Highlights of Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand is home to a number of exciting national parks and some little explored coastline. The most famous national park is Khao Sok which provides a host of outdoor activities from trekking, rafting and kayaking to birdwatching and elephant encounters. But other national parks include little known Tai Rom Yen and the more famous karst islands of Ao Phang Nga. The coastline, in places like Trang and Nakhon Si Thammarat, offers unspolit beaches and definitely less visitors than you'll find on some of Thailands popular islands. Access to the region is gained by overnight train from Bangkok, for hardy travellers, or short flights into a variety of airports that include Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Surat Thani.
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Ao Phang Nga National Park is one of Thailand's most scenic destinations lying between Phuket and Krabi provinces, and north of the islands of Koh Yao. It is famous for its unspolit mangrove forests, and the prolific birdlife therein, its white sand beaches and for a collection of beautiful karst islets that lie just of the coast in Phang Nga Bay.
The town, and district, of Khanom are situated in the northernmost part of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, in Southern Thailand, an hour's drive from the airport at Surat Thani. This is a picturesque, sleepy part of Thailand where development is low key and the beaches are largely untouched by mass tourism. If you want to get away from it all this is the place to come.
Khao Sok National Park was established as a national park in 1980 and covers an area of 739 square kilometres which includes geographical features such as native rainforest, waterfalls, limestone cliffs and an island lake. The park is perfectly located between Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak and Koh Samui - making it a great combination with time on the beach.
The coastal province of Trang, mid-way between Phuket and the Malaysian border, can be reached by a short flight from Bangkok, a 3 hour drive from Krabi, or by an overnight train from the Thai capital. Relatively undiscovered, the coastal region around Trang has been designated a marine national park and offers some great opportunities for island hopping, kayaking, diving and swimming.