Thailand

I vinter får solsugna skandinaver ytterligare en långlinjedestination i Thailand att resa till. I slutet av oktober börjar Norwegian flyga direkt till Krabi från Stockholm, Köpenhamn och Oslo.

Det droppar och ploppar. Luften är full av mystiska visslingar och galet surrande. Häng med till Thailands största regnskog, mäktiga nationalparken Kaeng Krachan.

This serene 315-sq-km national park covers 60km of Andaman coastline (Thailand's longest protected shore) and over 20 islands, including increasingly popular Ko Phayam. It's 85% open sea. Much of the coast is fringed by mangroves and laced with tidal channels, home to fish, deer, macaques, civets, giant squirrels and over 100 bird species, including white-bellied sea eagles.

Romantiskt, trendigt eller med ett oslagbart läge? Här kommer våra bästa tips för lyxiga, men inte allt för dyra hotell i Bangkok.

Thailand går med i hållbarhetsprojektet Upcycling the Oceans för renare hav. Under de kommande tre åren ska vattnen utanför populära turistdestinationer som Bangkok, Koh Samui, Koh Tao och Phuket rensas på plast.

First-time visitors to Pai (ปาย) might wonder if they've strayed into a northern version of a Thai island getaway, only without the beaches. Guesthouses appear to outnumber private residences in the ‘downtown’ area, a travel agency or restaurant is never more than a few steps away, and the nights buzz with the sound of music and partying.

Multistorey malls, outdoor shopping precincts and never-ending markets leave no doubt that Siam Square, Pratunam and Phloen Chit combine to form Bangkok's commercial district. The BTS (Skytrain) interchange at Siam has also made this area the centre of modern Bangkok, while only a few blocks away, scruffy Ratchathewi has a lot more in common with provincial Thai cities.

Phu Kradueng National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติภูกระดึง) is one of the most popular national parks in Thailand, and spending the night atop its eponymous peak is something of a rite of passage for many students in the region. The park covers a high-altitude plateau cut through with trails and peppered with cliffs and waterfalls. Rising to 1316m, Thailand's second national park is always cool at its highest reaches (average year-round temperature is 20°C), where its flora is a mix of pine forest and savannah. Various forest animals, including elephants, Asian jackals, Asiatic black bears, sambar deer, serows, macaques and white-handed gibbons, inhabit the 348-sq-km park.

What was once a quiet, little-known Mekong-side town full of traditional timber shophouses became a trendy destination for Thais and is now full of gift shops, cute cafes and places for taking selfies. That said, Chiang Khan (เชียงคาน) is far from spoiled and is still a charming place to visit. The photogenic views of the river and the Lao mountains beyond are still there, as are the old buildings, and things remain peaceful in the daytime before the evening shopping stampede begins. Every evening Th Chai Khong turns into a busy Walking Street market with buskers, artists and street-food vendors. Chiang Khan is less busy in the hot and rainy seasons – April to September.

Most people are drawn to Sukhothai Province (จังหวัดสุโขทัย) by the ruins of the eponymous former kingdom, one of Thailand's most historically significant and impressive destinations.