Insight Guides Thailands Beaches and Islands (Travel Guide eBook)

Insight Guides

Description

Insight Guides: Inspiring your next adventure

Insight Guides: all you need to inspire every step of your journey.
An in-depth book, now with free app and eBook.
Thailand's fabled beaches and islands continue to lure travellers of all types, from honeymooners and families to hedonistic backpackers. Visitors can experience a true Asian metropolis with a stopover in Bangkok before exploring their chosen beaches or islands, all of which have distinct personalities and offer a range of activities from snorkelling and diving to exploring local culture at temples and markets. This brand new edition of Insight Guide Thailand's Beaches and Islands will guide you to the best destination, whatever your interests.
� Over 240 pages of insider knowledge from local experts
� In-depth on history and culture, from Buddhist beliefs and temples to Southern Thai cuisine
� Enjoy special features on local festivals and Thailand's underwater landscape
� Includes innovative extras that are unique in the market - all Insight Guides to countries and regions come with a free eBook and app that's regularly updated with new hotel, bar, restaurant, shop and local event listings
� Invaluable maps, travel tips and practical information ensure effortless planning
� Inspirational colour photography throughout
� Inventive design makes for an engaging reading experience

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

Sujets

• Provincia de Phuket
• OK Go (album)
• Andaman Islands
• Bangkok
• Ko Samui
• Krabi
• Phuket

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 février 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• EAN13: 9781786710963
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book
This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Thailand’s Beaches and Islands, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Thailand’s Beaches and Islands. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Thailand’s Beaches and Islands are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Thailand’s Beaches and Islands. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.
© 2018 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd




Table of Contents
Thailand’s Beaches and Islands’s Top 10 Attractions
Editor’s Choice
Introduction: Lazy days and island ways
People And Culture
Decisive Dates
History
Religion
Insight: A Calendar of Celebrations
Southern Thai Cuisine
Nature And Environment
Insight: Underwater Landscape
Outdoor Activities
Introduction: Places
Bangkok
Insight: Temple Art and Architecture
Eastern Seaboard
Northern Gulf Coast
Ko Samui, Ko Phangan and Ko Tao
Northern Andaman Coast
Phuket
Krabi, Ko Phi Phi and Ko Lanta
Trang, Satun and Songkhla
Transport
Language
Further Reading


Thailand’s Beaches and Islands’s Top 10 Attractions



Top Attraction 1



Chinatown, Bangkok. One of the most authentic Chinatowns outside of China. The narrow alleyways are full of temples and shrines, and stalls selling wonderful foods, spices and anything else you can imagine. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 2



Vegetarian Festival, Phuket. In this annual Chinese Taoist event, people abstain from meat and sex and perform acts of self-mutilation that are only for the robust of heart. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 3



Full Moon Parties, Ko Phangan. Anything goes at these wild all-night raves on the beaches of Phangan. They draw thousands of visitors every month from all over the world. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 4



Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok. No one visits the capital without seeing the -Temple of the Emerald Buddha, located in the grounds of the Grand Palace. There are wonderful murals and several museums inside. For more information, click here .
Peter Stuckings/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 5



Ko Tarutao National Park, Satun. This island chain, a former penal colony, mixes isolated and party destinations, and is one of only a few places in the world to see the -manatee. For more information, click here .
Shutterstock


Top Attraction 6



Ao Phang Nga, Northern Andaman Coast. A surreal seascape of limestone pinnacles rising out of the water invites exploration by sea canoe. Pass through underwater caves to hidden lagoons. For more information, click here .
Shutterstock


Top Attraction 7



Chatuchak, Bangkok. Touted as the world’s biggest flea market, with 8,000 stalls and an estimated 400,000 shoppers every weekend. You can buy whatever you want here, from local crafts to snakes and violins. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 8



Khao Sok National Park. Good for trekking, caves, lakes and waterfalls, the amazing variety of flora and fauna here includes the world’s second—largest flower. For more information, click here .
Shutterstock


Top Attraction 9



Surin Islands. One of a clutch of dive havens off the Andaman coast, it includes the famous Richelieu Rock. Other class diving areas such as the Burma Banks are close by. For more information, click here .
iStock


Top Attraction 10



Railay Bay, Krabi. These three beaches are among Thailand’s most beautiful. The surrounding area has hundreds of sheer limestone cliffs that attract rock climbers from across the world. For more information, click here .
John W. Ishii/Apa Publications


Editor’s Choice



Best for families

Dino Park and Mini Golf: Phuket . An 18-hole mini-golf course that trails over rocks and across rivers and waterfalls, past dinosaurs with smoking nostrils. For more information, click here .
Elephant trek: Pattaya . See elephants bathing and feeding, then take a trek on one’s back into the forest. For more information, click here .
National Discovery Museum : Bangkok . Explore Thailand’s history and culture at the country’s best interactive museum. For more information, click here .
Phuket Fantasea: Phuket . An exciting stage extravaganza combining dance, drama and acrobatics with pyrotechnics and performing elephants. For more information, click here .
Siam Ocean World: Bangkok . See more than 30,000 marine animals in a giant Oceanarium, observe different marine -species on a glass-bottomed boat ride and go diving with the sharks. For more information, click here .
Underwater World: Pattaya . Explore the varied wonders of the briny depths without ever getting wet. For more information, click here .
Monkey Theatre: Ko Samui . Watch monkeys scamper up trees at lightning speed to pluck coconuts from the palms. For more information, click here .



Kitsch Dino Park.
Getty Images


Food and drink

Cookery Schools: Bangkok, Hua Hin and Ko Samui . There’s nothing like learning how to cook Thai food while you’re in Thailand and these are some of the best schools on offer.
Night Markets: Trang and Songkhla . For some of the best southern-style streetfood, plus local colour and a great atmosphere. For more information, click here .
Nahm: Bangkok . Voted one of the world’s best restaurants, it produces sensational traditional Thai flavours.
Sirocco: Bangkok . The stupendous city views are the main attraction at this famous alfresco rooftop restaurant and bar.
Sra Bua: Bangkok . Modern Thai cuisine by Copenhagen’s Michelin-starred restaurant Kiin Kiin includes dishes like red curry ice cream.



Red Thai curry.
John W. Ishii/Apa Publications


Temples

Khao Luang Cave: Petchaburi . More than 100 Buddha images fill this cave temple in several underground chambers. For more information, click here .
Wat Chalong: Phuket . The island’s largest and most important Buddhist temple contains a relic of the Buddha’s bones. For more information, click here .
Wat Mahathat: Petchaburi . A 14th-century temple, Petchaburi’s most important and known for its fine carvings and murals. For more information, click here .
Wat Matchimawat: Songkhla . The town’s most famous temple, with paintings that are over 200 years old. For more information, click here .
Wat Pho: Bangkok . The capital’s largest temple is best known for the gigantic statue of the reclining Buddha found here. For more information, click here .
Wat Tham Suea: Krabi . “Tiger Cave Temple” is surrounded by forests and cliffs with truly fantastic views of the neighbouring area. For more information, click here .



Wat Chalong – the most important of Phuket’s 29 Buddhist temples.
John W. Ishii/Apa Publications


Cultura