Page 114 - Holidays with Kids - Volume 62 (January 2020)

THAILAND

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Animal encounters 05

Phuket also now offers several ethical wildlife attractions, 01 Phuket Trickeye Museum 02 Sam Ao Viewpoint 03 Splash Jungle Water Park
good news for families who want to encounter Thailand’s © Shutterstock / Elena Serebryakova 04 Hua Hin. Images 01, 02 & 04 courtesy of
Tourism Authority of Thailand 05 A cute and curious gibbon © Shutterstock / Vanchai
beautiful animals in a kind and sustainable environment.
The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project does a great job of
rescuing captive gibbons, with a successful program Market, which offers a tempting selection of handmade
resulting in the re-release of almost 50 of these intelligent crafts as well as stalls selling delicious street food.
creatures back into the wild. A more surreal shopping experience – and one your
Everyone associates Thailand with elephants, but if you kids will get a kick out of – is the quirky The Venezia, a
want to encounter these gentle giants, please avoid any Vegas-like recreation of Venice, complete with a bell tower,
company advertising shows and rides and instead support gondolas and canals. As well as more than 300 shops, this
true sanctuaries that allow these incredible animals to live complex features a 3D art gallery, upside-down houses,
in as natural a state as possible. mini-trains and horse-drawn buggies.
Associated with the acclaimed Elephant Nature Park in Horses are also a feature of Hua Hin’s seductive beach
Chiang Mai, the Phuket Elephant Park in Thalang is home life, ferrying tourists along the white sand. As charming as
to 12 retired working elephants, rehabilitated into forest life this is, safety standards can be a little lax, so if your
after a life of abuse and overwork. This is a 100 per cent pony-mad child insists on a ride, perhaps consider the Hua
hands-off experience, allowing a non-intrusive glimpse Hin Horse Club and Farm which offers trails and lessons
into the elephant’s lives as they bathe and socialise freely. for all levels of riders in a more controlled environment.
Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park makes the perfect day
Thailand’s royal resort trip, featuring a series of limestone hills along the Gulf of
Phuket, however, is not the only enticing beach resort Thailand. The main attractions are Phraya Nakhon Cave,
town in Thailand; and those returning for a second or even accessed via boat and semi-challenging trek, with huge
third bite of its spicy cherry may wish to venture to chambers and a royal pavilion; Kaeo Cave; and Thung Sam
lesser-known destinations, exploring a deeper connection Roi Yot Freshwater Marsh. For those who would rather
with the Land of Smiles. relax, the park has wonderful beaches and easy forest trails
An easy two-hour land transfer from Bangkok is with lots of bird-watching opportunities.
Hua Hin, a lovely stretch of sand in the northern realms
of the Gulf of Thailand. Popular with the Bangkok social
set as a weekend getaway, Hua Hin was Thailand’s original Thailand Report Card
beach resort, popularised in the 1920s after King Rama VI
built a summer palace on its tranquil waterfront.
Info amazingthailand.com.au
Shop till you drop Do johngray-seacanoe.com phukettrickeyemuseum.com
Today, Hua Hin is cosmopolitan and bustling, with hip splashjungle.com gibbonproject.org
cafes and boutiques in the stylish beachfront Seenspace phuketelephantpark.org
mall offering surprising sophistication. Some of the best seenspace.com/huahin cicadamarket.com
shopping, however, is still found in the weekend Cicada theveneziahuahin.com huahinhorseclub.com

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