Hua Hin

A red timber station with a royal waiting pavilion standing apart beside the platform, moved here from another palace and matching nothing else on the site. Only a handful of trains call each day, which leaves the platform empty and full of cameras.

The sand packs hard enough to carry horses, and rides are hired on the beach itself. The price is set by distance rather than time, so say how far you want to go first. At the rocks on the north end you can walk round when the tide drops.

A hill closing the beach off to the south, and the macaques come down as far as the steps and the car park. They will take a bag out of your hand, so close everything before you climb. From the temple yard on top the beach curves away in a single frame.

Teak posts were driven into the shallows and timber halls raised on them so air passes underneath. Shoes come off and you cross the boards barefoot. Every shutter stands open, which blurs inside and outside, and they are wooden louvres rather than glass.

In the evening stalls fill one stretch of Dechanuchit Road. Seafood laid out on ice and noodle stalls sit in separate parts with prices nothing alike, and since seafood goes by weight it is worth watching the scale before it goes in the bag.

The largest national park in Thailand, its hills running to the Burmese border. Only four-wheel drives take the upper road to the Phanoen Thung outlook, and the rains close it. Birdwatchers come, so entry times for vehicles are fixed before dawn.

The roof of Phraya Nakhon cave is broken open, and mid-morning a shaft of light drops through it. It reaches the royal pavilion inside only briefly. Take the early boat, or you get the shadow. From the beach it is half an hour up rock to the cave.

A block of timber buildings put up to reproduce a 1950s shopping street, with an old cinema, a pharmacy and a stationer's imitated in the shops, so none of it is an actual relic, and the seating is tight enough to jam the walkways on a weekend afternoon.

The old harbour jetty up at the beach's north end, with restaurants built out along the boards. Time it for the boats coming in and what you pick is cleaned and cooked on the spot. The planks have gaps between them, which makes heels a bad idea.

Vines planted in a hill basin forty-five kilometres inland from the town. Grapes ripen twice a year in the tropics but only one crop is taken here, in February and March, and bicycles go between the rows while tastings are sold by the glass.

An arts market open Friday to Sunday from around 4pm, where art students and makers sell their own work. Performances carry on at a stage among the trees. Next door, Tamarind Market is all food, so dinner gets sorted there.

In fields west of Hua Hin sits a giant statue of the revered monk Luang Phu Thuat. Legend says he turned seawater fresh aboard a boat, and Thais buy his amulets in quantity. Elephant figures line the pond before the statue.

A many-tiered waterfall in the south of Kaeng Krachan National Park, close to the Myanmar border. Each tier has a pool to wade in, and butterflies settle in clouds along the edges. It is a drive of a bit over an hour west from Hua Hin.

A park on a low hill west of town, taking in Hua Hin's coastline and rooftops in one sweep. Cars can drive to the top, and many residents walk it in the morning. Monkeys abound, so keep food out of your hands.

A mangrove forest at the Pranburi river mouth with a wooden boardwalk of a little over 1km. At low tide mudskippers and small crabs come out on the flats. The boardwalk ends in casuarina woods and a beach.