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Luxury Travel to
Thailand-Bangkok
Off-limits to the foreigner for a 140 years from
1688, the Western obsession with the off-limits,
unknown and hence, exotic (a precursor to the
'Hidden Kingdom' of Bhutan perhaps) kingdom with its
distinct language, the majestic golden-domes wats
and elaborate courtly traditions, Thailand was
ill-equipped for tourism when its doors were finally
re-opened to the world again. Luxury travel to
Thailand today, whilst centred around its rich
history and culture, is also very much tangential on
the excellent standards of hotels and luxury resorts
in Thailand.When Anna (Leonowens)
began her stint as a nanny in Thailand, there was
nary a hotel 'suitable for a lady'. The Thailand of
today, of course, with its dizzying array of luxury
hotels and exemplary service culture, is a fine
example of successful tourism promotion.
Thailand- renowned for its
culture, the detailed handiwork of its arts and
crafts and the hospitality of its people, sets its
capital in the very vibrant Bangkok..
Luxury travel in Thailand is accessible through the
various luxury hotels scattered throughout its
popular tourist destinations- Bangkok, Chiang Mai
and the beachside resorts of Phuket. Increasingly,
one finds more boutique, luxury outposts in lesser
known areas like Hua Hin, Cha Am or Kui Buri.
Instantly welcoming even to the
South-East Asian neophyte, the hospitality,
design-awareness and vibrance of the city are traits
that will capture your attention from the moment you
land in the spanking new Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Chaotic, uneven streets and undiscovered meandering
sois often yield surprising finds- a newly opened
themed bakery, a chic chocolatier, a vendor of the
finest silks or a most salubrious wellness retreat-
all existing cheek by jowl with your street food
vendor, construction sites and cheesy bars.
It is too easy to love Bangkok
and also too easy to want a break from it all. Urbane
Nomads offers additional side trips for your trip to
Bangkok should you want to experience Bangkok and
its environs on another level. We recommend idyllic,
picture-perfect getaways just two hours' drive from
the city- unimaginable, luxurious settings after the hectic
liveliness of Bangkok. Should you prefer to be
sheltered from the elements in Bangkok and pair a
weekend of indulgent shopping and dining with
wholesome, almost spiritual wellness retreats
(without having to shift base from downtown
Bangkok), we could probably recommend some options
as well.
There is a Bangkok for everybody and luxury to be experienced on many levels. The city
has something new to offer no matter how many times
you've visited it. Whether as a transitory base or
as a destination unto itself, the charms of Bangkok
reveals itself seductively to the visitor in many
phases.
While the city's luxury
shopping malls are to be reckoned with( Siam Paragon
boasts a supermarket the size of several football
fields, an excellent assortment of F&B options and
the top names in designer wear), it is the night and
weekend markets where shopping in Thailand is at its most
interesting. The Suan Lum Night Bazaar( located
within walking distance to design doyen Christina
Ong's The Metropolitan) is a sane alternative to
high-octane Chatuchak Market (reckoned to be the
largest market in the world).
The Suan Lum Night Bazar,
divided into different sections- namely homeware,
fashion and trinkets), underlines the undisputable
creativity of the youth of Bangkok. While you might
find many designer knock-off t-shirts, Suan Lum is
also the place where you can find streets lined with
themed stores, selling the original creations of
Thailand's creative set. That such design can be had for
such cheap prices overwhelms you but the
originality, creativity and variety of it all
underscores it. Suan Lum is a place where you can
score that very-expensive looking accessory you
spotted in that very-high-end spa in your hotel,
paying only a fraction of the price you were
expecting to pay and feeling very clever at the end
of the day.
While Thai cuisine is
justifiably world-renowned, Bangkok is also
characteristic of most cosmopolitan cities in this
aspect- there is sure to be a sampling of the best
of each distinctive international cuisine right in
Bangkok. From sky-high restaurant Sirocco (with
stunning views of the city and a month-long
reservation waitlist) to the many chic dining
options in the sub-sois, Bangkok is a haven
for the city lover for its myriad dining, shopping
and spa options. Culinary-themed tours are
commonplace- with Thailand probably being the most
successful in featuring its cuisine as a mainstay
tourist attraction. Urbane Nomads offers gastronomy
tours through Thailand- featuring the best
restaurants of Bangkok, cooking classes in its best
hotels, combined with similar culinary-themed tours
through Thailands's neighbouring countries, usually
Vietnam and Laos, for a well-rounded sampling of
Indochinese cuisine.
Spas are also another feature of Thai hospitality
and the many luxury spas in Thailand- from the
serious wellness retreat, Chiva-som to the rustic-luxe
of the Six Senses outposts to the humble Thai
massage to be found in the winding sois of
its capital, the spa treatment has become a staple
of the Thai experience. Any luxury trip to Thailand
would feel incomplete without a sampling of what
Thai spas are able to offer.
A luxury trip to Thailand traditionally would
incorporate Phuket- with its many, glorious beach
resorts, but with the increasing numbers of
design-centric boutique hotels as well as luxury
chains in areas like Koh Samui and Hua Hin, people
looking to venture outside Phuket can now find
suitably luxurious accommodation. Urbane Nomads also
offers luxury cruises to the Andaman islands and cap
off their stay in Thailand with a jaunt via private
jet to the remote Burmese Himalayas (possibly one of
the areas least exploited for tourism in the
Himalayas), staying in a resort designed by Jean
Michel Gathy of Aman Resorts' fame.
Thailand also offers special interest tours- from
the pachyderm polo championships in Chiang Rai in
March to the equine polo in Pattaya. Urbane Nomads
offers extension tours for these events- venturing
into Bhutan or extension trips through Thailand,
sampling some of Thailand's best luxury resorts.
Whether it be a few days spent with the elephants in
the elephant sanctuary of the Anantara Chiang Rai or
the exquisite Four Seasons Chiang Rai , indulging
your inner kid by ziplining through trees in the
forests of Chiang Mai or continuing through the
Burmese end of the Golden Triangle to visit tribes
who'd, in some instances not been in contact with
foreign visitors for some 50 years, with some of
them still using a pre-World War currency, there're
many ways of exploring Thailand that'd have the
visitor coming back over and over again.
Possible combination trips for Thailand include
Bhutan, Cambodia, Bali, Vietnam, Laos and Singapore.
Urbane Nomads also offers a tour with a Jim Thompson
theme, combining Thailand and Malaysia- travelling
through the Bangkok of Jim Thompson and Cameron
Highlands in Malaysia, where he'd enigmatically
disappeared. The itinerary revisits the original
silk weaver community, employed by Jim Thompson.
Located in a fishing village nearby the Jim Thompson
house, this community are no longer the weavers of
contemporary silk produced under Thompson's name.
Guests will be staying in the best hotels and
resorts in Thailand and Malaysia.
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