At Damnoen Saduak, local merchants in Thai-style canoes piled high with colourful fruits and vegetables ply their way along the canal looking to sell their goods
Photograph: Jeremy Horner
This series of seven waterfalls in the western Thailand park is named after Erawan, the three-headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. Swim in the deep blue pools and stand underneath the rushing water, but be warned: it's a steep 2km walk to the top pool Photograph: Andrew Watson/Photolibrary RM
Bangkok’s famed Chinatown, known as Yaowarat, offers some of the best dining in the city. Try the local spicy fish dishes in this 200-year-old district
Photograph: Mick Shippen
The rare Rafflesia kerrii flower can be found in Khao Sok national park in southern Thailand. The red flowers have a diameter of 50-90cm and can weigh up to 10kg. The park is impressive too, covered by the oldest evergreen rainforest in the world Photograph: Alamy
Experience life as a mahout – an elephant keeper – in Chiang Mai, a province in northern Thailand with lush mountains, spectacular scenery and an impressive rainforest. Here, you'll learn basic communication and action commands used to guide the elephants through the jungle and help bathe them Photograph: Alvaro Leiva/Age fotostock RM
A stunning bay that's sheltered by 100m-high cliffs on three sides. The bay, famed for its superb diving, gained even more popularity after the 2000 movie The Beach was filmed there. Part of the Phi Phi archipelago, it's made up of three beaches, two tiny ones and a 200m stretch of pristine white sand
Photograph: Marin Tomic/Flickr RF
Explore the secret caves and lagoons in a canoe. The islands are full of hidden caves and inland lagoons known as hongs – rooms – that are only accessible at certain times of day, depending on the tide
Photograph: Lonely Planet Images
Chiang Rai, capital of the Lanna kingdom, is considered the quieter neighbour of Chiang Mai and boasts natural beauty and beautiful Buddhist temples. The famous Wat Rong Khun (White Temple), an amazingly ornate piece of architecture, is gleaming white in honour of the Buddha's purity Photograph: Alamy
Go island-hopping in the lush, dense group of 42 uninhabited small islands in the Gulf of Thailand. The park is unspoilt, with white sand beaches and virgin rainforest, and there's wildlife aplenty, including dolphins, sea turtles, lizards and pythons
Photograph: Mark Horn
Marvel at the ruins on the ancient city of Sukhothai, Thailand's first capital and an area that flourished from the mid-13th century to the late-14th century. Walk around the 193 ruins and venture into the old city walls to see the remains of the majestic royal palace and no fewer than 26 temples Photograph: Kunstgalerie Aquarius/Flickr
This is Thailand's oldest national park, located just north-east of Bangkok. The park incorporates one of the largest intact monsoon forests remaining in mainland Asia. Some 250 elephants roam here, as do Malayan sun bears, Asiatic black bears, tigers, leopards, otters and the country's largest population of hornbills – tropical birds Photograph: John S Lander/LightRocket
Visit the Buddhist Temple of Dawn, one of the most recognisable temples in south-east Asia. The temple sits on the west bank of the Chao Phraya river, and the colourful Chinese ceramics that cover it shimmer as the sun rises Photograph: Igor Prahin/Flickr
