When we got to Bangkok, we set ourselves a challenge to look for a place that would be off-radar even for the local scenesters. We spoke to avid adventurers, charted the less explored North East and looked out for bays that only long-tail boats could get to. And then, right under our very noses, we found Khao Yai and the Muthi Maya.
Just two hours outside Bangkok, in the UNESCO protected Khao Yai National park, sits this serene and romantic film set. We didn’t know which was more aweinspiring; the natural beauty of the area or the hotel’s sympathetic architecture that melted into the mist shrouded landscape.
The mile and a half drive from the entrance, all a planned part of the Muthi Maya experience no doubt, led us all to simultaneously gasp audibly.
The villas are in-tune with the rest of luxury Thailand, but it is by stepping outside onto the deck that makes you really appreciate where you are. Stunning views, pure serenity, bird-song and the sound of the wind passing through the trees; a far cry from Bangkok and the tourist thronged beaches of the south.
And just when you thought that nothing could be more beautiful, twilight hits and the stars come out to dance.
