Kanchanaburi Province
Splashing in emerald-green pools under Erawan Falls is the highlight of this very popular 550-sq-km park. Seven tiers of waterfall tumble through the…
Must-see attractions in Central Thailand
Kanchanaburi
Constructed by POW labour, this 300m-long bridge is heavy with the history of the Thailand–Burma Railway. Its centre was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945…
Ayuthaya
Ornate buildings are sprinkled across Bang Pa In Palace's 19-hectare gardens. First established in the 17th century, the palace was revived in the 19th…
Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre
Kanchanaburi Province
The infamous cutting known as Hellfire Pass was the largest along the length of the Thailand–Burma Railway, and the most deadly for the people forced to…
Kanchanaburi Province
Visitors to Erawan National Park often find themselves wondering what the waterfall would be like without the hordes. The answer is Namtok Huay Mae Khamin.
Kanchanaburi Province
Sangkhlaburi's iconic, 447m-long wooden bridge, the largest in Thailand, connects the main town, home mostly to Thai and Karen, with the Mon settlement…
Kanchanaburi
This excellent museum balances statistics and historical context with personal accounts of the conditions endured by POWs and other imprisoned labourers…
Ayuthaya
The prang (Khmer-style spire) in this large temple complex is one of the best extant versions in the city. There are giant stucco-sculpted Garuda on the…
Lopburi
As well known for its resident monkeys as its looming towers, this is Lopburi's most famous attraction. The three linked towers were built from laterite…
Ayuthaya
Glorious in the early morning light and also at sunset, this temple is Ayuthaya's most impressive off-island site thanks to its 35m-high central prang …
Ayuthaya
Visitors to this photogenic ruin 2km southeast of the island can climb stairs up into the crypt of the stunning 60m-tall, bell-shaped chedi (stupa). There…
Ayuthaya
At this captivating ruined temple, three wonderfully intact stupas form one of Ayuthaya's most iconic views. Built beginning in 1448, this was a private…
Lopburi
Plan to spend a few hours at this former royal palace, now the Somdet Phra Narai National Museum, which houses excellent displays of local history. Built…
Kanchanaburi
In the countryside around Kanchanaburi, cave temples are almost as common as convenience stores are inside the city, but this is one of the most…
Ayuthaya
With animatronic ghosts, supersized crows and glowing Buddhas, Wat Tha Ka Rong is eerie and playful in equal measure and feels more like a carnival than a…
Ayuthaya
Featuring a gorgeous 6m-high Buddha flanked by maroon columns, this active temple was one of the few to escape the wrath of Burma's invading army in 1767;…
Ayuthaya
Ayuthaya's most photographed attraction is in these temple grounds: a sandstone Buddha head tangled within a bodhi tree's entwined roots. Founded in 1374,…
Kanchanaburi Province
This seldom-explored park sprawls across a serrated mountain range along the Myanmar border. Billing itself as the 'land of fog and freezing rainforest',…
Kanchanaburi Province
Caves, waterfalls and forest trails draw walkers to Sai Yok National Park (958 sq km), which never gets too crowded. The main sights are easily reached…
Kanchanaburi
Immaculately maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, this is the larger of Kanchanaburi's two war cemeteries, and is right in town. Of the…
Ayuthaya
This lively temple, believed to date to 1324 (26 years before the founding of Ayuthaya), revolves around the 19m-high Phra Phanan Choeng Buddha, aka …
Kanchanaburi Province
The ruins of 'Lion City', the westernmost-known Khmer outpost, are spread around a 102-hectare compound girded by 4.5km of walls. Serving most likely as…
Kanchanaburi Province
Backed by fuzzy green hills, the gigantic lake wrapped around Sangkhlaburi was formed in the 1980s by the Vajiralongkorn Dam. Two of the many villages…
Kanchanaburi
The centrepiece of this hilltop temple is a striking 18m-high Buddha covered in golden mosaic. One of the merit-making ceremonies for devotees is to place…
Ayuthaya
Atmospheric ruins and lively temple worship can both be experienced at Wat Phutthai Sawan. King U Thong founded this temple in 1353 on the south bank of…
Kanchanaburi Province
Tham Krasae (Krasae Cave) was used by the Japanese while building this difficult stretch of the Death Railway. The wooden trestle bridge they ordered the…
Central Thailand
Tucked into the foothills of the Khao Yai Mountains in northeast Nakhon Nayok province, Thailand's largest dam (2.6km long and 93m high) is an impressive…
Kanchanaburi
The nearest cave temple to Kanchanaburi town is a fun labyrinth of illuminated passageways. The marked trail is a bit of a squeeze in some places (and can…
Chao Sam Phraya National Museum
Ayuthaya
The most impressive treasure of Ayuthaya's premier museum is the haul of royal gold (jewellery, utensils, votive tablets, spittoons) unearthed from the…
Kanchanaburi Province
The hill with the flag and fence hovering above the town to the south is 'Fighting Elephant Hill'. From its 1053m summit you can get 360-degree views (fog…
Kanchanaburi
This small museum, opened in 1977, mostly focuses on the terrible ordeals of the POWs who built the Death Railway. Their harsh living conditions are shown…
Kanchanaburi Province
This is one of our favourite caves in Thailand. Five hundred and ninety two steep steps and a tight squeeze take you into a stadium-sized chamber full of…
Nam Tok
Walking along the dimly lit 280m trail through Lawa Cave you'll pass several large chambers with imposing stalactites, stalagmites and other odd rock…
Kanchanaburi Province
Beautiful Tham Daowadung is rich with rock formations, and bats, crickets and snakes inhabit its eight chambers. There are lights but not stairs; the…
Lopburi
Although almost every building at this large temple complex across from the train station dates from the Ayuthaya era; the 31m-tall prang (Khmer-style…
Ayuthaya
Next to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, this sanctuary hall houses one of Thailand's largest bronze Buddha images, dating to the 15th century, most likely. Coated in…
Kanchanaburi
A stroll along this city centre street offers a glimpse of a bygone Kanchanaburi. Many buildings date to the 1920s and '30s and their Sino-Portuguese,…
Lopburi
Lopburi's holiest place sits in the old town's roundabout. It has a modern (1951) shrine in front of a Khmer-era laterite base from a toppled prang (Khmer…
Ayuthaya
On an island across the Chao Phraya River from Bang Pa In Palace, this unique buttercup-yellow ubosot (ordination hall) was designed to resemble a…
Makha Bucha Buddhist Memorial Park
Central Thailand
Not yet a temple, this informal Buddhist centre's main attraction is a giant Buddha statue with his hands in 'setting the wheel in motion' posture, which…
