Welcome back all of you to MuayThaiArt.com/weblog, the only Muay Thai blog that also provides you information about traveling Thailand and others more. Today we wanna show you another great spot, where you can spend your vacation peacefully in Muay Thai’s original country, Thailand.

From June to August is a perfect time to go see the Siam Tulips bloom. If you have never seen Siam Tulips before, we have a picture to show you hereunder. Blooming Krachiao Flower Festival or The Siam Tulip Festival of Chaiyaphum will be set in Pa Hin Ngam National Park, in Chaiyaphum Provice.

The distinctive geographical landscape of Chaiyaphum Province in the Northeast of Thailand gives rise to a variety of natural attractions of extraordinary beauty. Of these, the fields of reddish pink-purple Siam Tulip, or “Dok Krachiao”, come in to full bloom in the early part of the rainy season from June to August every year.

The Siam Tulip also has many other name, such as, “patumma” or “bua sawan” which mean ‘lotus from heaven’, or “bua bok” that literally mean “lotus on land”. Dok Krachiao or Siam Tulip is a member of ginger genera family (Science Name: Curcuma or Zingiberaceae).

For any further information, in case you’re interested, contact Pa Hin Ngam National Park at (66) 44-890-105 or TAT Northeastern Office: Region 1 : (66) 44-213-666 or call center at 1672.

Dok Krachiao picture from TAT website

That was a little something to do when you visit Thailand. Come back next time for another great place that you can’t miss to visit. Next time we’ll tell you a bit story of ISAAN or the Northeast Thailand. If you want to know any information of travelling Thailand, you can leave your questions right here and we’ll try to answer asap or we’d find the info you need for you.

Where is the best place to go in summer? Thailand article at MuayThaiArt.com/weblog has that answer for you. The place I’ll be talking about today soon is the 2nd largest Thai island (after Phuket)from the East called Koh Chang (literally means Elephant Island) from its profile of an elephant.

Koh Chang Photo from ekohchang.com

The transportation to the island is quite good even for foreigners. There are regular flights available from Bangkok to Trat. Koh Chang is considered a great place with friendly locals and of course, can’t miss to mention, with the BEST seafood. These make it one of the most popular tourist spot for anyone, especially Thais.

The island consists of 70% rainforest, peaks and cliffs surrounding by white sandy beaches, beautiful coral reefs and clear sea water. The inner hinterland still remains as nature. Although, recently the number of tourist has increased, it is blessed with its waterfalls and a wide and varied population of animals, like parrots, wide boar and the most beautiful butterflies. However, today there are several modern resorts and hotels around the island alongside the beaches.

What else can you do on Koh Chang? Well not only Koh Chang is another best answer for those who have pretty tight budget, Koh Chang also gives you so many choices of activities you can do there, for example, diving, kayaking, trekking, fishing, hiking, Thai cooking course, Thai massage and Spa Therapy.

You can visit Koh Chang all year round. But the recommended is from November to April. I can guarantee your satisfaction on Koh Chang. Find out more about Koh Chang at www.ekohchang.com/index.html where you will find all the choices of resorts and hotels to compare, the exact location, how to get there and lots more.

Come back again next week to see where else I would recommend you! Enjoy!

Scuba diving in Thailand is one of the most popular water sports. Here there are several gorgeous dive sites in the world. The water is incredibly crystal clear, full of sea lives. Transportation and accommodation is readily available. You can also take a diving course here in Thailand because the instruction reaches an exceptionally high standard. Not to talk about the cost, it’s rather cheap comparing to other places around the world. And once you got your diving certification right here, it is also accepted in any places around the world.

You can go dive at any time of the year, although the season might affect the visibility. For example, in the Andaman Sea, the best time to go diving is from October to April and the other side is in the Gulf of Thailand, the perfect time is from May to September. And when the water is crystal clear you can see many sea lives like whale sharks, manta rays, flying fish, dolphins and colorful coral reefs right from the surface.

Every accepted dive shop is affiliated with PADI. Just like the one I took the course with. My trainer can speak well English. And there are also trainers for other several languages. At diving schools here you can expect international standard with good and professional facilities.

I heard that some places near the sea, you don’t need much time to learn how to dive. Just a couple days are good enough, or some places just one day. Or you can choose to take a course in Bangkok and take a test in the open water. That way it’d be convenient for you who don’t have much free time.

Diving is another great activity to do in Thailand’s sea that you can spend with your friends and family. Even when you go dive, the rest of the team can also relax on the beach, swim, sail canoe and enjoy the food, the trip and the scenery of the world’s most beautiful sea sites.

Last summer on the way to Chiengmai, I stopped at Lampang and visited the National Elephant Institute. It was really a nice place to visit. It is the largest Thai elephants conserving center with good standard for domestic elephant care.

There are also tourism activities, such as, elephant show, homestay, elephant riding, trekking, and the funniest one, training to ride elephant. The elephant show is scheduled 7 days a week. And the ticket is freaking cheap. The riding is also interested but I didn’t try it last time. Next time I won’t miss it for sure.

The place won Thailand Tourism Awards for the best natural tourist spot. Today it is also a school for those who want to learn more about elephants. The students will be closed to those smart and friendly elephants and live with Thai Homestay where you will experience Thai northern life style. It’s only 10-day course that really worth the time. It’s might be your only opportunity to be that close to elephants and get to know them and learn how to take care of them.
pictures from www.thailandelephant.org

If you’re interested in the course, for more information like the cost and the schedule each day log on to the official website of this institute at www.thailandelephant.org.

What I love about the place is besides being a home, a school for those kindest big animals; it is a hospital for sick or injured elephants and a nursery for the young ones. There I realized how badly those poor things had been treated. But from now on they will have a much better life.

If you get a chance to go to the north of Thailand, don’t forget to take a quick stop and visit this elephant institute. You will fall in love with those lovely elephants. It might be the only chance to get this close to the biggest animal on land.

I did promise you about a week ago that I’ll show you some pictures from Koh Kood. I just got back a few days ago and gathered all the pictures I took and chose a few I think are the most beautiful. Koh Kood is an island in the eastern Thailand, about hour and a half from land with speedboat.

After I went to this island, I have to chance my mind. I thought there would be a lot of tourists on the island. Surprisingly this island does limit the number of tourists to conserve the nature. After all that is the best idea, since lately there are a few islands already closed to be cleaned and to get rid of all those wastes.

Anyway, the first thing I did there is kayaking along the river that leads to the inside of the island. My sis and I stopped at a pier and walked 15 mins to Klong Jao waterfall. It turns out a really big waterfall and quite some people playing and swimming there. We took some pictures and vids. After spending an hour there we headed back cuz it started to get dark already and you don’t wanna be in the tropical forest in the dark trust me!

The next day we walked along the beach, through the forest along side the coast to other beaches, until we were so freaking tired and decided to rent a motorcycle and went to many places inside this Koh, including another waterfall. It’s almost raining season here now so there is lots and lots of water making these waterfall flushed with loads of water. Beautiful! But that could be dangerous to you need to be more careful swimming in the water near one.

That was it. The next day we just headed back to the land and Bangkok. Btw it’s a season of Durian, the famous fruit of its stinks. You should try one if you get a chance. Some like it some don’t. For me? 50/50. Like it of not I bought 5 of them on the way back.

Here are some pictures from Koh Kood’s beaches and waterfalls. I hope these photos make you want to visit the place. The time duration that’s perfect for going there is from October to December.

Enjoy!