Four Tips on Thailand Travel You Can Use Today

One of Thailand's most mountainous provinces, Uttaradit's gorgeous Phu Sai Dao National Park is 200 square kilometers of deciduous, dipterocarp, pine and evergreen forests. The excitement level in Phrae is pretty low, but there are plenty of mountainous parks open for trekking outside the main town. Phrae's Wat Phra That Cho Hae is a royal temple built in the late 12th century.

You can have a real feast on the boats here - the seafood is particularly good - and there's no need to book a tour or turn up ridiculously early like you have to elsewhere. Talin Chan, on the other hand, is not nearly as busy and feels very local - and it's only a few kilometres from Bangkok. Forget Damnoen Saduak - while it might be the most famous of Bangkok's floating markets, it's also the busiest and least authentic.

Just watch out for the shark fin and birds' nest restaurants, which aren't ethical and harmful to the animal kingdom. While there's plenty of shops and temples to explore, the real star of Chinatown is undoubtedly the food scene - hundreds of street food stalls sit outside handfuls of restaurant shophouses, serving up all manner of Thai, Chinese and even Indian delights. Bangkok's Chinatown, centred around the Yaowarat and Charoenkrung Roads, is one of the biggest and most vibrant in the world, sprawling around a labyrinth of alleyways.

Performances are fun and flamboyant, high in spectacle, with a beautiful cast. There are lots of different ladyboy shows in Pattaya, but the Alcazar troupe is widely touted to be one of the best in the country. Pattaya is notorious for being one of Thailand's seedier cities, attracting a certain breed of foreign men, but the famed Alcazar Cabaret Show is certifiably fun for all the family.

The complex as a whole bears a striking resemblance to Angkor Wat, if on a smaller scale. Although the structures were constructed for Buddhist worship, evidence of Hinduism and Animism can also be spotted here. Phimai Historical Park is a treasure trove of Khmer architecture - some of which is even older than the world famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia - and its most important temple marks the end of the Ancient Khmer Highway.

This site is much treasured by Roi Et locals and tourists who come to visit the Buddha and the adjoining museum. It's most famous for being the home of Thailand's tallest Buddha - known as Luangpho Yai - who stands at an imposing 60 metres tall, plus a significant base. Wat Burapha Phiram is a third-class royal temple found in the town of Roi Et in Thailand Travel's Isaan region.

Both tourists and Thais flock to the temple to make merit and pay their respects to the sacred image. It is 35 metres long, 15 metres tall and 10 metres wide. Wat Hat Yai Nai is an open-air temple in the southern city of Hat Yai that is home to the Buddha image of Phra Phuttha Hattha Mongkhon - the third largest reclining Buddha in the world.