples, and ruined ancient cities.

I first escorted a tour group to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, back in 2003. It's located alongside the Chao Phraya River, and is amongst the most tourist friendly cities you can find. It’s a busy city with traffic jams you can’t imagine, but a great underground and sky rail system, that whisks you around the city in air conditioned comfort. One place that is a must see, is the Grand Palace, it’s exactly that, Grand, each time I visit this palace I can’t help but admire it’s beauty.

Bangkok is more commonly known as Krung Thep, this is the abbreviated version of the capital’s full ceremonial name, which has made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest place name in the World!

It’s full name is: Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.

When I take group’s to Bangkok, the main attraction is the Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Budda), which are situated together in the heart of Bangkok. The Grand Palace is famous for its impressive buildings and Wat Phra Kaeo is the most beautiful and important Buddist temple in Thailand. Another excursion most visitors want to experience, is a floating market, the largest and most popular one is Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Ratchaburi Province, around 1 hour from Bangkok. Another great tour in its own right, that can also be incorporated with a stop at the Floating Market is a visit to the Bridge On The River Kwai, during this tour a stop is also made at a War Cemetry. The Chatuchak Park Weekend Market, if you're in Bangkok at this time, gets thousands of visitors, all looking for a bargain, from the vast array of goods on sale. Other places to visit are the National Museum, the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia and Khamthieng House, which was moved from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and is an authentic 160-year-old Thai teak house. The Rose Garden, Elephant Ground & Zoo and the Snake Farm are also attractions that members of my tours group’s have visited. Enjoying an evening meal on board a boat as it sails along the Chao Phraya River with a live band playing, is a great way to end your stay in this facinating city.

Pattaya started life as a small fishing village, but after its beauty was discovered in 1961, sleepy Pattaya became Thailand’s premier beach resort. Whilst in Pattaya, things to see are Phra Tamnak Hill, this is a vantage point to get the best panoramic view of the curved bay of Pattaya. There is a temple called Wat Khao Phra Bat and also a statue of HRH Prince of Jumborn, the father of the Royal Thai Navy also at the view point. For a relaxing day out I think the Coral Islands are hard to beat, boats run several times a day, once you get off the boat, sunbeds are available for hire and the beaches and swimming are excellent. As their name implies, the Coral Islands are well known for their colourful corals.
At night Pattaya comes into its own, with fantastic Restaurants, Bars, Cabarets and Shopping. Another skill, that you might want to improve on, or learn, is Thai cookery, many of the hotels offer Thai cooking Schools where you can learn the art of Thai cooking on a one day course.

Hua Hin is located about 200km south of Bangkok on the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It is the oldest and most traditional Thai resort.
Hua Hin was transformed from a fishing village to a royal resort during the reign of King Rama V1 (1910-1925), as a getaway from Bangkok, this resulted in the building of the railway station in the early 1920’s. This railway station is in the form of two red and white pavilions, one of which is exclusively used by royalty visiting Hua Hin.The construction of the Kangwon Palace (Far From Worries) followed. The Palace remains, to this day, an official royal residence. The palace is open to the public so long as the Royal Family are not in residence and is a great way to spend half a day.
On free days, Hua Hin Beach is a tranquil 5-km white sandy beach offers great opportunities for swimming and relaxing, as well as having the chance to horse ride along the sea shore. If it's food your after,along the beach are many popular dining venues.
Despite being Thailand’s oldest beach resort, the town has remained relatively low profile and a preferred destination for laid-back holidaymakers and wealthy Thai’s. Other sights to see during your stay are the Pa La-U Falls, two waterfalls in the setting of an evergreen forest, and for the shoppers amonst you the Night Market, open every night in Central Hua Hin.
The area surrounding Hua Hin provides you with stunning beaches, national parks, forests waterfalls and caves.

We travelled to Udon Thani by flight from Bangkok; the flight was a comfortable 1 hour and 5 minutes with Air Asia.
Udon, as it is referred to by the locals, is quite spread out, but is walk able. If you fancy a drink or something to eat in Udon, there are lots of bars and restaurants. I like eating at the food centres, as you get the local food and mix with the locals, you also get to see the food, usually before its cooked, and sometimes live, before you order it.
John’s bar, yes a British bar, is a great place to start the evening, they don’t serve food, but you can have a drink, before setting off for dinner.
Whilst in Udon, a group of us went to a Thai night club, there were live bands playing, one mistake I made was sitting next to the tower of speakers! The music was, well, loud, very load, and not really to my taste, the locals however, thought it was excellent fun, and I must say, it was an enjoyable fun evening. The next day I could still hear the “Fun” pounding in my ears!
Some of the group were a little the worst for wear when we set off to the Mekong River Delta, around 1.5 to 2 hours away from Udon, firstly we visited a Buddhist Temple and for lunch, we eat at a riverside restaurant, looked more like a market stall, on the side of the Mekong River, looking over to Laos.
Even though the restaurant was basic, the food was very tasty, bbq fish, steamed rice and freshly cooked vegetables.

Ayutthaya just 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Bangkok is the old Capitol of Thailand. It became the Capitol in the 14th century and remained the capitol until the late 18th century. Around the time Americans were tossing tea into Boston Harbour.
The Burmese were the last to attack Ayutthaya, after this final attack, Bangkok became the Countries Capitol.

Today, Ayuttahaya is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, where visitors can admire its fantastic monuments and ruins. We visited 2 of the Main sights; they reminded me of visits to Pompeii in Italy.
You really need a couple of days to do Ayuttahaya justice, we stayed for one night and managed to fit in most of the sights and do a little shopping.

The City has the Chao Phraya River running through and around it, this gives the city an island feel and it is referred to as “the island”.

Getting to Ayuttahaya is pretty easy from Bangkok. I enjoy taking the train, although this is certainly not the fastest or most comfortable, but on the fun level and to get to meet the locals, it’s at the top of my list. During the journey, if you can see out of the windows, its great to see Bangkok slowly disappear and the countryside begin, if you fancy a snack, no problem, at every station you stop at, food is brought on board to purchase, from soup to dried fish and squid, you can smell the latter before it gets anywhere near you!

So enjoy my view of Ayuttahaya City and see you next time.