Originally Posted by
moretimeoffguy
I’ve been wanting to explore a mountainous region of Thailand like Chiang Mai, but unfortunately it’s burning season and most say to stay away. Been in BKK 4 nights already and the pollution hasn’t impacted me. But if visibility is severely limited then that’s a problem for me.
What are the closest mountainous areas closest to Bangkok that I can get to using trains? And is there any part of Thailand that looks and feels like Ubud, Bali?
I visited Ko Kret yesterday and absolutely loved it. There were some interior parts of Ko Kret that reminded me a little of Bali; including someone riffing on a gamelan-style instrument on a random house down a random path. Made me want to book a side trip to Bali but that would be costly in terms of both money and time.
Way back when, before all the burning pollution during the dry season, I’d have said Kanchanaburi, but I don’t know if that area is also affected or not. You can check out the country side in Sa Kaeo Province. It’s a stop on the train line to the Cambodian border (Aranyaprathet), 1-2x/day I think. You’d need an access to a mountain bike or a motorbike (the former you can rent one in Bangkok and bring it on the train — at least years ago it was possible to do this as I took my bike to Angkor Wat that way) or a local transport to get from Sa Kaeo station to the rural areas. It would be a worthwhile adventure if they’re not burning stuff over there as well. Either way, not sure how much time you have, but this is not something you can do as a day trip.