Southeast Asia Travel News

Haven’t posted a recipe for a while but here’s an absolute cracker – laap tord or spicy Thai-style meatballs. Great as a snack/appetiser or as a part of a Thai meal and surprisingly easy to make. (We realise not all ingredients will be available so suitable alternatives have been suggested below.) Ingredients: 300g minced pork 2 tbsp lemon juice 2…

Poy Sang Long is a traditional Shan festival where boys are ordained before entering a monastery as novice monks. The ceremony is a time-honoured, ‘rite of passage’ with some boys perhaps only spending a token week or two as novices and others going on to spend years – or even a lifetime – as Buddhist monks. While the majority of…

Thale Noi is a large lake or inland, freshwater sea situated between the southern Thai provinces of Phattalung and Songkhla. The protected wetland, covering some 500 square kilometres, is one of the largest lakes in Southeast Asia and its wide biodiversity gives rise to a rich flora and fauna including numerous resident and migratory birds as well as a variety…

As even a brief visit to the region will have revealed, small wooden, or increasingly these days cement, spirit shrines are ubiquitous in houses, gardens, cafes, and even bars, banks and offices throughout the Buddhist nations of Southeast Asia. Every building, home and commerce should have one. They’ll feature eclectic collections of statuettes and figurines – many may well even…

In a Buddhist monastery, atop a low, wooded hill, in a far-flung corner of Chanthaburi Province, a venerable old monk guards a mysterious ancient carving. He says he’s been protecting it day and night for some 30 years now; guarding it with his life for half a lifetime. This is not a script for the latest Indiana Jones sequel –…

Thailand’s UNESCO entry Sukhothai shares a triple bill with the ruins of Kamphaeng Phet, to the west. and the ancient city of Si Satchanalai to the north under the combined (and imaginative) name of Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns. The former lies some 80 kilometres southwest of Sukhothai and the latter over 50 kilometres north and while…

If you fancy checking out some ruined Khmer temples in the jungle, island hopping in Thailand’s Andaman Sea or exploring Sri Lanka’s remarkable collection of World Heritage sites then, at present, you have 2 basic choices; joining a group tour or independent travel  We’re hoping our upcoming range of self-guided tours will offer a compromise option and go some way…

A selection of photos from Wi’s long overdue recce of the charming and as yet unspoilt district of Amphawa, Thailand. Amphawa, actually a distant suburb of Bangkok  – is situated in Samut Songkhram Province to the southwest of the capital – and for now – though popular with local weekenders – remains largely bypassed by overseas visitors. Leafy suburb it…

Surprisingly, some of the most spectacular and best-preserved of all Angkor period temples aren’t even in Cambodia. The magnificent 11th and 12th-century sites of Phnom Rung and Muang Tam – the former spectacularly perched atop an ancient volcano, the latter surrounded by delightful lily ponds – are actually situated in northeastern Thailand’s Buriram Province. Furthermore, one of the most attractive…

Been visiting Trat Province Thailand and its most famous island, Koh Chang, for 25 years now and sure it’s changed a lot. Most places would do in a quarter of a century and now it has myriad resorts, car ferries, 24-hour electricity, sealed roads and Tesco Lotus stores – none of which it had in 1990 – but having just…

Hiking at Hellfire Pass. The Infamous Pass, or Konyu Cutting to use the original name, is one of the most notorious stretches of the Death Railway constructed during World War II by the Japanese army using Allied prisoners of war and conscripted Asian labourers. The Hellfire Pass Museum is a must-visit for any traveller to Kanchanaburi. In addition to the…

A brief run-down on what are considered polite table manners in Thailand. Don’t mean to sound snobby but we reckon many people are put off by the sight of other restaurant customers consuming their meals like total pigs! However whilst every culture in the world has their own accepted eating etiquette these differ widely from culture to culture and what…

In 2008 Cambodia’s magnificent mountain top Angkor period temple, Preah Vihear received UNESCO World Heritage status and to our minds justifiably so, even if it did provoke some serious bickering between the neighbours Thailand and Cambodia as to exactly which side of the border the surrounding area belonged to. Whilst Thailand’s Khao Pra Viharn public toilets, snack bars and car…

We’ve always really liked this off the beaten track South Thai destination and always considered that both the town itself and the surrounding province of the same name, deserved far more visitors than the mere trickle it currently gets so it’s great to see Nakorn Si Thammarat may be about to get some recognition from no less an authority than…

Following on from Marc’s recent write-up on the stunning Koh Kradan here’s a post on the equally beautiful, and even more pristine, neighbouring island of Koh Rok, Thailand. This stunning spot, off Southern Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast, is another superb option for our snorkelling and island boat tours featured on both the South Thai ‘Jungles and Islands‘ and Mountains and…

A boat trip to Koh Kradan, photos and text by Marc Rajes The wooden long-tail-boat was moving slowly through the shallow azure waters. Our captain was aiming for a large orange-coloured buoy just ahead of us – all around us was a reef. The day’s clear skies allowed for excellent visibility below and the reef was clearly visible from several…

All Points East are very proud to announce we are the 2010 winners of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Green Award, for Best UK Tour Operator for Local Communities in Thailand. The award is given in conjunction with responsibletravel.com, who’s Director, Justin Frances said “All Points East are an excellent example of a tour operator with long-standing commitments to providing tours that work…

Excellent post by our long-time friend and sometime colleague Armin on the controversial subject of Kanchanaburi’s infamous Tiger Temple.. Finally, I managed to escape the city. Just 130 kilometres from Bangkok; life is different, tranquil, without the exhaust fumes of millions of cars. Wonderful! I have decided to take a break to visit my daughter and continue with the planning…

A great selection of photographs of trekking in Northern Thailand by Brian Smith from Canadian operator The trek covers the border area between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, beginning in the small, picturesque town of Tha Ton from where we depart by boat down the Kok River. First stop is Ruam Mit – a riverside Karen village where we…

A selection of photographs of our recent trek through the picturesque but remote Pha Taem National Park in Ubon Ratchathani Province of far northeastern Thailand. We have already blogged about Pha Taem in some detail so what follows is mostly a collection of photos from our last Emerald Triangle tour. We joined up with a bunch of monks from Uttaradit…