# The Capital of Tourism: ## THAILAND ## Land of smiles Photos



## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

in Cool season , the maples turn to red color.. the forest of this place is so beautiful


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## Jo (Jul 6, 2003)

Some of the festivals..

*Songkran Festival (13-15 Apr)*

The traditional Thai New Year, joyfully celebrated throughout the country with rituals of merit making, cleaning houses, honouring elders, parades of dancers and music troupes, and boat races. What makes the festival most interesting is water splashing, an amusing way to make you cool in the hot season.
The Thai new year is celebrated by all Thais, who also often celebrate the Christian and Chinese new years. Sure, why not, celebrating them all means more opportunities to have fun!






































*The Surin Elephant Round-up*

Surin has been an elephant's habitat since ancient times and the local townspeople of Surin are skilled in rounding up, training and controlling elephants. The fair, which takes place around mid November, is regarded an international annual which attracts numbers of tourists from every corner of the world. Planned activities during the fair include a tug-of-war between an elephant and men, elephants in football match, war elephant parade, and local performances






































*Loy Krathong or Festival of Light (11 Nov, the full-moon day)*

The romantic night festival, people gather at the waterside to float krathongs, lotus-shaped vessels lovely decorated with flowers and lit candles, as a thanksgiving and worship to the Goddess of Water. Celebrated throughout the country on a grand scale but it's most magnificent in Sukhothai and Chiang Mai.

In Chiang Mai flying lanters are often used instead of the floats. It's really a sight! Sorry for the small photos.


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

World class dining experience

Sirocco the reaching sky restaurant


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

BLUE Gulf of Thailand
Koh Nang Yuan


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

some small island on the way to PHuket


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

Natural pool
The Emeral pool , Krabi Province


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

Far North Thailand
The mountainous areas.
From wor;d famous Chiangmai to Chiang Rai


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

I am Michael Jordan of the elephant kingdom


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

Similan marine national park 
World class beauty


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## Jo (Jul 6, 2003)

Very nice Tornado! I'd like to check out Koh Nang Yuan soon.

Some of the pics doesn't work, for me at least


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## OtAkAw (Aug 5, 2004)

Thailand looks great, look at those pictures!


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## Facial (Jun 21, 2004)

Great pics.


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

Jo said:


> Very nice Tornado! I'd like to check out Koh Nang Yuan soon.
> 
> Some of the pics doesn't work, for me at least




thanks Jo for joining me Thailand photos

i'll fix it up for some photos that cannot be seen


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

Nearby , Phan Nga Bay


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

Paradise of Thailand

Ko Phi-Phi is actually two islands about 40km from Krabi: Phi-Phi Leh and Phi-Phi Don. Both are part of Hat Noppharat Thara/Ko Phi-Phi National Marine Park, though only parts of Phi-Phi Don are actually under the administration of the Park Division of the Royal Forest Department. 

After Phuket, this is the most popular tourist destination along the Andaman coast. During the high season from December to March, multitudes of travellers, descend on the island and snatch up every available room and bungalow. The island still retains some of its original beauty, but to truly appreciate it you'll have to take a long hike to escape the crowds. 

Ko Phi-Phi Leh is almost all sheer cliffs, with a few caves and a sea lake formed by a cleft between two cliffs that allows water to enter into a bowl-shaped canyon. The so-called Viking Cave (Tham Phaya Naak) contains prehistoric paintings of stylised human and animal figures alongside later paintings of ships no more that 100 years old. 

Ko Phi-Phi Don looks like two islands connected by the bridge of land only a few hundred metres long. This 'bridge' forms the beautiful double bays of Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam, both of which have long, white-sand beaches. The mostly uninhabited western half of the island is called Ko Nok (Outer Island), and the larger eastern half is Ko Nai (Inner Island). The the north end of the Ko Nai is Laem Thong, where the island's chao naam populations lives. The number of chao naam here varies from time to time, but there are generally about 100. Ko Phi-Phi's topography boasts scenic hills, awesome cliffes, long beaches, emerald waters and remarkable bird and sea life


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

*Paradise of Thailand*

Andaman , or the west coast of Thailand
well known as Phuket areas are the top draw tourist spot from all over the world.

the islands are my favourite destination.. in the right time of the year !! you will really see paradise on earth.


Unseen in Thailand is a campaign for travellers to see unseen part that thailand has to offer .. from desert beaches , strange sightseeing and so on


















you will experience this in the south of thailand










Emerald Cave , Trang province









Hen Crab , its voice like a chicken caling early morning









walking from paradise to another paradise in Poda


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

life on the water , PAnYee island Phangnga Bay , Andaman


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Krabi and its surrounding. Krabi is about 45 minutes by plane from Bangkok. The cost of a roundtrip ticket with Thai Airways would be about $130 USD. There are plenty of accomodations to fit every budget. Best period to visit the area is from Nov-May.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Railey beach, Krabi. This is a must attraction in Krabi. Accessible from the mainland via boat. Once you’re there everything is possibly explored by foot. The place is popular among backpackers. Few up market resorts. Only one 5 star resort.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Some small islands just off Krabi’s mainland, you can hire a long tail boat(for just about $25 USD for half a day/or the whole day - depending on your skill on negociation) to explore around the area.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Islands off Krabi's mainland. This paradise can be yours, though for a few hours only because there's no accomodation avilable.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Not only beautiful beaches and islands we have here in Thailand. There are also many more attractions for those into history and culture as well. Of course, not only in Bangkok where many beautiful temples are locating. Just about 1 hour drive away, you will find one of Thailand's top historical attraction - the acient city of *Ayutthaya*. It's also a world heritage site(UNESCO)
The whole area of this site is very big and the attractions are scattered around. Most of the visited attractions are clustered in the middle of the city and can be explored on foot. Elephant riding is also an additional option.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

The city of *Ayutthaya* was the second capital city of Thailand after the city of *Sukhothai* futher north. It was the capital city for more than 400 yrs before it was sacked and burned.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

This is surely one of the top and most visited sites of Ayutthaya. Although it's a bit far away from the rest but it's within an easy reach by car. The location is by the river and commands a breathtaking view. There was also a commercial of "Carlsberg" beer shot in Ayutthaya with this temple in the background.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

The "Big Buddha" statue in Ayutthaya


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

This is the *No. 1* attraction in Ayutthaya. It's the heart of Ayutthaya like the Emmerald Buddha Temple is to Bangkok, also this was the site for the royal palace too but only the remaining seen today are the standing pillars.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

The same temple from different angle. These three pagodas are housing the relics of the three Kings of Ayutthaya.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

This temple was built in order to celebrate the victory over the Burmese invasion. During the Ayutthaya Dynasty the Thais had gone to several battles against the Burmeses. Twice the Burmese mananged to capture the city and took control but only the second time they decided to sack and burn everything to the ground.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

The annual "Light & Sound" festival of Ayutthaya, a show demonstrates the battle in ancient time.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Another unique looking pagoda in Ayutthaya


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

*Mae Hong Son*, Northern Thailand. Beautiful mountain sceneries. It's got similar atmosphere to Southern Yunnan(China). It's also home to the "Long Neck" hill tribe families. This province is western to Chiang Mai, surrounded by rolling hills and mountains. Therefor there's no direct rounte to it, if you go there from Chiang Mai you have to go around it either via southern or northern route. These routes are very long way, snaking through valleys and mountains. I once drove by car(via sounthern route) from Chiang Mai, it took me almost 11 hrs to get there(with few stops on the way). 
This photo shows the centre of the small and quite town of Mae Hong Son. It's very popular among backpackers.


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Beautiful sceneries around the area of Mea Hong Son and Chiang Mai


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

These are the bungalows popular among backpackers


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

*Doi Inthanon*, Thailand's highest mountain. Chiang Mai Province










Burmese influence on architecture, A temple in the centre of Mae Hong Son


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

Temple in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand


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## dave_chanh (Oct 10, 2005)

"Tee Lor Su" Waterfall, a hidden paradise in Tak province, western Thailand(next to Burmese border). Not known to foreigners but very famous among locals but rarely visited. It's far away from Tak's town and the road isn't in a good shape. 4 wheels drive is best to get there. There's on road access to the waterfall, therefor the place is accesible by foot only. Allow at least a couple of days of journey there and back.


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

thank you Krub Khun Dave Chan 
it would be great if you could resize photos to smaller size haha i am having a hard time to see those photos cuz my internet speed is not fast enough.

and also i think many people still using ol;d school internet connection like me hehehehe thanks so much for all info and photos.




I love Tee Loh Su waterfall ITs so beautifullllll AND THE real place much more beautiful


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## TopperCity (Apr 30, 2006)

Any more beautiful pix about Thailand?


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## Sergei (May 20, 2004)

Tornado said:


> Monkey BAy/Taken after Tsunami


 OMG! That's the cutest thing EVER!
I wanna go there! Can we take the monkeys home as souvenirs? :colgate:


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

thanks for visiting...

well Monkey bay is actually 5 mins from Tonsai Bay , PhiPhi don island.

these islands are among the most beautiful islands that thailand has to offer.

In Lonely Planet , version , hundred places that u must go before u die ( can't remember exactly title) Describe PhiPhi as the most breathaking beautiful islands on earth.

on the plane from Bangkok to southern Thailand.. only 1 hour flight from Bangkok to Phuket to see the paradise


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## Tornado (Jul 5, 2005)

NOw ... for those who love the orchids 

THailand is one of the world's most diverse bio system... and THailand is the main orchid exporter.... have a look.... beautiful orchids....


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