Khao Yai is about 3 hour’s drive from Bangkok Airport. The best time to visit should be Nov to Apr but we visited in early Oct. The weather is still pretty good, with no rain and not as hot plus the crowd is also lesser.
Khao Yai means ‘large mountain’ in Thai. The driving experience from Bangkok to Khao Yai is generally safe as the road condition is good. From the airport to Khaoyai, we did not experience any charged toll fees. Locals drive with good manners and roads are not as narrow and pretty smooth, except few places, there are holes in the road due to heavy rain where you have to watch up.
The weather in Khao Yai is quite cool in the early morning and evening but during the day it is still quite hot.
How many days should you stay in Khaoyai? You can stay up to 1 week as there are many interesting sites for you to visit but we only spend 2 nights in Khao Yai as we have to travel up north to Sukhotai.
We reached Bangkok airport at around 12 pm noon, picked up the rental car at the airport with ‘Drive a Car’. Reached Khaoyai at around 4 pm.
There are many attractions to visit in Khao Yai. In fact, the whole mountain range is made for local tourists with lots of animal farms, wineries, chocolate factories, museums, and floral parks.
Alpaca Farm at Primo Piazza
Our first visit is to the Alpaca farm at Primo Piazza. The whole place is designed to look like a small Italy, buildings and the most iconic is the alpaca farm which has about 8-10 alpacas. There are also cute donkeys and sheep that you are allowed to feed them. You can feed the animals and the good thing is these animals are so friendly. The entry fee for adults is 100 Baht/SGD 4 adult inclusive of grass for animal feeding.
The Bloom, Khao Yai
Nestled in the heart of Khao Yai National Park, The Bloom is actually a hotel but we didn’t stay there. We went to the Flower Garden. In the month of October, the flower is still not as many but I am sure the garden will be filled with field of colorful flowers during year-end. There are also few sheep but not many. A great place to take photos with stunning mountain backdrops.
PB Valley Vineyard and Wine Tasting Tour
This is the biggest vineyard in Khao Yai, there are tours to join where you can spend up to 3 hours here exploring the vineyard and orchard. If you book via Klook, it also includes lunch too. The tour lasts for an hour only and with transportation around the farm field and winery via a buggy which can sit up to 24 pax. The tour also comes with 3 wine tasting and grapes juice.
Ban Mai Chay Nam Museum Restaurant – lunch
This is also known as Waterside House, a hidden place where you have to pass through a few narrow roads before you find it. Upon entry, you will find antiques and toys displayed everywhere, modern and old. The restaurant is located inside the museum, with stairs to bring you down to 3 levels below. Most of the tables offer a river view and you can hear the river flowing by. The food served is mostly Thai ranging from 150-200 Baht. We were here for lunch but at night, this place can be quite dim. The food is not expensive and the taste meets our standards.
After lunch, you can walk over a suspension wooden bridge for a coffee and more comfortable seats to chill and relax.
Ban Mai Chay Nam also has its own resort, which is actually linked to the restaurant. When we walk over to the wooden suspension bridge, we could have a peek at the restaurant and its pool.
Farm Chock Chai
Originally, Farm Chock Chai was an agriculture venture in a country deeply rooted in farming. Today the farm has developed into a full attraction park dedicated to agro-tourism and Thai awareness about farming.
At the entrance, you can purchase animal food to feed the farm animals such as sheep, cows, ponies and rabbits.
The museum displayed 12 white live animals of the Chinese zodiac, starting with a rat in white, followed by white cow, white tiger….etc. All the animals are in white and look quite lonely.
Fighter planes and army trucks are on display outdoors and vintage cars are indoors.
Feeding elephants and riding is also available.
Hokkaido Flower Park Khaoyai
Too bad during my visit in early October, there aren’t any flowers yet. So we didn’t go in and moved to Bloom.
Where to stay? Lacol Khaoyai
Lacol Khaoyai offers a stunning Lacol Dome restaurant that offers a private dinner in a romantic bubble glass dome. To book the restaurant, you need to pay a deposit of 2000 Baht for a dome and 1500 Baht table outside the dome. The food served is mostly western mixed with a little fusion of Thai. Food isn’t cheap and is mostly for couples’ private dating nights. The place is great for IG photos. We had only 3 main courses, fish, spaghetti, and chicken, a cocktail, and a bottle of water cost of about 3000 Baht.
Lacol Hotel review
The room is pretty spacious and clean for 3 pax. During the weekends, we had our breakfast in the restaurant but on Monday morning, breakfast was served in the room. We had our breakfast on the balcony with a mountain view.
Final thoughts:
Khaoyai located 3 hour drive from Bangkok offers Asia tourists a chance to savour the small European town experience. Many of the resorts and attractions are inspired by European-style villages, with vineyards, flower fields, and western architecture with stunning mountain backdrops.
How many days you should stay here? Well, you can stay 3-5 days here as there are just too many attractions in this area.
The weather is cooling and the best time to visit would be the end of the year when all the flowers are blooming.