have a machine at home, so I put an advert on
Facebook to say I’d deliver cups to anyone in
my neighbourhood in Bangkok,” he says. “I
only use the best Thai beans — Chiang Rai in
the north has very good arabica.” Two years
on, he’s built up a loyal local following; the
extra revenue allowing him to continue his
guiding career as travellers trickle back.
The pandemic, and lack of tourists,
however, doesn’t appear to have dampened
Khao Yai’s property boom. We pass
hoardings announcing the arrival of the new
Intercontinental Khao Yai Swan Lake Resort
— ‘opening soon!’ Bangkok’s beau monde has
also brought glamping sites, music festivals
and organic cafes, all spliced between mango,
dragon fruit and sugarcane farms and fields
of sunflowers and lavender. “Thai movie
stars and members of our royal family stay
here,” Khun Chokedee Yoosathit, the general
manager of Roukh Kiri Khaoyai hotel, confides
when I check in. “It’s so private.” The boutique
property is a vision of loveliness: 12 private,
farmhouse-style villas with pared-back,
cream-and-teak interiors and private pools,
surrounded by hills and fields of pampas grass.
There’s no mistaking there’s money here.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, there’s also fine
wine; what is surprising is that it’s grown right
here. Maintaining vineyards in high heat
and humidity, and defying heavy monsoon
seasons, a clutch of vintners are creating
hundreds of thousands of bottles of Chenin
Blanc, Shiraz, Durif, Grenache and more.
“We’ve been here since 1999 , when Khao Yai
was still very agricultural,” says Khun Mimi
Suvisooth Lohitnavy, as we share a glass of
wine at GranMonte Vineyard and Winery,
which her family owns. She manages the 1 70-
acre estate with her sister, recently expanding
the site’s visitor offering to include tours,
tastings and wine-pairing meals. Granmonte
is still something of a local secret; Khun Mimi
says her guests are mostly Thai, with only a
few travellers stopping by. “All food and wine
lovers, of course,” she says with a smile.
A simple, European-inspired lunch
— washed down with a glass of 2019
Granmonte Asoke Cabernet Sauvignon
— comes with a garnish of edible flowers, a
simple, decorative prelude to the elaborate
feast of the arts on show at our next stop.
Founded by socialite Yaovanee Nirandara
— a representative of Christie’s auction house
in Thailand — 129 Art Museum opened in 20 17,
blazing a trail for a procession of other private
museums, galleries, art gardens and sculpture
parks that open their doors in the area. Set in
a simple, three-storey block alongside a main
road, the private collection is one the finest
bodies of contemporary Thai artworks in the
country. Upstairs, a surrealist painting by
Panya Vijinthana swirls together blue-monkey
forests with golden Buddhas to dreamy effect;
and Natee Utarit’s blood-red hibiscus in oils
looks like it might swallow me whole. In the
grounds beyond the temperature-controlled
galleries, clipped lawns and tropical blooms
hint at the fecundity of the area — and the
vast, protected wilderness at its heart.PARK LIFE
“Tat tat tat tat!” park ranger Khun Bok calls
out the moment we step into Khao Yai’s dense
forest, pointing to a handsome heart-spotted
woodpecker drumming its beak into a tree.
A moment later she squeals, “Weeeoooh!”,
directing my attention towards a regal blue-
banded kingfisher flitting through the canopy.
Moving deeper into the forest, I hear a loud
‘chuuf chuuf chuuf’ and look up expecting to
see a helicopter coming into land. I’m amazed
to learn the sound is being created by the 3ft-
wide wings of a pair of magnificent orientalClockwise from top: The colourful
Aisawan Dhipaya Asana Pavilion, Bang
Pa-In Palace; the lounge at the Roukh
Kiri Khaoyai hotel, a 12-villa property
near Khao Yai; bowls of Vietnamese
delicacies, including grilled, minced
pork on lemongrass skewers and
banana blossom salad, Angeum
Vietnamese Cafe, Ayutthaya