Thailand treasure

SEND TO A FRIEND

18 JUNE 2004
Inland Odyssey
Watch the magic of the Orient unfold before you on a three-day trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the north and back aboard the post-colonial splendour of the Eastern & Oriental Express. The elegant train, an offshoot of the famous Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, serves delectable Thai and western cuisine. Meanwhile, cocooned in air-conditioned luxury, you gaze out over rice paddies, lotus ponds, velvety forests and rural villages.

Every so often the train stops for sightseeing excursions – the mysterious ruined temples at Ayuthaya, the ancient capital and the haunting Bridge over the River Kwai where so many Allied soldiers lost their lives. At Chiang Mai there’ll be an exclusive visit to the traditional private mansion Wang Num Ping to enjoy the hospitality of Princess Surai Sukrachun, who is of royal descent (Elizabeth Taylor was welcomed here in 1992), and later to the silk factory formerly owned by the family of Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.