Bangkok & Pattaya Family Holiday, 4 Nights

Met at Suvarnabhumi and driven into the city. The afternoon is left for the pool, because the first Bangkok afternoon with children is always better spent that way than in traffic. In the evening a short drive to the Asiatique riverfront: the open-air market, the big wheel with the river lit below it, and dinner at one of the terraces looking across the Chao Phraya. An early night; tomorrow is a full day.

Safari World in Khlong Sam Wa, open since 1988: the vehicle drives the 8 km Safari Park route through the giraffe, zebra, rhino and deer herds with the windows down, then the Marine Park side has its timed shows — dolphins, sea lions, the orang-utan boxing, the birds — and the feeding platforms. Lunch is taken inside. Back to the hotel by mid-afternoon for the pool, and dinner near the hotel.

The motorway south-east, about 150 km, with a stop for lunch on the way. The afternoon is the Sanctuary of Truth on the headland at Naklua: a hundred-metre temple of carved teak, begun in 1981 and unfinished by design, where the carvers are at work and children are given hard hats at the door. The evening is the beach road and dinner; Walking Street's nightlife is a few streets away and the itinerary keeps you clear of it.

A speedboat from Bali Hai pier to Ko Lan, the island the tour boats call Coral Island, 7.5 km out: a morning on Tawaen beach, a swim in calm water, a glass-bottom boat or a banana boat for those who want one, lunch on the sand. Back by early afternoon and out to Nong Nooch, 500 acres of gardens open since 1980 — the French garden, the cactus houses, the dinosaur valley — and the afternoon cultural show with the elephants. Dinner back in Pattaya.

A last morning at the pool and a late checkout where the hotel allows it, then the drive to Suvarnabhumi — about 120 km from Pattaya, so the airport is closer than from the city — for the flight home. On request the day can add the floating market at Pattaya or an early lunch on Jomtien beach before the transfer.