Remote Lands

Thailand

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1 – Bangkok

Arrive in Bangkok and check in to the elegant Oriental Hotel, overlooking the Chao Praya River. This legendary property is considered one of the top hotels in the world, where the service is impeccable and no details are spared.

Have cocktails in the Bamboo Bar, or tea in the Author's Lounge, the haunt of such literary luminaries such as Graham Greene, Joseph Conrad and John Le Carré.

Venture out with your personal guide for a visit to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This is Bangkok's most gilded shrine and top pilgrimage destination, and home to the revered Emerald Buddha image.

Take a private river cruise on the Chao Praya, stopping at Wat Arun, the scenic temple of dawn, and then visiting Wat Maharat, where you will meet with the head of the International Buddhist Meditation Center to discuss Buddhism in Thailand and its relevance to the pulse of the kingdom. While in the area, visit the quirky amulet market, where a vast array of talismans and other good luck charms, as well as traditional medicine, are on offer. Have your fortune told for fun, and have a traditional medicine doctor give you a check-up to tell you what herbal medicines would benefit your health

Return to the Oriental for a shiatsu massage at the hotel's spa, an oasis of tranquility right across the river.

Dine in the utmost splendor at Le Normandie, one of Asia's finest French restaurants, staffed exclusively by Michelin-starred chefs.

Day 2 – Bangkok

After a sumptuous buffet breakfast on the river, board your private boat for a trip to the floating market of Damnoen Saduak on the outskirts of Bangkok. Fruit, vegetables, handicrafts and other goods are sold by boats paddling around the city of canals. Witness quotidian Thai life along the waterways, and visit pomelo farmers, woodcarvers, potters and other small-scale artisanal businesses. Cruise to a small local restaurant on the water and have a casual lunch of fresh seafood and pad thai stir fried noodles together with the friendly owner and his family.

En route back to Bangkok, stop at the unique Queen Saovabha Research Institute, more commonly known as the Snake Farm, where antivenom is made from all types of poisonous snakes. Meet the caretakers and go around with them as they carry out afternoon milking sessions with the snakes, and learn all about this rarified practice.

Have dinner at the gorgeous home of a prominent Bangkok family, and see their amazing collection of contemporary Asian art as well as antiques. Discuss with them the opportunities and challenges facing Thailand in today's rapidly emerging Asia.

Day 3 – Phuket

Fly from Bangkok to Phuket and be met by your private driver for the short ride to Surin Beach and Amanpuri, one of the most luxurious hideaways in the world. The resort was created by the architect who designed the Winter Palace of the former Shah of Iran. Your palatial ocean villa overlooks the Andaman Sea, and comes complete with your own personal cook and butler and a private pool.

Hire Sealion, a classic 40-foot Chinese junk, for an unforgettable day cruising through Phang Nga Bay, where hundreds of limestone karst peaks thrust up out of the sea in a variety of formations, towering over the turquoise water. Stop at James Bond Island, which was a location for the action epic, The Man With the Golden Gun, and the Phi Phi Islands, where The Beach was filmed. Have a lovely picnic lunch on a secluded white sand beach of Koh Kai Nok, and relax as you watch the waves roll in.

Have a massage back at the hotel before going out to dinner at Mom Tri's Boathouse, noted for its seafood, fine wine and waterfront location. Despite the curious name, this is the most esteemed restaurant in Phuket, where Thai politicians, pop stars, and other celebrities dine.

Day 4 – Similan Islands

The Similan Islands are considered the top scuba-diving and snorkeling spot in Thailand, and are world renowned for their coral reefs and diversity of tropical fish. The nine islands, which are a national park, are home to rare species of flora and fauna, such as the Nicobar pigeon, flying lemur, and bottlenose dolphin. The 60-foot motorcruiser Aman I, one of Amanpuri's fleet of luxury yachts, will take you out to the Similans, where you can spend the day diving or learning to dive. Other activities include snorkeling, hiking or just relaxing in this tropical paradise. Return to Phuket in time for cocktails and dinner at the hotel.

Day 5 – Krabi

In the morning, cruise by private boat to Krabi (three hours), noted for its exquisite beaches, mangrove forests, limestone peaks, and emerald waters. Krabi is also famed as a location for outdoor sports, possibilities for the day include: rock climbing (Krabi is considered one of the premier climbing venues in the world), kayaking estuaries and tidal lagoons, elephant trekking, snorkeling in the crystal clear water, or just relaxing on the magnificent beaches of Rai Leh.

Stay at the Rayavadee, a five-star oceanfront resort with lavish Thai villas with private pools and landscaped gradens. Have sunset cocktails followed by a delightful beach barbecue of fresh fish and grilled vegetables.

Day 6 – Chiang Mai

Fly to Chiang Mai, Thailand's northern capital and second largest city, noted for its old walled city and hundreds of temples. Check into the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, a stunning hotel filled with striking Lanna architecture. The resort is located on 62 serene acres of forests, rice paddies and plantations, and has the largest spa in Thailand.

Drive to nearby Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest peak at 8,550 feet. The mountain is part of a national park, and has several striking waterfalls as well as stupendous views over all of northern Thailand.

Not far from Doi Inthanon is the city of Lampang, noted for its impressive Lanna architecture. You can visit the Lanna Museum in Wat Phra Kaew Temple, and have a look at the various Lanna style temples that grace the old city. Explore the area via horse cart, as Lampang is the only town in Thailand that still uses horses and buggies for public transport.

Return to Chiang Mai for a dinner with a prominent local business family at Le Grand Lanna, noted for its northern Thai specialties. Afterwards, wander through the Night Bazaar, the modern version of the old traders' caravansaries, where you can choose from a vast array of handicrafts of other locally made items to bring home as gifts.

Day 7 – Doi Suthep

After trying a bowl of khao soy, Chiang Mai's famous curried breakfast noodles, visit the prestigious Chiang Mai University and its excellent Tribal Museum. As most of northern Thailand is made up of various ethnic minorities, a trip to this highly informative museum is quite useful before setting out into the countryside.

Drive twenty minutes to Doi Suthep, a mountain that looms over Chiang Mai, and is home to the sacred temple of Wat Phra That. Visit Wat Phra That and also Phra Tamnak Phu Phing, the winter palace for the royal family occupying this high ground. On the way down the mountain, stop in at one of the many Hmong ethnic villages that cling to Doi Suthep's slopes and have tea with the family in their traditional home.

Have dinner at The Gallery, a 100-year-old teak house that is an art gallery and elegant restaurant, sitting on a scenic spot overlooking the Ping River. Before dinner, one of the area's premier artists will give you a private tour of the gallery, and then have cocktails with you and tell you about his work and his life as a Thai artist.

Day 8 – Chiang Rai

Board your private helicopter for a scenic ride over lush and mountainous northern Thailand, eventually touching down in Chiang Rai, the capital of the infamous Golden Triangle. Check into the elegant Anantara Golden Triangle Resort and Spa, noted for hosting the King's Cup Elephant Polo tournament. From your private suite, you will have views of Laos and Myanmar, right across the Mekong River not far away.

After lunch, go to the Elephant Camp right next to the Anantara. It was set up by the Thai Government as a conservation center for elephants as well their handlers who have traditionally relied on them for their livelihood. Help the kindle and gentle mahouts to bathe and feed the delightful beasts, and go on an elephant trek through the lovely forests to a beautiful waterfall.

Visit the Hall of Opium, an impressive museum describing the history of the Golden Triangle and its former role in the production and trading of opium. The museum emphasizes the strong measures that Thailand has taken to eradicate drug production and use.

Return to the Anantara and pamper yourself after this busy day in its stylish and soothing spa, with a variety of treatments including mud baths, facials, and various types of massage for you to choose from.

Attend an exotic Lanna wedding as an esteemed guest. All participants are dressed in beautiful costumes, and the groom is transported to the bride's house on an elaborately decorated elephant. Take part in the singing, dancing and feasting rituals of this highly convivial and extremely important life event.

Day 9 – The Mekong and Laos

Take a longtail boat up the Mekong, which forms the border between Thailand, Laos and Burma, to the ancient walled city of Chiang Saen, originally built in 1328. Visit the National Museum and the lovely wats (temples) in this charming former Lanna Kingdom town. Have a private blessing by one of the senior monks, and afterward visit his private chamber and have tea and snacks with him.

Continue down the scenic Mekong, which is dotted with hill tribe villages and scenes of fishing life, with Laos on one side and Thailand at the other. Stop at Chiang Khong, where you can cross over the border to the Laotian town of Huayxay to shop for beautiful hand-woven Laotian silk and other Laotian memorabilia. (Alternatively, you can also reach Chiang Khong via car, a one-hour drive through the rice paddies from Chiang Rai.)

After crossing over the border into Huayxay, drive farther into Laos and visit a Lenten or Hmong hill tribe village. The villagers are poor but extremely hospitable, and a trip to see their uncomplicated way of life is highly enriching.

Visit the school and meet the children and teach them a few words of English. Have a private lunch with the poo yai baan (tribal village chief) in his very basic home, preceded by an informal cooking demonstration of some of their favorite dishes. Try the local specialty of spicy Mekong River fish soup, eaten with sticky rice and steamed chicken. Chat with them and learn about their simple but happy lives, directly from them (with a little help from your guide/translator of course!).

Have cocktails and dinner at the home of a prominent local painter who has risen to national prominence in recent years. See his private mountain home and gallery featuring stunning oil on canvas creations which embody the beauty of Chiang Rai.

Day 10 – Hill Tribe Villages

After breakfast, go by private car up to the Doi Tung Royal Gardens. This development project, started by the late Princess Mother, is a center for sustainable agricultural and economic practices for local hill tribe groups. Have a private tour with one of the directors and see how this program has become a model, copied by governments and organizations around the world, for creating sustainable alternatives in regions once dependent on the drug trade.

Make a short drive up and over spectacular jungle-covered mountains and past hill-tribe villages en route to an enchanting mountain retreat called Doi Mae Salong. This dramatic mountain region was first settled by indigenous hilltribe groups such as the Ahka and Lahu peoples, and more recently by Chinese settlers who fled the Cultural Revolution in China in 1949. Having first fled Yunnan in southern China, the Kuo Min Tang (KMT) become embroiled in Burma's emerging civil war in the late '50s and a large group of them then escaped to northern Thailand, establishing the gorgeous mountaintop village of Doi Mae Salong as their peaceful new home. Once opium country, Doi Mae Salong is now home to Thailand's premier oolong tea production thanks to the emergence of this thriving Yunnanese community. Tea is one of the area's biggest exports, and you'll have a special opportunity to sip tea with the owner of one of the largest plantations in Thailand.

Afterwards, have a classic Yunnanese lunch with a prominent member of the Doi Mae Salong community and a member of one of the original founding families who fled Burma in the early '60s to lay cornerstones in this enchanting town. Over lunch you'll hear more about the history of the area, the significance of tea in the area's development, as well as enlightening stories of one of the world's most notorious drug lords who once resided in town, Khun Sa! You will then have a short visit to the Santikhiri School in the mountains to witness student life in a hilltribe village, and to meet some of the delightful students and teach them a few words of English.

Return to the Anantara in the evening and relax with a spa treatment. Enjoy an alfresco dinner of Northern Thai cuisine on the terrace at the resort's Sala Mae Nam restaurant, which has wonderful views of the Mekong Valley.

Day 11 – Day Trip to Myanmar

After breakfast, drive 30 minutes from the Anantara to the bustling border town of Mae Sai, the northernmost point in Thailand where sellers from all around the Golden Triangle ply their wares. Cross over into Tachilek, Myanmar (Burma) and take a rickshaw through the streets of the old city to visit the frenetic day market. It is quite an eye-opening experience to visit this market, which is, unfortunately, a center for illegal trade in endangered wildlife parts. Leopard skins, yak horns, tiger's teeth and other such exotic and rare items are available for sale.

Drive into the countryside and have a simple lunch with members of a local Akha family. After lunch, cross back into Thailand and take a journey up the "Burma Road", a hair-raising route that straddles the narrow and mountainous border between Thailand and Burma.

Along the way stop at strategic lookout points and cross through several Thai army bases which patrol and monitor movements along the border. Stop at one of the bases where we have some friends who are senior Thai soldiers. Have tea and cakes with them and discuss their lives, and the challenges of patrolling one of the longest and most permeable borders in the world. After an exhilarating afternoon, apex one of the highest peaks in Chiang Rai province and drive roughly 30 miles back to the Anantara, which will feel a thousand miles away from this rugged mountain highland.

Toast the end of your trip over a celebratory dinner, served to you in your choice of location anywhere on Anantara's grounds, and featuring a menu created according to your tastes.

Day 12

Drive to Chiang Rai Airport for the short flight to Bangkok, and your connecting flight back home.

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