20 May 2025

Thailand

We offer a wide choice of cheap flights to Thailand together with Thailand hotels, tours and self-drive itineraries.

Other Asia Reviews

My Thai surprise

The beaches are fabulous, the wildlife enchanting – and it’s child-friendly too. Anna Pasternak finds an unforgettable spot for a family holiday…

Thailand - The Grotto Restaurant at the Rayavadee

Thailand - A sea excursion from the Rayavadee

Thailand - Produce from the lush gardens

1 The Grotto Restaurant at the Rayavadee 2 A sea excursion from the Rayavadee 3 Produce from the lush gardens

TO ARRIVE at Rayavadee, a Thai resort snuggled between jutting limestone cliffs on a peninsula 500 miles south of Bangkok, is an unforgettable experience. Not just because you are powered from the pier of Krabi town by slick speedboat, zooming through the emerald waters, but because when you’re near the hotel, it’s by a much more unlikely form of transport…a tractor.

Facing a swathe of soggy sand at low tide, we were ushered on to a covered walkway on wheels, towed by a tractor, that deposited us near reception without getting our shoes wet or sandy. Rayavadee offers similar flexibility as a resort.

Zooming through the emerald waters

The 26 acres of jungly garden teeming with monkeys eager to snatch your breakfast are suitable as the setting for a family holiday as well as appealing to honeymooners and the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss and Colin Farrell. Depending on when you book, you might be warned, as I was, that the three beaches (Nammao, Railay and Phra Nang), with their child-friendly, clear, shallow waters, would not be ‘honeymoon empty’ – the way newlyweds prefer it – but packed with locals.

I was delighted, as I was visiting with my mother and seven-year-old daughter, Daisy, during the school holidays. The beach was full of happy activity. We watched longboats trailing coloured ribbons in the breeze and Thais selling satay and corn-on-the-cob while tourists and islanders mingled in the milky warm sea.

Rayavadee is spot-on because it isn’t precious. The name translates as ‘Land of the Princess’. At the corner of the largest beach, Phra Nang, on the edge of the Krabi Marine National Park (from which jet-skis and banana boats are thankfully banned) is a cave called Tham Phra Nang (Princess Cave).

The Thais believe the spirit of Phra Nang (the Princess Goddess) resides in this cave. Historically, fishermen would pray to Phra Nang for good luck before going to sea and pledge offerings of incense and flowers on their return. The hotel manager told us that Phra Nang shrine is considered exceptionally holy and that Thais from the whole country come on pilgrimage.

When I first went into the cave, with its garlands of jasmine, pretty ribbons, candles and flower offerings beneath the beautiful, pearlclad waxwork goddess, I noticed a huge pile of brightly coloured painted logs. It was only on closer inspection that I saw they were giant phalluses, left by couples keen to conceive. According to legend, you are granted one wish by the holy princess and that wish always comes true.

No wonder that, outside school holidays, Rayavadee is a magnet for honeymooners. It tickled me to think of a bride carefully packing the giant painted phalluses in her trousseau. Although it was hard to drag Daisy away from the infinity pool overlooking the Andaman Sea, we took a trip by traditional longboat to Tiger Cave temple, a few miles from Krabi town. Local folklore has it that, until 1975, a tiger lived in the cave.

There was a profound stillness

Within the cave is a huge stone with what resembles a tiger’s pawprint. In the surrounding forest – thick with ancient trees sprouting gnarled roots – a labyrinth of further caves contain prehistoric clay religious artefacts. While others in our group climbed the 1,237 steps to a mountain- top temple, Daisy and I walked deeper into the jungle to see where the monks have lived for centuries.

Today, 250 monks and nuns reside within this temple compound, which is a famous meditation centre, in simple huts. There was a profound stillness at their outdoor prayer hall – a vast marble floor cut beneath overhanging rock. At one underground cave, a local woman was meditating before a golden Buddha.

When Daisy sat down near her, she silently and sweetly arranged Daisy’s body into the prayer position, with ramrodstraight back and upturned palms. We finished our day with an hour’s trek into the jungle on Nak, a 40-year-old elephant (they can live to around 80).

She was a greedy delight, chomping through handfuls of bananas that we fed her afterwards. While my mother and I found swaying on her back a queasy experience, Daisy was euphoric.

It would be easy to visit Rayavadee and never leave the resort. With four restaurants, including Krua Phra Nang, a sensational Thai restaurant on the beach, and acres of coconut groves to stroll in, it’s like staying in a smart southern Thai village.

We all left Thailand feeling blessed

The boutique has gorgeous Thai hand-made jewellery, clothes, children’s gifts and antiques. Accommodation is in 98 round individual pavilions, with bedrooms upstairs and living space downstairs. The spa is exceptional.

I returned from my massage to find Daisy agog as she’d just watched ‘a floorshow’ of monkeys leaping from the trees near our room. We continued to feel spiritually connected when we took a onehourflight to Bangkok for some whistlestop culture.

We eschewed the swanky hotels that flank the Chao Phraya River, opting for the Sukhothai, a landmark hotel in the business district. A haven of calm, it sits amid six acres of greenery and lily ponds, with a huge swimming pool. It was perfectly located to visit three of the most unusual Buddhist temples in Bangkok (there are more than 33,000 in Thailand).

We saw Wat Traimit’s Golden Buddha, five-and-a-half tons of solid gold; Wat Pho, home to a colossal reclining Buddha that is 150ft long and 50ft high; and Wat Benjamabophit, the Marble Temple – an intricate example of Thai architecture. Thailand might be long haul, but it’s perfectly childfriendly.

Daisy’s favourite occupation was counting the beautiful spirit houses outside businesses and homes, where fruit and flowers are left to welcome good spirits. We all left Thailand feeling similarly blessed.

0330·100·2220i 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X