Namtok Yong National Park

Namtok Yong National Park, or locally known as Yong Sai Yai waterfall, has a total area of 49,403.25 acres. Covering the areas in Thung Song, Na Bon, and Chawang, it was proclaimed a national park on December 10, 1987. The parks pristine nature includes the Yong Waterfall where streams converge into one giant rope-like waterfall dropping from a high cliff to the large pool below. There is also the Plieu Waterfall at Pa Praek, a smaller waterfall measuring 25 metres high. An ascent from Ban Nam Ron to the top takes about 1 hour. To get to the park, take the Nakhon Si Thammarat-Thung Song Road for 50 kilometres, turn right, and drive for 3 kilometres to the park. Tents are available for tourists. For more details, please contact the park at Moo 2, Tambon Tham Yai.

Thanks For Tourism Thailand

Ratchaphruek Garden

The Sufficiency Economy is a concept developed by His Majesty King Bhumibol for the benefit of his beloved country. It concerns plans and strategies for Thai people to live independently within their means, and to protect and nurture our land and natural resources in a thoughtful, sustainable way which will ensure a prosperous and happy future for Thai culture, Thai People, and Thailand itself.

Located at Tambon Mae Sa and covering an area of 40 acres, the Centre is a rich source of knowledge about the Sufficiency Economy concept and also about local wisdom. It also contains information on how to conserve our resources and environment, and how to use them appropriately in the long term.

Ratchaphruek Garden is situated 10km southwest of Chiang Mai, in Mae Hia sub-district. Nestled in a lush mountain landscape, this 400 rai (240,000m2) of land is indeed a picturesque setting -- not only the garden itself with its many plant and flower species -- but also its unique and delicate artwork and architecture which enriches the minds of its visitors with its seductive natural beauty.

The area was the site for the Royal Flora Expo 2006, the world most beautiful international horticultural exposition. This exhibition commemorated the auspicious occasion of the 60th anniversary of the crowning of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Association of International Horticultural Producers (AIPH) gave the expo A1 status, its highest honor. Ratchaphruek Garden is truly the fruit of this special event. The garden has been carefully maintained and developed, and is a splendid resource for agrotourism, as well as being a learning and research centre for the public and a meeting-place for farmers to share knowledge.

Ratchaphruek Garden offers many attractions:

Ho Kham Royal Pavilion - This pavilion is the symbol of the garden. It features traditional architecture in the style of Lanna, Northern Thailand. The Pavilion has high ceilings and steep multi-tiered roofs, exquisitely guilded in ancient technique. Visitors will be amazed by the uplifting beauty of Lanna wisdom and craftmanship.

The insides showcase paintings of King Bhumibol many activities aimed at the improvement of life for all Thai people. These works are an innovative juxtaposition of modern and traditional styles. The artists employ subdued tones of grey, red and gold, imbuing their work with a strange, dreamy quality. These paintings feature backgrounds drawn from the stylized tradition of temple mural paintings, with crisp -- almost photographic -- forms superimposed over them, imbuing the paintings with a surreal, otherworldy quality.

The Pavilion also houses the gorgeous Tree of the Ten Kingly Virtues. It is comprised of layered orbs of gold Bhodi leaves, and symbolizes the fact that the King provides a garden of spiritual shade for his people.

Corporate Gardens - Presented by various organizations and state enterprises, the Corporate Gardens showcase sustainability and eco-friendly agricultural techniques. The philosophy of these Gardens is driven by His Majesty tremendous insight and ingenuity to improve his people well-being. The idea is to spread knowledge and provide a model which can inspire those who visit the Gardens to internalize His Majesty theories and to go on to learn and care for the world.

International Gardens - This is an area where visitors can enjoy unique and innovative landscaping as well as horticultural highlights from 33 countries around the world, such as Japan, India, Bhutan, and South Africa. Not only does the International Garden include plants, but each country beautifully showcases its particular identity through architecture and art.

Indoor Exhibition - The indoor exhibit consists of hydroponics, a tissue culture nursery, as well as a dome for tropical plants and buildings for desert and temporate plants.

Outdoor Exhibition - The Outdoor Gardens includes water plants, a lotus garden, plants from each province in Thailand, plants which are believed to be auspicious, plants from Buddhist history, and plants painstakingly trained into incredibly beautiful shapes. There is also a building which exhibits information on the history of Thai horticulture. The enormous Outdoor Garden showcases the diversity of tropical horticulture.

Rare Plants - Ratchaphruek Garden displays rare plants including the 'Royal Palm' and the 'Double Coconut', which stand at the garden entrance, and ancient pine trees which species dates from 250 million years ago.

'Royal Palm' – The smooth gray trunk, which is swollen at the base when it is young and at the middle when it is mature, sculpts the palm into a bottle shape. Its strikingly tall trunk can reach up to 20 metres in height, and its deep-green leaves make for an attractive tropical look.

'Double Coconut' or 'Coco de Mer' – A native of the Seychelle Islands in the Indian Ocean, this palm is mostly grown for ornamntal reasons – the fruits resembling a double coconut contain the largest seeds in the plant kingdom – they are up to 30cm in diameter, 45 cm in length and can weigh up to 14 kg. In years past, the nuts were believed to have aphrodesiac qualities, probably owing to their similarity in appearace to the female pelvis region. In the 1700, the fruits were sold in parts of Europe for a very high price. The tree was also once thought to be the Tree of Good and Evil in the biblical Garden of Eden.

Trams are provided:

20 baht for adults, 10 baht for children. At present the garden is open only to groups and must be booked in advance. Knowledgeable guides conduct all tours. The garden is free of charge. Doors open every day except Monday, from 10:00 - 18:00. For further information call 0 5311 4110-5 fax. 0 5311 4116.

Thanks For Tourism Thailand

A Crossroads of Two Cultures

MIRRORS, curlicue balustrades and hanging flat-panel TVs have become indispensable features on once-drab restaurant terraces on Sukhumvit 3/1, otherwise known as Soi Arab, the colorful pedestrian alleyway on the northern fringe of the Soi Nana night-life area in Bangkok.

The popularity of Soi Arab, which is sandwiched between the Sukhumvit 3 and 5 roads, has seesawed ever since Saudi recruiters of cheap Thai labor first discovered it in the early 1980s. These days, flush with oil cash, more Arab tourists than ever are showing up on the tiny street and finding in the spruced-up restaurants and shisha (water pipe) cafes the ambience of their native countries — with fewer of the cultural strictures. For non-Middle Easterners, the bustling quarter is an oasis of Arab exoticism in the heart of a bawdy Bangkok neighborhood.

One sign of the lucrative Arab market is the surge in new agarwood shops. The increasingly endangered Aquilaria tree is prized worldwide for its expensive resinous heartwood (called oud in Arabic). In Islamic cultures it’s burned as incense or distilled into musky nonalcoholic perfumes. With prices for noncultivated agarwood rising to $10,000 a kilo, few local shopkeepers welcome mere browsers. However, visitors to Yusoof Shop (6/17; 66-2-655-7521) can gaze unimpeded at various grades of wood chips under glass as well as a large not-for-sale collection of ornate crystal perfume flasks and vials.

Bright lights reflecting off myriad metallic surfaces and shiny pseudo-Egyptian decorations turn night into day at Nasir al-Masri (4/6; 66-2-253-5582; www.restaurant-shishah-nasir.com) and the adjacent Nefertiti (4/8; 66-2-655-3043). Bordered with potted plants and lamps, the lane’s two flashiest restaurants and outdoor shisha bars anchor the corner of a side alley. Both people-watching places feature a similar range of pricey pan-Arabic cuisine — heavy on lamb — plus a smattering of Thai and Indian dishes. The older and friendlier Nasir opened in 1986. Each restaurant has a pair of gigantic TV screens blaring Egyptian pop divas and major international football events.

Though Shahrazad (6/8; 66-2-251-3666) offers neither terrace nor TV, its reliably well-executed dishes served by hijab-clad Thai waitresses make it the restaurant of choice for many resident Arab expats. Open since 1983, the street’s oldest restaurant offers a tasty stuffed pigeon (320 baht, or about $9.70 at 33 baht to the dollar) and succulent lamb tikka (170 baht) in quiet wood-paneled and mirrored surroundings.

Dishes at tiny Petra (75/4; 66-2-655-5230) don’t necessarily compare with similar fare at Shahrazad, though the hummus “bayroty” with chopped celery leaves is deliciously unusual (90 baht). But no other Soi Arab restaurant can match its neighborly ambience, which feels like an Arab version of “Cheers.” Abu Dabah, the gregarious manager, chats volubly to his many regulars, jokes loudly with waitresses garbed in polyester hijab (they ignore him), and shuttles between the outdoor pita oven and the 10-table interior.

While Thailand’s political and economic problems have subdued other once vibrant parts of Bangkok, bustling Soi Arab teems with an energy that is more Middle Eastern than Thai.

By JENNIFER GAMPELL
Published: July 20, 2008
in travel.nytimes.com

Dining Down by the Riverside

THE crowded banks of the Chao Phraya River were once considered the heart of Bangkok. But these days the river is largely peripheral for everyone but tourists — the main business districts in the Thai capital are well inland. This is a shame because river life in Bangkok is still relatively vibrant, the temperature always seems to be a few degrees cooler, and the well-lit monuments along the Chao Phraya are gorgeous at night.

Fortunately there are a number of places to sit and enjoy the spectacle of life on the Chao Phraya, ranging from the cheap and cheerful to the more elegant, cloth-napkin variety.
The luxury hotels along the river (Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, Peninsula and Hilton) are reliable and easy choices for a riverside dinner. But here are three other restaurants that won’t leave you wondering if the only Thai people in the place are those cooking and serving the food.
Khinlom Chomsaphan (11/6 Samsen Road Soi 3, Phronakorn; 66-2-6288-3823; www.khinlomchomsaphan.com) describes itself as the “Best Restaurant on the Chao Phraya River.” In a city that cares a lot about food, those are fightin’ words. I’d call it one of the best values on the river.

Four very fresh and tasty dishes from their extensive menu and a handful of beers here cost the equivalent of about $30. The stir-fried fish with garlic and the green curry with chicken are both excellent. Khinlom Chomsaphan has great views on the Rama VIII Bridge — the restaurant’s name roughly means to chill out and admire the bridge.

Popular with Thais and expats, this is the kind of place where you forget all your hangups about not wanting ice in your beer and drop a few cubes in your glass, Thai-style. If you’re coming on a weekend, best to reserve the riverside tables. Before 7 p.m., you get to Khinlom Chomsaphan by hopping on the express boat to Phra Arthit Pier and then walking or taking a cab for the remaining quarter-mile or so.

Downriver is the Deck, which is attached to a boutique hotel, Arun Residence (36-38 Soi Pratoo Nok Yoong, Maharat Road; 66-2-221-9158; www.arunresidence.com), and has stunning views onto Wat Arun, the 19th-century temple that has a sandy, gray pallor in the daytime but comes to life with golden radiance once night falls and the lights go on.

The best view is from the fourth-floor bar: climb the rickety staircase and have an aperitif or digestif. You can dine on the outdoor patio, in the indoor air-conditioned section or on the second-floor deck. The stir-fried chicken with spring onions, sweet pepper and vegetables is very good, and tom kha kai (a Thai classic soup of coconut milk, chicken, mushroom, lime, galangal and coriander) is rich and filling. Dinner for two will run about $40 with beer, no wine.

Supatra River House (266 Soi Wat Rakhang, Arunamarin Road; 66-2-411-0305 or 66-2-411-0874; www.supatrariverhouse.net), on the opposite side of the river and across from the Grand Palace, is the most expensive of these three spots. A recent dinner for two — including a tender steamed sea bass with lemon and spices and a dessert of mango and sticky rice that will send you running to the treadmill — cost about $100 with beer but no wine.

One big draw is the elegant teak-paneled boat that the restaurant uses to pick you up anywhere along the river. It’s like a pre-dinner river cruise without the tackiness. The boat service is reasonable — 250 baht per person, or about $7.45, at 33.56 baht to the dollar — and operates until 10:30 p.m. You need to call the restaurant to arrange a pickup.

Supatra River House is in the former home of a Thai aristocrat and has both air-conditioned and outdoor, riverside sections. After dinner, the boatman can take you back to any point along the river.

By THOMAS FULLER
Published: September 21, 2008

In travel.nytimes.com