Famous for:

• An important sea trading city since 1st century AD
• Rubber plantations
• Annual Underwater Wedding ceremonies on Valentine’s Day (14 February)        

 

Climate: Season Months Aveg Temp (Celsius) Hot Feb - April 29 Cool Nov - Jan 27 Green May - Oct 26

• By air - Thai Airways flies daily direct flights. Travel time is 1hr 10 mins.  Budget airline, Nok Air, flies between Bangkok and Trang daily.

• By bus - from Bangkok, the journey is approximately 12 hours. From Krabi, the trip is only 3 hours.

• By train - It is 845 km from Bangkok to Trang and will take 11-12 hours.

Local markets – visit the local fruit and vegetable markets, located in the centre of town. Make sure you go early in the morning, when the fresh fish have just arrived and the meat and flowers are still looking good. Wander around and enjoy looking at all the different spices and produce.
Chinese temple – due to the port history of Trang, a large proportion of Chinese descendants live here. This is reflected in the food, religion and architecture in the region. The Chinese temple (called Meun Ram), in the centre of town is worth a quick look – if you are lucky, there might be a shadow puppet show being staged.
Eat a local breakfast – go into a local “café” and have Chinese dim sum and coffee with condensed milk, like the locals do. Be prepared to eat a very different breakfast to your usual first meal of the day!
Rubber Plantation – Trang’s biggest product is rubber. Plantations are throughout the province and visiting a plantation is a worthwhile trip. See how they cut the trees in the early morning so that the sap drips into a well-placed cup. Hours later, when the cup is full, the sap is collected and taken to a factory for processing into rubber as we know it. It is believed that the first rubber tree in Thailand was planted in Trang in 1899.
In and on the water – take a trip out to the islands - snorkel, dive, kayak, visit the Emerald Cave (on a nearby island) and try to spot the near-extinct dugong (or sea cow). Keep your eyes open for other wildlife, such as white-bellied sea eagles, monitor lizards and langurs.
Stay at the Amari Resort Trang – the first five star property in the region is set on a beautiful beach, nestled amongst the national park. The resort is 30 minutes drive from the main city of Trang. Stand on the balcony of your modern, stylish room and look out at the islands in the sea.
Underwater Weddings – every Valentine’s Day (14th February), a number of sea-loving couples celebrate traditional Buddhist wedding blessings on the beach at Koh Kradan. The couples are then taken by long tail boat and dive 40 feet below the water, where they sign their marriage certificates with waterproof pens. A group celebration follows. For more information, visit www.trangonline.com/underwaterwedding.html