Just two and a half hours’ drive northeast of Thailand’s capital city, Khao Yai has captured Bangkokian hearts with its blend of natural beauty, local culture, wildlife, hiking, biking, wineries, galleries, markets, and gastronomy. However, despite boasting Thailand’s oldest and third largest national park, a world-class winery, and a dozen or more world-class golf courses, lodging has tended to be rustic or of the inconsistent Airbnb variety.This changed in 2022 with the opening of the Inter-Continental Khao Yai Resort on 19 hectares of lush tropical landscape with over 30,000 trees and five lakes. Sprung from the fertile imagination of award-winning architect and…
Author: Joe Cummings
On the northwest coast of Phuket, the legendary Trisara welcomed its first guests in 2004, and through consistently committed management and continual upgrading, the resort never looks or feels dated. All 39 cliff-side villas and suites boast private pools—legitimate lap pools with expansive sea views—plus exceptional interior design where every detail reveals focused intention. Separate wooden gates lead into the landscaped grounds of each villa, adding a layer of privacy. The resort meanders through a dense jungle terrain before reaching a secluded, sandy cove with rustic benches, hammocks, and swings that make for a deeply relaxing escape from the outside…
Thailand’s newfound and consistently growing craze for local cacao takes Gastronomer Lifestyle to farms in Prachuap Khiri Khan, from which artisanal chocolate makers like Kad Kokoa source their beans.
Onsen @ Moncham in Chiang Mai is as close as you get to the relaxing experience of staying at a ryokan in Japan without leaving Thailand.
Hua Hin’s first Italian visitor of note, Alfredo Rigazzi, arrived as an architect employed by the Royal State Railways of Siam (RSR) in the 1920s. Rigazzi designed the original Railway Hotel (now the Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Hua Hin), a grand two-storey, brick-and-wood European-style resort on the beach, in 1922. He very likely also had a hand in the rebuilding of Hua Hin’s famed railway station in 1926, as both structures were commissioned by Prince Purachatra Jayakara, then the commander of the RSR (today the State Railway of Thailand). Once the rail link between Bangkok and Hua Hin…
When in Thailand’s former capital of Ayutthaya, one must take advantage of being at the birthplace of roti sai mai, a sweet snack that requires a lot of ancient wisdom to perfect. Ayutthaya reigned as capital of the Kingdom of Siam for over a half-millennium and as such attracts worldwide interest for its rich history, embodied in a myriad of UNESCO-registered temple ruins, reconstructed Dutch and Japanese villages, and two well-curated historical museums.On the culinary side, modern Ayutthaya is famed for delectable freshwater prawns, once plentiful in local streams, ponds, and waterways but nowadays expertly farmed. Evenings along the banks of…
