Dear

The ITB Travel fair is starting in Berlin; one of the biggest travel gatherings in the world. While travel agents gather in booths, the team from Exploration Travel Thailand is discovering new hidden gems in Mae Hong Son province bordering Myanmar. We will not be able to meet at ITB as we prefer to have more in-depth, personal meeting with our agents that focus on quality and time to show our innovative and very different itineraries in Thailand. Interested? Send me an email to schedule a meeting: edwin@exploration.travel 

Be a story teller first – article Travel Weekly Asia featuring Exploration Travel Thailand

Travel agents and the media start to notice how Exploration Travel Thailand is doing things differently and developing its own tours. Story telling is in our DNA and we strongly feel it is our responsibility to tell the culture, history and daily ways of a life in the areas we visit. “What’s makes this area so special?” is the first question we ask ourselves when we go on inspection in a new area. 

We are not a logistics company that moves people from A to B and we are not a tech company that talks about AI or database connections and we are not a reservations engine that spits out confirmations and vouchers.

Exploration Travel explores a region, tells the story of that region through some sights and especially through the people of that region. We create new, unique and memorable experiences.

Thank you Travel Weekly Asia for recognising the special ambitions of our teams in Thailand and Myanmar. Read the full article here: www.travelweekly-asia.com

Kaeng Krachan National Park and Thailand’s Tigers

The biggest National Park in Thailand is also the most overlooked in tourism. It is probably the best-preserved national park, bordering with Myanmar and very recently again positively in the news as tigers were spotted. We don’t promise you any tiger sightings, but instead a fantastic half day in pristine tropical rain forest accompanied by an English-speaking ranger from the National Park. He will be able to explain the system set-up in Thailand to protect in total 156 national parks. Expect to see colourful insects, birds including hornbill, reptiles and monkeys and the green forest that is so typical for this part of the world.

Kaeng Krachan is the real deal in terms of birding and nature protection; and a good alternative for the more crowded Sai Yok National Park near Kanchanaburi or the more vacation theme park atmosphere in Khao Yai National Park popular with Thai tourists.

The nearby WFFT foundation does great work to provide a natural habitat for tropical animals that are confiscated by the Thai authorities as owners did not take care of them or house them illegally. Unfortunately, this abuse of animals for tourism purpose still happens as recently seen in the news when a pet lion cub was driven around in Pattaya in a luxury car or an article about a lion cub café in Phuket went viral on social media.

During a very interesting day tour by WFFT staff, you will have a close look at the good work of this foundation and see some of the animals they are taking care of. The foundation set-up a fantastic and comfortable lodging in their compound including a great pool to cool down from a day in the jungle and with occasionally a view on rescued elephants. For families, the hotel has spacious private pool villas with 2 and 3 bedrooms. www.ilovephants.org

We get your clients from Bangkok to Kaeng Krachan “by all means” – an fantastic day with guide going by train, cars and different kind of boats passing rural Thailand water ways and colourful markets that enticing all senses; an excellent alternative to some of the tourist floating markets in that area.

For more wildlife and national parks, we have programs in Sam Roi Yot National Park and Kuiburi National Park for wild elephant spotting.

Dutch TV program 3 op reis discovering Bangkok’s hidden neighbourhoods

As you might remember, Exploration Travel Myanmar has been working for years in the niche of film fixing; telling a lot of stories through TV production teams which included in that time BBC’s Top Gear, Netflix, several UK travel productions as well as the Dutch TV program 3 op reis. The 3 op reis production team recently visited Thailand (not through us) and we are thrilled to see they have discovered some of Bangkok’s lesser-known, yet more historical and colourful neighbourhoods.

The presenter discovers with a guide the Thonburi part of Bangkok which we cover in our excursions Bangkok rivers, orchards and a reclining Buddha with a royal influence (see some pictures here) as well as meeting with family during A walk of five generations and Hidden local beliefs including Bangkok canals and Wat Arun (operated by Roots Routes). Also, the e-scooter tour featured in our last newsletter passes through parts of this neighbourhood.

The program also visits a part of Bangkok’s old town. Exploration Travel signature tour Walking through old town is an excellent first day introduction to Bangkok; a private guided walk through a traditional neighbourhood passing through small alleys that allows you to peek into people’s way of live.

Bangkok is so much more than the popular, yet non-descript high-rise offices and malls of Sukhumvit area and we are glad that travel TV programs are taking notice. The next broadcast is on 15 March.

The best time of the year………

A common question we often get; “what is the best time of the year to travel to Thailand”. The short answer is any time is good. Yet, especially if you add a beach, it is good to look at the weather forecast below.

Thailand has three different seasons: summer (March to May), green season (June to mid Oct) and winter (mid Oct to Feb). Every season has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to travel which makes Thailand really a year-round destination. Climate change is also noticeable in Thailand and therefore weather patterns can vary.

March – May (Summer)
The weather in the whole country will be sunny and warm, especially in the afternoon – around 35 degrees Celsius in the middle of the day – so you are advised to plan sightseeing more in the mornings and evenings. The landscapes can be a bit drier and the air a bit hazier. It’s a good time to visit the beaches and the southern part of Thailand’s as well as Isaan, Chanthaburi and East Thailand island like Ko Chang. 

June – mid October (Green Season)

The temperatures drop to about 25 – 30 degrees Celsius, and the scenery is beautifully green. Sightseeing is not too hot and not too dusty. It’s a perfect time to visit the centre, the north and the eastern provinces (Isaan). It’s the raining season which means mostly brief refreshing showers at the end of the day. Sightseeing is great as it’s quieter in the green season – it’s Thailand at its best! During this period, it rains on average less than once every two days and as the days are longer, you actually have more sun hours in a day than in winter.

If you like sunbathing on the beach, it’s best to choose carefully which beach to stay. Generally, the beaches on the west coast (The Andaman sea: Krabi, Phuket, Khao Lak, Koh Phayam, Koh Phrathong) get more then average rain in this period, which is not beneficial for your suntan. Beach buns better choose a beach in the Gulf of Siam (Koh Samui, Koh Phangan) in this period.

Mid-October – February (Winter)

This is the most popular season for tourists to travel because of the lower temperatures (evenings in the mountains can be cool – 10 degrees Celsius), while there is less chance of rain. Daytime temperatures are around 30 degrees Celsius. It’s a good time to visit any place in the country but the downside is that it can be busy around the major tourist attractions. For photographers this is an ideal time with blue skies.  Sept, Oct and Nov are the months with a bit more precipitation on Koh Samui. 

An update on Myanmar

Starting with the good news; new species have been discovered again that thought to be extinct. A new species of a tiny fish that is able to make a lot of noise:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBJZu7B9OmA

Despite all this I try to stay positive and hopeful; this too shall change one day. Meanwhile we stay very busy with our sister company Counselling Corner to keep people around the country mentally strong. We are currently reaching over 1000 people every month with individual and group sessions and we have started a program to train 100 new counsellors in the coming year.

Also, the food program continues to run to help support families with their daily food and we are looking at possibilities to give small farmers or families in the dry zone vegetable seeds and tools to start growing their own vegetables. Donations continue to be very welcome: https://www.gofundme.com/f/food-for-families-in-myanmar

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Edwin Briels and his team have been creating experiences for travellers for over 20 years. Edwin Briels continuously finds new paths to travel and new experiences to show clients the story of Myanmar and Thailand and engages you in a fascinating journey through this part of Asia with the most fascinating stories.