Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [197]
River Kwai Bridge Resort ( 0 3451 4522; www.riverkwaibridgeresort.com; Th Mae Nam Khwae; d from 1500B; ) You’ll need good eyes to see the bridge, but the bungalows here are clean, a bit stylish and more than comfortable for the money.
Kasem Island Resort ( 0 3451 3359, Bangkok 0 2255 3604; d 1050-1700B; ) Sitting on an island in the middle of Mae Nam Mae Khlong, about 200m from Th Chukkadon, Kasem Island Resort has tastefully designed thatched cottages and house rafts. There are facilities for swimming, fishing and rafting, as well as an outdoor bar and restaurant. The resort has an office near Tha Chukkadon where you can arrange a free shuttle boat out to the island.
Ploy Guesthouse ( 0 3451 5804; www.ploygh.com; 79/2 Th Mae Nam Khwae; d 650-950B; ) The rooms here don’t have views, but Ploy makes up for it with a central location, garden atmosphere and peaceful riverfront dining area. Very good value.
Pong Phen Guesthouse ( 0 3451 2981; www.pongphen.com; 5 Soi Bangladesh, off Th Mae Nam Khwae; d 400-1300B; ) Set at the edge of the river, the 50 rooms of mixed heritage range from quite basic to very comfortable, with more creature comforts than most budget options. Very popular.
Blue Star Guest House ( 0 3451 2161; www.bluestar-guesthouse.com; 241 Th Mae Nam Khwae; d 150-650B; ) Blue Star has the usual eclectic mix of rooms, so ask to see a few. Those in the main building are more comfortable, if not exactly Wallpaper stylish. Heading for the river a row of A-frame, stilted wooden houses is divided by a walkway; throw in some furry little creatures, Luke and Princess Leia and you could be in an Ewok village.
Sugar Cane Guest House ( 0 3462 4520; www.sugarcaneguesthouse.com; 22 Soi Pakistan, Th Mae Nam Khwae; d 200-600B; ) Sugar Cane boasts some of the better raft-style accommodation, with rooms on a raft with a wide communal balcony, as well as landlocked bungalows and a social riverside restaurant.
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KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK
Cool and lush, Khao Yai National Park is an easy escape into the primordial jungle. The 2168-sq-km park, part of a Unesco World Heritage site, spans five forest types, from rainforest to monsoon, and is the primary residence of, among many others, shy tigers and elephants, noisy gibbons, colourful tropical birds and countless audible, yet invisible, insects. Like a diligent baker, the jungle wakes up with the dawn, making a different kind of morning noise from the city sounds: chirping insects, hooting monkeys, whooping macaques and anonymous shrieks and trills. Khao Yai is a major birding destination with large flocks of hornbills and several migrators, including the flycatcher from Europe. Caves in the park are the preferred resting place for wrinkle-lipped bats. In the grasslands, batik-printed butterflies dissect flowers with their surgical tongues.
The park has several accessible trails for self-tours, but birders or animal trackers should consider hiring a jungle guide to increase their appreciation of the environment and to spot more than the tree-swinging gibbons and blood-sucking leeches (the rainy season is the worst time for the latter). In total, there are 12 maintained trails criss-crossing the entire park; not ideal if you want to walk end to end. Access to transport is another reason why a tour might be more convenient, although Thai visitors with cars are usually happy to pick up pedestrians.
A two-hour walk from the park headquarters leads to the Nong Pak Chee observation tower, which is a good early-morning spot for seeing insect-feeding birds, occasional thirsty elephants and sambar deer; make reservations at the visitors centre. It’s important to understand that spotting the park’s reclusive tigers and elephants is considered a bonus, with most people happy just to admire the frothy waterfalls that drain the peaks of Big Mountain. The park’s centrepiece is Nam Tok Haew Suwat (Haew Suwat Falls), a 25m-high cascade that puts on a thundering