Thailand Kids Attraction

If you are travelling with kids and want them to have as much fun, then there is plenty to see and do for them too.

• Dusit Zoo is a place where you can watch exotic animals
• Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute is one place where you can watch deadly snakes being milked and made to anti-venom
• Do you fancy watching an annual festival for monkeys complete with banquet feast for them, then take a train ride to Lopburi
• Celebrate Surin, an annual elephant festival with parades, mock battles and the likes
• If you cannot catch the festivals, then Kanchanaburi is the place for jungle elephant rides as well as historic rides
• Splash water and make merry at the seven-tiered waterfalls at Erawan National Park
• Would you like tigers as your pets? Tiger temple is where you'll find an amazing variety of tigers
• As a last stop, let you young ones take a pony ride or enjoy the castle building on the beaches of Hua Hin

Thailand Tourist Spots

Thailand Night Life and Shows

Animal Shows

In the Phuket Zoo, they organise shows for trained animals.

• Elephants
  Features balancing acts, football games, disco dancing and races. After the show the audiences are able to have a photo taken with the elephants and feed them bananas.
  Show times: 10:30, 13:30, 16:00 daily
• Monkeys
  They perform entertaining tricks such as playing basketball, diving for coins, collecting coconuts, etc. One part of the show has them doing basic arithmetic using numbers suggested by the audience.
  Show times: 09:00, 12.00, 14:30, 16:45 daily
• Crocodiles
  Watch people stick their heads between a large crocodile's jaws
  Show times: 09:45, 12:45, 15:15, 17:30 daily
• Snake
  Demonstrations on what to do if you encounter a snake in the wild or get bitten by one. Snake handlers also charm and perform stunts with poisonous snakes. The highlight is seeing the handler kiss a king cobra on its head.
  Show times: 10:30, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 17:00 daily

Phuket Fantasea

Phuket FantaSea is a huge cultural theme-park located in Kamala, packed with loads of activities and entertainment. The various shows you can catch here are:

• Palace of the Elephants
  There are nightly performances of "Fantasy of a Kingdom", a theatrical extravaganza which combines Thai culture, magical illusions, aerial performances, acrobatics, indoor pyrotechnics, special effects and elephants.
  Gate Opens: 20:30
  Show Starts: 21:00
• Carnival Village
  Each fascinating facade promises a unique shopping experience, where visitors can buy high quality locally made products from 15 different shops offering silk, leather, handicrafts, ceramics, jewelry, souvenirs, unusual items about elephants and Siamese twins and much more! Marvel at the skills of the villagers demonstrating a range of traditional arts and crafts. Enjoy cultural parades, pageants, street shows and elephant rides.
  Park Operating Hours: 17:30 - 23:30
• Iyara Spectacular
  Iyara Spectacular is an outdoor light, sound and dance spectacle celebrating the return of the Prince of Kamala, featuring laser, giant projection, animatronics, special effects, inflatables and fireworks. It is performed only on special occasions.
• Other attractions
  • Hanuman's Lair:
    Full of games, plays and exciting surprises for the kids. Here the trickster king of the monkeys promises fun and excitement for everyone.
  • Viva Bangkok Stage Theater
  • Kamala Pier Restaurant & Beer Garden:
    Offers a haven of delicious food, good cheer and soothing music.
  • Magic Mountain
  • Cultural Parades & Street Shows
  • Traditional Carnivals & Live Music
  • Handicraft Demonstrations
  • Elephant Ride

Phuket Stunt Show

The Phuket Stunt Show is a nightly action packed entertainment show that will thrill and excite audiences of all ages and nationalities. Our 'Aqua Spectacular' show is the latest and the most dynamic permanent tourist attraction in South East Asia. A 75 minute show includes performers all over the world showcasing an Olympic style synchronized diving show, along with jet-ski stunts, Samoan fire twirling and comedy acts. The show climax features a heart stopping 27 meter high dive, one of the highest in the world!
Gate Opens: 18:00
Show Starts: 19:30 (Open every night except Wednesday)

Simon Cabaret

Simon Cabaret is Phuket's famous transvestite cabaret. Stunning costumes, bright lights, an excellent sound system and expensive sets are all part of this theatrical extravaganza. On the hill just outside Patong, has been wowing audiences for years with its exotic, hilarious, often risqué performances. The show features a spectacular musical floor show performed by the famous lady boys of Simon Cabaret.
Show times: 19:30 & 21:30 daily

Thai Boxing

Thai boxing or Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand. Professional fights are held at the Phuket Boxing Stadium in Phuket City. However, there are venues in tourist areas that hold show fights which can still be quite ferocious and provide an entertaining spectacle.

If you are interested in learning Thai Boxing or want to train, Phuket has a few Muay Thai training camps.

• Muay Thai Gym (Suwit Boxing Camp)
• Phuket Muay Thai Camp and Gym
• Rawai Muay Thai

Sphinx

Sphinx Restaurant & Theatre in Patong has lively shows featuring Thai dance, contemporary favourites, Broadway hits and comedy on an intimate stage. Where the show really comes into its own is the eclectic repertoire by Sphinx's exclusive dance troupe, The Pharaohs. The show is fast moving, colourful and professionally choreographed.
Show times: 21:00 & 22:30 daily, except tuesdays

Phuket Orchid Garden & Thai Village

The Thai Village offers an opportunity to experience some traditional Thai culture through dance, interspersed with Thai boxing, sword fighting exhibitions and elephant shows. Dances include Fon Tian (candlelight dance), Fon Leb (fingernail dance), Sukhothai dance, bamboo dance, tin-sifting dance, Norah and Ram Wong (folk dance). During the Ram Wong the audience is invited to join in with the dancers. The evening is organized especially for groups and includes a sumptuous buffet of Thai food or a set menu of fresh Phuket seafood. The minimum group size is 10 guests.

Thailand National Parks & Waterfalls

Other than the beaches, you will find a number of forest reserves and parks with exotic wildlife and pretty waterfalls. From almost any part of the country you are within an hour's drive (or less) of what is often multi-tiered water fall. Be warned though, if you go during the dry season, these waterfalls may be little more than a trickle.

Khao Phra Thaeo National Park

Located in the north of Phuket, this park contains the only remaining virgin rainforest on the island. The park conserves a number of wild animals' species like langurs, barking deer, mouse deer, bears, wild boar, monkeys and gibbons. About one hundred species of bird also inhabit the forest vegetation, which consists of huge trees, creepers and climbers of every description. The reserve has several forest trails for hiking and guides can be hired from the reserve office near Ton Sai waterfall. There is also a small museum and information centre.

Sirinat Marine National Park

This relatively new protected area includes the beaches of Nai Thon, Nai Yang and Mai Kao combining the former Nai Yang National Park with a wildlife reserve at Mai Kao. The beaches within the park are a nesting site for four endangered species of leatherback turtle which come here to lay eggs between November and February each year. There is a Park Visitors Centre at the northern end of Nai Yang, which has interesting displays of corals and shells, as well as other marine and land fauna. The park boundary extends 5kms out to sea and includes some quite diverse coral reefs which are popular with divers and snorkellers.

Mangrove Forest

Although it occupies only a small area, this is the most unspoiled mangrove forest on the island. There are many unusual perennial plants like mountain ebony, red cycas, black myrsina, the Lady's Nails Quiscalus and various creepers and climbers. A nature trail has been cleared with an elevated walkway and signs indicating the various plant species.

Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park

Situated in the Phitsanulok Province, 377 km north of Bangkok, this national park has several slabs of smooth, rounded cobbles which are moulded from sandstone by centuries of wind and rain. The inaccessible Mon Daeng Waterfall crashes down the 32 steps it has chiselled into the mountainside over many hundreds of years. Popular activities here include trekking to view the numerous orchids and lichens on the wooded slopes and deep ravines.

Doi Inthanon National Park

The highest peak in the country at 2,565 meters, located in Chiang Mai province, the park has flora and fauna not seen in other parts of Thailand. Two Hill Tribes, the Karen and Hmong have settled here. Trekking is recommended to observe the fauna and flora. Some 364 different species of birds and butterflies can be found here. There are camping grounds and the best time to visit is between November and February.

Thung Salaeng Luang National Park

Surrounded by dry oak forests and stately pines this Thung (meaning field in Thai) boasts of open fields. Kaeng Sopha waterfall, one of three spectacular staircase waterfalls in Thung Salaeng Luang, thunders down a series of steps before reaching the calm Savannah forest below. The meadows at Non Son and Nang Phaya are fully laden with interesting flora and fauna.

Mae Surin National Park

Situated in Mae Hong Son Province on the Doi Mae Ukor, Mae Surin National Park is blessed with waterfalls and a vast field of wild sunflowers (bua thong) which bloom in November. You can visit a Hill Tribe in Khun Yuam district.

Khao Yai National Park

Covering Saraburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri and Sra Kaeo provinces, this is the largest north-eastern forest in Thailand. The park's mountains are watersheds for several waterfalls. It is one of the best refuges in Thailand for animals and birds in the wild and remains the most likely spot to see wild tiger or elephant. Visitors can avail themselves with trekking, bird and butterfly watching, animal spotting (elephants and tiger), raft riding and camping.

Erawan Waterfalls in Kanchanaburi

Erawan Waterfalls are the focal point of the Erawan National Park. This is an exquisite park, very pretty and very popular with locals and foreigners alike. The waterfalls are equally exquisite. Buses leave Kanchanaburi on a regular basis for the waterfalls, but as you will need the whole day there, you will need to catch the early morning bus (currently 08:00) Entrance to the park is 200 baht and it is open daily from 08:00 to 16:00.

Sai Yok Waterfalls

The Sai Yok Waterfalls (Sai Yok Yai and Sai Yok Noi) form the focal point of Sai Yok National Park – a 500-square kilometer park offering evergreen, bamboo and teak forest against a mountainous backdrop. Wildlife here comprises of bats (the Khun Kitti Bat – the smallest bat in the world), tigers, wild pigs, deers and birds.

Kathu Waterfalls

The waterfall at Kathu is really quite small but can be pleasant for a swim. It is worthwhile to climb up the steps to the higher pools which are more beautiful. Don't bother visiting during the hottest months (March & April), as the waterfall is barely a trickle.

Ton Sai Waterfalls

Located near the park headquarters at the entrance to the park, this waterfall though not very big is quite scenic. There is also a reasonable restaurant with excellent views if you get hungry.

Bang Pae Waterfalls

This is Phuket's largest waterfall. The 10 minute walk from the car park through the shady forest is very pleasant. The pond at the base of the waterfall is great for a dip in the cool water. Bang Pae is also home to the Phuket Gibbon Rehabilitation Centre, an NGO run project which adopts gibbons in captivity and returns them to the wild.