Thailand: Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Krabi and Khao Sok

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Bangkok

   Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang airport to your hotel near the river

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Bangkok
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), or Don Mueang (DMK) if you arrive on a regional flight, and a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the ride into the city, usually 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Our hotel is in a walkable area near the Chao Phraya River and the old city, so the first evening needs no taxis. Plan to land by about 4 pm to make the briefing; the exact time comes with your final itinerary. If you arrive early, sleep, swim, or ride a river express boat a few stops to see the city from the water. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group and walks you through the fourteen days: temple dress, the three domestic flights and their bag allowance, what the raft house night on Cheow Lan Lake is like, and the small amount of cash worth carrying. Then we sit down to a welcome dinner of Thai dishes at a local restaurant. Keep the night short: the Grand Palace opens at 8:30.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Suvarnabhumi (BKK) or Don Mueang (DMK) airport
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

2. Jour 2 : Grand Palace, the canals and Chinatown

   The Grand Palace and Wat Pho, a long-tail boat through Thonburi, then Wat Pariwat and Chinatown

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Bangkok
   Détail du jour 2

   We are at the Grand Palace for its 8:30 opening, ahead of most tour coaches, and go first to Wat Phra Kaew, the royal temple of the Emerald Buddha, while its courtyards are still quiet. Your guide reads the Ramakien murals around the cloister with you before we cross to the palace halls. Wat Pho is ten minutes' walk south: its reclining Buddha is 46 m long, with mother-of-pearl inlay on the soles of the feet. From Tha Tien pier a long-tail boat takes us across the river into the khlongs of Thonburi, past stilt houses, temple landings and canal-side shops, for about an hour on the water. Lunch and the hottest hours are free. Late in the afternoon we drive south to Wat Pariwat, a neighbourhood temple whose ordination hall is crowded with modern stucco figures, among them a small gilded David Beckham. As the light goes we walk into Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, where your guide orders a street-food dinner and explains each dish.

   Compris

   • The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew at opening, with your guide
   • Wat Pho and the reclining Buddha
   • Long-tail boat through the Thonburi canals
   • Wat Pariwat
   • Street-food dinner in Chinatown (Yaowarat) with your guide

   Activités en option

   • A Thai massage near Wat Pho in the free midday

   Option plus facile : Skip Wat Pariwat and rest at the hotel until we meet for Chinatown.

   Temps libre : Lunch and the hottest hours free

   Activité : About 3 hours on foot in the morning, in heat. Shoulders and knees must be covered at the Grand Palace.

   

3. Jour 3 : Ayutthaya, then fly to Chiang Rai

   Bangkok to Ayutthaya, then Don Mueang airport and a flight to Chiang Rai

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Rai
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave at 8 am and reach Ayutthaya, about 80 km north, at around 9:30. Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam from 1351 until the Burmese army sacked it in 1767, and its ruins have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. We see two sites properly rather than four in a rush. Your guide starts at Wat Mahathat, where a sandstone Buddha head sits wrapped in the roots of a fig tree, and tells the story of the city's fall among its broken chedis. Then we cross to Wat Chai Watthanaram on the west bank of the river, whose central prang looks back to the temples of Angkor. Lunch is grilled river prawns, the town's speciality. It is then about an hour to Don Mueang airport for a mid-afternoon flight of roughly 1 hour 20 minutes north to Chiang Rai. We land in the late afternoon and check in near the centre. The evening is free: the night bazaar is a short walk away, and the gilded clock tower in the middle of town is lit up after dark.

   Compris

   • Wat Mahathat and Wat Chai Watthanaram in Ayutthaya, with your guide
   • Lunch in Ayutthaya
   • Flight from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, with transfers at both ends

   Option plus facile : Stay in the shade at Wat Chai Watthanaram's entrance pavilion while the group walks the outer towers.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Chiang Rai

   Activité : About 2 hours on foot in the ruins, on flat paths and brick steps, in heat. The flight time comes with your final itinerary.

   

4. Jour 4 : The White Temple at opening, then Chiang Mai

   Chiang Rai to Wat Rong Khun and Wat Rong Suea Ten, then by road to Chiang Mai

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 4

   We are at Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, about 13 km south of town, when it opens at 8 am, before the coaches arrive from Chiang Mai. It is the work of the Chiang Rai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, who began rebuilding it in 1997 and is still adding to it: a white, mirror-glass temple reached by a bridge over a pit of reaching hands, with murals inside that set Buddhist scenes beside figures from films and the news. Your guide explains the symbolism before we go in. Next is Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple, on the other side of town, its hall painted deep blue and gold around a white Buddha. Then we drive south through the hills on the main road to Chiang Mai, stopping halfway for lunch at a local restaurant. It is about four hours of driving in all, the one day at our cap, split by the two temples and lunch. We reach Chiang Mai mid-afternoon, and at about 5 pm your guide walks anyone who wants to through the old city to Wat Chedi Luang.

   Compris

   • Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple) at opening, with your guide
   • Wat Rong Suea Ten (the Blue Temple)
   • Lunch on the road
   • Evening walk in Chiang Mai's old city to Wat Chedi Luang

   Option plus facile : Skip the evening walk and rest at the hotel.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Chiang Mai

   Activité : About four hours of driving, the longest of the trip, with stops at both temples and for lunch. Shoulders and knees covered at the White Temple.

5. Jour 5 : A day with elephants, no riding

   Chiang Mai to an elephant sanctuary in the hills and back

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 5

   About an hour and a quarter from the city, in the forested hills outside Chiang Mai, we spend the day at an elephant sanctuary chosen for how it treats its animals: no riding, no bathing with the elephants, no shows or painting, and elephants free to move away from people. We name it when we confirm your dates. Reviewers of other trips describe watching rescued elephants from a distant platform; here a small group walks out with a keeper and a sanctuary guide, close enough to see how the herd feeds and plays, at the distance the keepers set. You help prepare their food, hear how each elephant came to the sanctuary, and learn what the end of Thailand's logging trade meant for working elephants and the families who kept them. Lunch is on site. We are back in Chiang Mai by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day yours: a massage, coffee inside the old-city moat or, on a Sunday, the Walking Street market from Tha Phae Gate.

   Compris

   • A day at an elephant sanctuary near Chiang Mai, with sanctuary guides
   • Helping prepare the elephants' food
   • Lunch at the sanctuary

   Activités en option

   • A Thai massage in the old city

   Option plus facile : Stay at the sanctuary's shaded viewpoint while the group walks out with the keepers.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free

   Activité : Easy walking on uneven, sometimes muddy ground for 2 to 3 hours; wear closed shoes and clothes you do not mind getting dirty.

6. Jour 6 : Cooking class and Doi Suthep

   A Chiang Mai market and cooking school, then Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 6

   The morning starts at a fresh market with your cooking teacher, picking out herbs, chillies, galangal and the pastes you will pound later. The class, at a school we name when we confirm your dates, covers the north as well as the familiar dishes: khao soi, the curry noodle soup of Chiang Mai, alongside a curry, a stir-fry and a salad, and what you cook is your lunch. The early afternoon is free. Later we drive about 15 km up the mountain west of the city to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, at roughly 1,000 m, the most revered temple of the region. A staircase of about 300 steps, its balustrades shaped as naga serpents, climbs to a gilded chedi, and there is a lift for anyone who prefers it. From the terrace Chiang Mai spreads across the valley as the light goes. Back in town we share a dinner of northern Thai food: sai ua sausage, nam prik ong and sticky rice, eaten with your hands if you like.

   Compris

   • Market visit with your cooking teacher
   • Northern Thai cooking class, with the lunch you cook
   • Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in the late afternoon, lift included
   • Dinner of northern Thai food

   Option plus facile : Take the lift up to the temple terrace instead of the staircase.

   Option plus active : Climb the roughly 300 naga steps to the chedi.

   Temps libre : Early afternoon free

7. Jour 7 : Fly south to Krabi

   Chiang Mai to Krabi by air, Krabi Town, then Ao Nang

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ao Nang
   Détail du jour 7

   A flight takes us from the northern hills to the Andaman coast: about two hours where a direct flight runs on the day, otherwise via Bangkok, which adds two to three hours. We fly in the morning, and the flight and its timing come with your final itinerary. From Krabi airport it is about 15 km to Krabi Town, on the estuary of the Krabi River, where we stop for lunch at a local restaurant and a short walk along the riverfront, looking across the mangroves to the twin limestone hills of Khao Khanab Nam. This is a working provincial town rather than a resort, and it is where your guide will point you for cheaper seafood and the weekend night market. Then it is about 20 km, half an hour, to Ao Nang, our base for the next four nights, in a hotel a short walk from the beach rather than a resort out of town. The late afternoon is free: swim, or walk the beach road to watch the sun drop behind the islands offshore.

   Compris

   • Flight from Chiang Mai to Krabi (direct where the schedule allows, otherwise via Bangkok), with transfers at both ends
   • Lunch in Krabi Town
   • Riverfront walk in Krabi Town with your guide

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Ao Nang

   Activité : If the flight connects in Bangkok, we arrive later, skip the Krabi Town stop and drive straight to Ao Nang, with lunch on the way or at the airport.

   

8. Jour 8 : The Hong Islands by boat

   Ao Nang to the Hong Islands and back

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ao Nang
   Détail du jour 8

   Our boat, for the group only, leaves Ao Nang at about 8 am, so we reach Ko Hong, 30 to 60 minutes north-west depending on whether it is a speedboat or a long-tail, before the late-morning rush. The island is a limestone shell in the national park off the Krabi coast: inside it lies the Hong Lagoon, a pool of green water ringed by cliffs and entered through a gap in the rock, depending on the tide. We see it first, then land on Ko Hong's beach for a swim and snorkelling over the coral along its edge. Through the day we stop at one or two of the smaller islands nearby, chosen by the boat crew for the water conditions, with lunch on a beach. This is the day other travellers say they were rushed through, so we keep it unhurried: about two hours in the water if you want it, and shade if you do not. We are back in Ao Nang by mid-afternoon, with the evening free.

   Compris

   • A boat for the group to the Hong Islands, with crew and your guide
   • The Hong Lagoon and Ko Hong beach
   • Snorkelling, with masks, snorkels and life jackets
   • National park fees
   • Lunch on a beach

   Option plus facile : Stay on the beach or on the boat with a life jacket instead of snorkelling.

   Option plus active : Paddle a kayak along the cliffs where the crew can arrange one.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Ao Nang

   Activité : Getting in and out of the boat from the beach means wading to knee or thigh depth. Seas can be choppy; boat trips run only when the crew judge it safe.

9. Jour 9 : Railay and Phra Nang Cave Beach

   Ao Nang to Railay by long-tail boat, then back

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ao Nang
   Détail du jour 9

   Railay is a peninsula cut off from the mainland road by limestone cliffs, so we reach it the usual way, by long-tail boat from Ao Nang beach, about 15 minutes across the bay. We go at about 8:30, before the day boats arrive from Phuket and Phi Phi. From Railay West a walkway runs under the overhanging cliffs, where climbers are often already on the rock, to Phra Nang Cave Beach. At its end is a small cave shrine to a sea princess, piled with offerings left by local fishermen, and the beach looks out to the limestone stack of Ko Rang Nok. Swim, or sit in the shade of the cliff while your guide explains how the karst landscape formed. Lunch is at a restaurant on Railay. We are back in Ao Nang by early afternoon, with the rest of the day free, and your guide can book a massage or a sunset table for anyone who wants one.

   Compris

   • Long-tail boat to Railay and back
   • Phra Nang Cave Beach and the cave shrine, with your guide
   • Lunch on Railay

   Activités en option

   • A half-day introductory rock-climbing session on Railay, priced at booking

   Option plus facile : Stay on Railay West's beach and skip the walk to Phra Nang.

   Option plus active : The steep trail to the Railay viewpoint, a short scramble up red clay with fixed ropes; only in dry weather and with good shoes.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : Boarding a long-tail from the beach means wading to knee depth.

10. Jour 10 : A free day in Krabi

    Ao Nang, at your own pace

    • Petit-déjeuner
    • Nuit : Ao Nang
    Détail du jour 10

    Today is yours, the only day on the trip with nothing planned, put here because the coast is where people most want time of their own. Ao Nang's beach is a short walk from the hotel, and the quieter Nopparat Thara beach is a little further west. Your guide stays in Ao Nang and is on hand at breakfast to help you plan and book. If you want more water time, a speedboat day to Ko Phi Phi or a kayak trip through the mangroves at Ao Thalane can be booked locally, with the price told to you upfront. Wat Tham Suea, the Tiger Cave Temple north of Krabi Town, has a climb of about 1,200 steps to a hilltop Buddha with views over the coast, best started early in the cool. Or do nothing at all: a long breakfast, a massage, a book on the sand. In the evening your guide will suggest seafood places away from the main beach road.

    Compris

    • A free day, with your guide on hand to plan and book

    Activités en option

    • Speedboat day to Ko Phi Phi
    • Kayaking in the Ao Thalane mangroves
    • Rock climbing on Railay
    • The Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea) steps
    • A Thai massage

    Temps libre : Whole day free

    Activité : Optional trips are booked with local operators at the price shown before you pay; none is sold on the bus.

11. Jour 11 : Into Khao Sok

    Ao Nang to Khao Sok National Park, then a walk along the Sok River

    • Environ 3 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Khao Sok
    Détail du jour 11

    We leave Ao Nang at about 9 am and drive about three hours north through Phang Nga province, where rubber and oil-palm plantations give way to forested limestone, with a coffee stop on the way. Khao Sok National Park protects a large area of lowland rainforest and karst peaks in the mountains between the Andaman coast and the Gulf. Our lodge, which we name when we confirm your dates, sits by the Sok River near the park headquarters. After lunch your guide and a local park guide walk the group along the main trail from headquarters, following the river under strangler figs, giant bamboo and rattan, looking for macaques, hornbills and the tracks of animals that come down to drink. We take it slowly, two to three hours in humid shade. Dinner is at the lodge, then a short night walk with the local guide, torches pointed at the undergrowth for frogs, spiders and sleeping birds.

    Compris

    • Lunch at Khao Sok
    • Rainforest walk along the Sok River with your guide and a local park guide
    • Khao Sok National Park fees
    • Dinner at the lodge
    • Night walk with a local guide

    Option plus facile : Drift down the Sok River in a canoe paddled by a local guide instead of the walk.

    Option plus active : Continue further up the river trail with the park guide, about an hour longer.

    Activité : Trails are uneven and can be muddy and slippery; leeches are common after rain, so wear long socks and closed shoes.

12. Jour 12 : A night on Cheow Lan Lake

    Khao Sok to Ratchaprapha Dam, then by long-tail boat to a raft house on Cheow Lan Lake

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Cheow Lan Lake
    Détail du jour 12

    After breakfast we drive about an hour east to the pier at Ratchaprapha Dam. The dam closed in the 1980s and flooded the valleys behind it, so Cheow Lan Lake winds between limestone karsts that rise straight out of the water. A long-tail boat takes us about an hour across the lake to our raft house, a row of floating bungalows moored against the forest. Lunch is on the raft. In the afternoon the boat takes us to a trailhead for a forest walk to a cave, chosen with the park rangers for the season and the water level, or you can stay behind, swim off the deck and paddle one of the raft's kayaks. As the light fades we go out by long-tail into the quieter arms of the lake, watching the forest edge for hornbills, macaques and, with luck, gibbons. Dinner is on the raft, served with the lake dark around you, and the generator goes off later in the evening.

    Compris

    • Long-tail boat across Cheow Lan Lake
    • A night on a raft house, all meals included
    • Forest walk to a cave with your guide
    • Kayaks at the raft house
    • Dusk boat safari on the lake

    Option plus facile : Stay at the raft house for the afternoon: swim, kayak or rest.

    Option plus active : The cave walk, which can involve wading and scrambling depending on the cave and the season.

    Temps libre : Late morning free on the raft

    Activité : Raft rooms are simple: a mattress, a mosquito net and power for a few hours in the evening. Bring a small overnight bag; main luggage stays in our vehicle.

    

13. Jour 13 : Dawn on the lake, then back to Bangkok

    Cheow Lan Lake to Surat Thani airport, then a flight to Bangkok

    • Environ 2.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Bangkok
    Détail du jour 13

    If you want it, the boat goes out again at about 6 am, the one optional early start, when mist sits on the water and the gibbons call across the valleys; this is the best chance to hear them. Breakfast is back on the raft, then the long-tail takes us back to the pier by mid-morning, where our vehicle and your luggage are waiting. It is about an hour and a half by road to Surat Thani airport, with time to eat on the way, and a flight of about 1 hour 10 minutes to Bangkok. We transfer to our hotel near the river, the same area as the first two nights, and your guide is with you the whole way, so there is no handover to a stranger for the last leg. In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner, a last round of Thai dishes and a look back over the fourteen days.

    Compris

    • Long-tail boat back to the pier
    • Flight from Surat Thani to Bangkok, with transfers at both ends
    • Farewell dinner in Bangkok

    Activités en option

    • A dawn boat on Cheow Lan Lake at about 6 am, included in the price; join it or sleep in

    Option plus facile : Sleep through the dawn boat and join the group at breakfast.

    Activité : Lunch is on the road or at the airport, at your own cost.

14. Jour 14 : Depart from Bangkok

    Your hotel to Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang airport

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 14

    The trip ends after breakfast. A driver takes you from the hotel to Suvarnabhumi (BKK) or Don Mueang (DMK), timed to your flight; the ride is usually 45 minutes to an hour, longer in the morning and evening rush. Allow three hours at the airport before an international departure, so a flight after about 11 am leaves time for a slow breakfast by the river. With a later flight, the hotel can hold your bags while you take a last river boat to the flower market at Pak Khlong Talat or a final massage; your guide will have suggested what fits. If you want to stay on, we can book extra nights in Bangkok or on the coast before you travel, at the price we confirm in writing. Your guide says goodbye at breakfast, or sees you to the car if you leave early.

    Compris

    • Transfer to Suvarnabhumi (BKK) or Don Mueang (DMK) airport

    Temps libre : Free until your transfer

    Activité : Book an international flight leaving after about 11 am, or tell us your time and we arrange an earlier transfer.

Faune et météo : November to February is the best time for this route: cool, dry days in the north and calm, clear water on the Andaman coast. March and April are hot, often above 35°C, and the north is often hazy from crop burning. From May to October the south-west monsoon brings rain and rough seas to Krabi, and island boats can be cancelled. Khao Sok is rainforest and can rain in any month; gibbons call mostly at dawn, and hornbills and macaques are seen often, though wild animals are never guaranteed.

• Bangkok2 nuits
• Chiang Rai1 nuit
• Chiang Mai3 nuits
• Ao Nang4 nuits
• Khao Sok1 nuit
• Cheow Lan Lake1 nuit
• Bangkok1 nuit