Destination: Thailand
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Peace & Quiet

Most visitors arrive in Thailand by way of Don Muang, Bangkok's hectic airport and one of the major transport hubs for the region. They then enter the city via an elevated series of toll roads passing through and over a vast megalopolis with a population of around 10 million people. Under these circumstances it is hard to believe that Thailand has many unrivalled opportunities to escape modern life's stresses.

Nature lovers, however, can enjoy 79 national parks, 89 wildlife sanctuaries and 35 forest reserves. Some of these unspoilt regions lie surprisingly close to Bangkok, including Khao Yai, Thailand's first national park, which covers 2,200sq km and includes one of the largest tropical monsoon forests on the Asian mainland. More than 50km of hiking trails offer access to wild elephants, sambar deer, Malayan sun bears, Asiatic black bears and a wealth of bird life. There are even some surviving tigers and leopards.

Also close to Bangkok is the river resort town of Kanchanaburi, best known as the site of the infamous bridge over the River Kwai. Kanchanaburi is an ideal place to relax in a private houseboat, although floating discos can make it noisy at night. You can also hike to see spectacular nearby waterfalls and eat at the town's excellent restaurants.

Further afield, the north is famous for hill-tribe trekking, while the Gulf of Siam and Andaman Sea are dotted with many almost deserted islands. In contrast to well-developed resort islands such as Phuket and Ko Samui, ones such as Ko Chang, near the Cambodian border, retain a pristine, Robinson Crusoe atmosphere and are still inexpensive to visit.

Thailand has seven marine national parks where an extensive variety of sea creatures may be observed by kayak, glass-bottomed boat, snorkelling and diving. Thousand-year-old hilltop Khmer temples, the banks of the Mekong River and the summit of Thailand's tallest mountain, Doi Inthanon, are also peaceful stopping places.

More than twice the size of the United Kingdom with about the same population, Thailand is still predominantly rural - with a correspondingly laid-back atmosphere - outside Bangkok.

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