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• VIP door-to-door travel
• Saga tour manager
• City and mountain tours

Temples, trams, hill tribes, spectacular hotels – including one on the River Kwai – traditional dancing and rescued elephants are among the fascinating experiences awaiting guests on a Saga holiday to the ‘land of smiles’.

The exploration of Thailand’s sophisticated ancient history and culture has a darker side, too, and there’s a visit to the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre and cemetery for the Allied services offering a sharp reminder of the horrors of the Second World War.

Saga’s Thailand Panorama tour allows guests to immerse themselves into the country with excursions including a visit to a tea plantation, the White Temple of Wat Rong Khun and the forest temple of Wat Palad, a cookery class, visits to markets including the floating stalls of Damnoen Saduak, Bangkok's Grand Palace and the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho.

Among the many highlights of this cultural tour is the Ethical Elephant Sanctuary at Chiang Mai, a not-for-profit project run by the Karen hill tribe to rescue and care for the endangered creatures.

The elephant, Thailand’s national symbol, has a special place in Buddhism and its image is also prominent in a shrine at the spectacular Wat Phra That Temple. Built in 1383 with a 24-metre, gold-plated tower is still a working monastery and is reached by cable car up Doi Suthep mountain.

Another spectacular view comes at the Golden Triangle, once a notorious centre of opium production, where guests can take a long-tail boat ride on the Mekong and, where it joins the Ruak River, see Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.

The three-star Royal River Kwai Resort and Spa is the base for a visit to the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, immortalised in the film Bridge on the River Kwai, commemorating the prisoners of war forced by their Japanese captors to work on building the Siam-Burma railway.

The adventure concludes with three nights in Bangkok, including a city tour taking in the Grand Palace, a beautiful ancient Siamese court and temple complex, the magnificent, 46-metre-long Reclining Buddha and a ride on the Chao Phraya River to the Pak Khlong Talad Flower Market.

For details call free on 0800 056 0464 or visit saga.co.uk/Thailand

14 nights, including 1 onboard the aircraft from £2,299 per person, departing London Heathrow with Thai Airways International on January 7, February 11, March 10, October 6 and November 3, 2020.

Price includes VIP door-to-door chauffeur service, return flights, airport taxes, accommodation, all breakfasts, 10 lunches and 4 dinners, porterage, tour manager, optional travel insurance and additional cancellation rights, or a discount if passenger has own insurance.