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It's relatively easy to escape the chaos of Bangkok for more relaxed surroundings. They are all places that can be done comfortably in a one or two night trip from Bangkok. Some of them, such as Ayuthaya, are possible day trips, but all have enough to see to justify staying longer.

Ayuthaya

The former capital of Ayuthaya lies north of Bangkok, and take two or three hours by bus or train. It's also possible to go there on the river, though this takes around 4 hours. It's a large, impressive site with many ruined temples and buildings, and is perhaps the best easy excursion from Bangkok.

Kanchanaburi

Kanchanaburi is about 3 hours west of Bangkok, and is most visited because it's the location of the 'Bridge Over The River Kwai', made infamous by the movie of the same name. Nearby are the beautiful Erawan waterfalls, widely regarded as Thailand's best.

Pattaya

The beach resort of Pattaya is about 2 hours from Bangkok by bus. The beach is second rate compared to almost any other in Thailand, and the water too polluted to swim in, but it's still very popular due to it's legendary nightlife scene. There's hundreds of bars and restaurants and thousands of prostitutes, all of which attract the 3 million tourists that visit every year. It's not a total tourist trap though, nor is it by any means as expensive as it might sound. It's also Thailand's best place for watersports.

Hua Hin

4 hours south of Bangkok is Hua Hin, the more relaxed and somewhat upscale alternative to Pattaya. Hua Hin has a better beach (though still not great compared to those in the south), and is cheaper. Nightlife is virtually nonexistent. It's mainly visited by those who can't get down to better beaches in the south, such as Phuket or Ko Samui. Nearby Cha-am and Prachuab Khiri Khan are similar.

Ko Samet

The beaches of Ko Samet are beautiful, easily rivaling any of the more famous southern islands. Parts of it are very touristy (as it is so near Bangkok), mainly Diamond beach which has upscale hotels, discos etc... mostly catering for wealthy Thai tourists. Pollution is a problem in this part of the island.

Other parts are much less developed, but generally food and accommodation are overpriced all over the island. Most of the accommodation fills up on Thai national holidays, weekends and during the tourism high season. It's around four hours from Bangkok to the pier for Ko Samet, plus the boat trip to the island itself. Ko Samet is a national park and charges foreigners 200B to enter the island, 10 times what it costs for Thai people.

Khao Yai National Park

The large Khao Yai National Park is about 4 hours north east of Bangkok, just inside the northeast Isaan region. It's quite a good place for spotting animals in the wild, species include elephants, types of deer, bears, gibbons and there's even been sightings of tiger and leopard.

Lopburi

Briefly the capital in the 17th century, there's still the interesting former palace and temple ruins to see in Lopburi, but nowadays it's most famous for the huge amount of monkeys that inhabit the old city.

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