Thailand, North to the Gulf

Nine nights from the river palaces of Bangkok to the hills of the north and the Golden Triangle, then down to the Gulf of Thailand, with private flights doing the long hops. A Sak Yant tattoo or a wet plate portrait at The Siam, a morning walking with rescued elephants beside their mahouts and a vet or biologist, and the resort's own boat into Angthong Marine Park.

Length: Nine nights
Pace: Four stays
Style: Culture, mountains, beach, private flights
Route: Bangkok to Chiang Mai to The Golden Triangle to Koh Samui

BangkokTwo nights
Chiang MaiTwo nights
The Golden TriangleTwo nights
Koh SamuiThree nights

A golden chedi and red and gold temple roofs under a clear blue sky.

Days 1 to 3 · two nights

Bangkok

Met at the airport and driven to the river. The Grand Palace and Wat Arun with a guide, then an evening eating street food. After the Jim Thompson House, a walkway can lead on to Ban Krua, a Muslim community a century old, to meet the last of his original silk dyers and weavers, who remember him visiting each morning. At The Siam, a day of Muay Thai with the hotel's coach, a sitting for a collodion wet plate portrait, made by hand from start to finish, or a Sak Yant tattoo, a sacred Thai tradition, can be arranged, and the hotel's shuttle boat runs downriver into the city.

Where you stay

The Siam

The Siam stands in three acres of gardens on the Chao Phraya River in the Dusit district, with suites and pool villas and an art and antiques collection throughout. There are five places to eat and drink, Chon Thai among them, and guests can take Thai cooking, Muay Thai or Sak Yant sessions.

Two tiered pagodas on a forested mountain top at sunrise, with hills fading into the distance.

Days 3 to 5 · two nights

Chiang Mai

A private flight north. Temples of the old city, the night bazaar and the markets, a drive up Doi Suthep to a hill village, and the Huay Kaew waterfall. One evening, dinner in the 1921 House, the former British consulate in the resort's gardens. A cooking class can be arranged in a family house, Boonpratana House, where the mother of the family walks you through her organic garden to pick herbs and vegetables, then teaches dishes of the north, the northeast and the central plains.

Where you stay

Anantara Chiang Mai Resort

On the banks of the Mae Ping River, Anantara Chiang Mai Resort is built around the 1921 House, which was once the British consulate and now serves afternoon tea and dinner. There are 52 rooms, 34 suites and 25 serviced suites, with river cruises from the resort's own pier and Spice Spoons cooking classes.

A wide river winding between dark hills under a red and orange sunset sky.

Days 5 to 7 · two nights

The Golden Triangle

By road to Chiang Rai and the White Temple of Wat Rong Khun, then a walk in the jungle and lunch with a hill-tribe family. A morning with the rescued elephants of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, about two hours at the pace the elephants set, preparing their food and watching them at the river or the mud bath. Their mahouts walk with you, with a vet or biologist to answer questions, and there is no riding.

Where you stay

Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort

Anantara Golden Triangle sits on a ridge in 160 acres of bamboo forest, looking across to the borders of Myanmar and Laos. It has 40 rooms, 15 suites and six family suites, and shares the land with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, which cares for elephants rescued from logging camps, the streets and shows.

Large smooth granite boulders on a sandy cove, with clear water and a green headland.

Days 7 to 10 · three nights

Koh Samui

The Hall of Opium on the way to the airfield, then a private flight to the Gulf. A day on the resort's boat to Angthong National Marine Park, limestone islands with lagoons, sea caves and coral gardens, leaving at 9:00 a.m. Snorkelling and diving, the spa, and a Muay Thai lesson before the flight home.

Where you stay

Six Senses Samui

Six Senses Samui lies on a gently sloping headland at the island's northern tip, and 60 of its 67 villas have private pools. Meals are served on the terraced cliff face at Dining on the Rocks, and guests can feed the goats and chickens on the small farm.

Arranged on request

Walking with rescued elephants

About two hours in the jungle with the elephants of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, led by their mahouts with a vet or biologist, preparing their food and watching them bathe; no riding.

Sak Yant at The Siam

The sacred Thai tattoo tradition, arranged at the hotel on the Chao Phraya.

A wet plate portrait

A collodion wet plate photograph taken at The Siam and made by hand from start to finish, to take home.

Angthong by private boat

An eight-hour day from 9:00 a.m. on the resort's boat to the limestone islands of Angthong National Marine Park, with their lagoons, caves and coral gardens.

Jim Thompson's last weavers

From the Jim Thompson House, a walkway to the century-old Muslim community of Ban Krua, to meet the last of the silk dyers and weavers who worked for him and remember his morning visits, by arrangement.

A family kitchen in Chiang Mai

At Boonpratana House, the mother of the family picks herbs and vegetables with you in her organic garden, then teaches dishes from the north, northeast and centre of Thailand.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A day by boat to Koh Tao, where a Royal Thai Navy programme has returned hundreds of young turtles to the sea, and on to Koh Nang Yuan.
A Thai cooking class on the bank of the Chao Phraya at The Siam.
Three nights in Phuket, with island hopping by private boat.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.