Must-see attractions in Central Thailand

  • Erawan Waterfall in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

    Erawan National Park

    Kanchanaburi Province

    Splashing in emerald-green pools under Erawan Falls is the highlight of this very popular 550-sq-km park. Seven tiers of waterfall tumble through the…

  • The Death Railway, bridge over the River Kwai

    Death Railway Bridge

    Kanchanaburi

    Constructed by POW labour, this 300m-long bridge is heavy with the history of the Thailand–Burma Railway. Its centre was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945…

  • Bang Pa-In Royal Palace in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

    Bang Pa In Palace

    Ayuthaya

    Ornate buildings are sprinkled across Bang Pa In Palace's 19-hectare gardens. First established in the 17th century, the palace was revived in the 19th…

  • Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre

    Kanchanaburi Province

    The infamous cutting known as Hellfire Pass was the largest along the length of the Thailand–Burma Railway, and the most deadly for the people forced to…

  • Sri Nakarin Dam National Park

    Kanchanaburi Province

    Visitors to Erawan National Park often find themselves wondering what the waterfall would be like without the hordes. The answer is Namtok Huay Mae Khamin.

  • Saphan Mon

    Kanchanaburi Province

    Sangkhlaburi's iconic, 447m-long wooden bridge, the largest in Thailand, connects the main town, home mostly to Thai and Karen, with the Mon settlement…

  • Thailand–Burma Railway Centre

    Kanchanaburi

    This excellent museum balances statistics and historical context with personal accounts of the conditions endured by POWs and other imprisoned labourers…

  • Wat Ratchaburana

    Ayuthaya

    The prang (Khmer-style spire) in this large temple complex is one of the best extant versions in the city. There are giant stucco-sculpted Garuda on the…

  • Wat Chai Wattanaram

    Ayuthaya

    Glorious in the early morning light and also at sunset, this temple is Ayuthaya's most impressive off-island site thanks to its 35m-high central prang …

  • Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon

    Ayuthaya

    Visitors to this photogenic ruin 2km southeast of the island can climb stairs up into the crypt of the stunning 60m-tall, bell-shaped chedi (stupa). There…

  • Wat Phra Si Sanphet

    Ayuthaya

    At this captivating ruined temple, three wonderfully intact stupas form one of Ayuthaya's most iconic views. Built beginning in 1448, this was a private…

  • Wat Ban Tham

    Kanchanaburi

    In the countryside around Kanchanaburi, cave temples are almost as common as convenience stores are inside the city, but this is one of the most…

  • Wat Tha Ka Rong

    Ayuthaya

    With animatronic ghosts, supersized crows and glowing Buddhas, Wat Tha Ka Rong is eerie and playful in equal measure and feels more like a carnival than a…

  • Wat Na Phra Men

    Ayuthaya

    Featuring a gorgeous 6m-high Buddha flanked by maroon columns, this active temple was one of the few to escape the wrath of Burma's invading army in 1767;…

  • Wat Mahathat

    Ayuthaya

    Ayuthaya's most photographed attraction is in these temple grounds: a sandstone Buddha head tangled within a bodhi tree's entwined roots. Founded in 1374,…

  • Thong Pha Phum National Park

    Kanchanaburi Province

    This seldom-explored park sprawls across a serrated mountain range along the Myanmar border. Billing itself as the 'land of fog and freezing rainforest',…

  • Sai Yok National Park

    Kanchanaburi Province

    Caves, waterfalls and forest trails draw walkers to Sai Yok National Park (958 sq km), which never gets too crowded. The main sights are easily reached…

  • Allied War Cemetery - the final resting place for World War II prisoners who died building the Thailand-Burma railway. Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

    Kanchanaburi War Cemetery

    Kanchanaburi

    Immaculately maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, this is the larger of Kanchanaburi's two war cemeteries, and is right in town. Of the…

  • Religious food offerings on the altar at temple Wat Phanan Choeng.

    Wat Phanan Choeng

    Ayuthaya

    This lively temple, believed to date to 1324 (26 years before the founding of Ayuthaya), revolves around the 19m-high Phra Phanan Choeng Buddha, aka …

  • Muang Sing Historical Park

    Kanchanaburi Province

    The ruins of 'Lion City', the westernmost-known Khmer outpost, are spread around a 102-hectare compound girded by 4.5km of walls. Serving most likely as…

  • Khao Laem Reservoir

    Kanchanaburi Province

    Backed by fuzzy green hills, the gigantic lake wrapped around Sangkhlaburi was formed in the 1980s by the Vajiralongkorn Dam. Two of the many villages…

  • Wat Tham Seua

    Kanchanaburi

    The centrepiece of this hilltop temple is a striking 18m-high Buddha covered in golden mosaic. One of the merit-making ceremonies for devotees is to place…

  • Wat Phutthai Sawan

    Ayuthaya

    Atmospheric ruins and lively temple worship can both be experienced at Wat Phutthai Sawan. King U Thong founded this temple in 1353 on the south bank of…

  • Tham Krasae

    Kanchanaburi Province

    Tham Krasae (Krasae Cave) was used by the Japanese while building this difficult stretch of the Death Railway. The wooden trestle bridge they ordered the…

  • Khun Dan Prakan Chon Dam

    Central Thailand

    Tucked into the foothills of the Khao Yai Mountains in northeast Nakhon Nayok province, Thailand's largest dam (2.6km long and 93m high) is an impressive…

  • Wat Tham Khao Pun

    Kanchanaburi

    The nearest cave temple to Kanchanaburi town is a fun labyrinth of illuminated passageways. The marked trail is a bit of a squeeze in some places (and can…

  • Chao Sam Phraya National Museum

    Ayuthaya

    The most impressive treasure of Ayuthaya's premier museum is the haul of royal gold (jewellery, utensils, votive tablets, spittoons) unearthed from the…

  • Noen Chang Suek

    Kanchanaburi Province

    The hill with the flag and fence hovering above the town to the south is 'Fighting Elephant Hill'. From its 1053m summit you can get 360-degree views (fog…

  • JEATH War Museum

    Kanchanaburi

    This small museum, opened in 1977, mostly focuses on the terrible ordeals of the POWs who built the Death Railway. Their harsh living conditions are shown…

  • Tham Phra That

    Kanchanaburi Province

    This is one of our favourite caves in Thailand. Five hundred and ninety two steep steps and a tight squeeze take you into a stadium-sized chamber full of…

  • Tham Lawa

    Nam Tok

    Walking along the dimly lit 280m trail through Lawa Cave you'll pass several large chambers with imposing stalactites, stalagmites and other odd rock…

  • Tham Daowadung

    Kanchanaburi Province

    Beautiful Tham Daowadung is rich with rock formations, and bats, crickets and snakes inhabit its eight chambers. There are lights but not stairs; the…

  • Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit

    Ayuthaya

    Next to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, this sanctuary hall houses one of Thailand's largest bronze Buddha images, dating to the 15th century, most likely. Coated in…

  • Heritage Walking Street

    Kanchanaburi

    A stroll along this city centre street offers a glimpse of a bygone Kanchanaburi. Many buildings date to the 1920s and '30s and their Sino-Portuguese,…

  • Wat Niwet Thamaprawat

    Ayuthaya

    On an island across the Chao Phraya River from Bang Pa In Palace, this unique buttercup-yellow ubosot (ordination hall) was designed to resemble a…

  • Makha Bucha Buddhist Memorial Park

    Central Thailand

    Not yet a temple, this informal Buddhist centre's main attraction is a giant Buddha statue with his hands in 'setting the wheel in motion' posture, which…

  • Namtok Sarika

    Central Thailand

    Dropping 200m in nine steps, Sarika Waterfall is a gorgeous getaway, and on non-holiday weekdays it's usually a peaceful one too. A trail climbs up to the…

  • Chungkai War Cemetery

    Kanchanaburi

    The site of one of the biggest Allied POW camps, Chungkai honours 1426 Commonwealth and 313 Dutch soldiers. Prisoners built their own hospital and church…

  • Baan Hollanda

    Ayuthaya

    The little 'Dutch House' features a concise but informative exhibition of Dutch history in Thailand from 1604, when the Dutch East India Company (VOC)…

  • Chedi Phuttakhaya

    Kanchanaburi Province

    This striking stupa on a little peninsula on the Mon (south) side of the lake stands 59m high and is constructed in the style of the Mahabodhi stupa in…