Khao Lak–Lam Ru coves and forest

At the southern end of Khao Lak's beaches, the forested headland is Khao Lak–Lam Ru National Park: rocky coves, jungle trails and trees leaning out over the water. It is a different session from the long beaches — closer, greener, more sheltered — and a good one for the hours when the open sand is too bright, or for a couple who want rainforest and sea in the same frame.

The coves are small, so the photographer plans around other visitors rather than through them, and the rocks at the water's edge are slippery when wet: sandals that grip, not bare feet. Inland, the same park holds Ton Chong Fa, a waterfall in tiers at the end of a forest trail, at its fullest in the rains — the plan for a monsoon day when the beach is out of the question.

As in every national park, foreign visitors pay their own entrance fee, and photography done as paid work inside a park can need the park's permission and a fee of its own; the photographer clears that in advance, not on the day. From about May to October the forest is at its greenest and the sea in the coves rough, and a trail after heavy rain is mud — keep the light dress for the beach and bring a second pair of shoes.