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The guard waves his green flag and our train pulls slowly out of Bangkok's Hua Lamphong station on an overnight journey that will see us waking early tomorrow morning in the southern seaside destination of Trang, home to lofty mountains, caves, quiet beaches, historical sites and small fishing communities.

As night falls, we gaze out the window and soak up the simple beauty of the Thai countryside before heading to dining car and joining our fellow travellers for a very reasonably priced meal of chicken curry and fried rice.

We pull into Trang station shortly before 8 the next morning and start our day with a traditional breakfast in the market, selecting grilled pork and dimsum, along with hot coffee and tea from the shophouses that line the street.

Our stomachs full, we walk to Phraya Rasadanupradit Mahisaraphakdi museum on Khai Pitak Road, a twostorey wooden house that served as the residence of provincial governor Korsimbee Na Ranong during the reign of King Rama V. The museum's four rooms are filled with rare artefacts and several black and white photographs of the old town. Students from Kantangpittayakorn School act as our guides and explain the history of the old city.

We also visit Kantang train station, built 96 years ago and originally the last stop on the line for those travelling from the south. Back then, the Panyastyle wooden building served both as passenger terminal and warehouse for products imported from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Our next stop is tambon Bo Nam Rawn, a natural hot spring in the middle of Kantang Forest Park and a popular spa spot for tourists to Trang.

After lunch we move to Huay Yot district and take a boat trip to explore the large gallery of sculpturelike stalagmites and stalactites at Le Khao Kob cave. This natural wonder is home to many towering caverns including Tham Rak Sai, Tham Khon Than, Hin Ta Hin Yai and Tham Jaosao, which are all adorned with colourful lights and surrounded by a circuitous fourkilometre canal.

The next morning finds us at Pak Barah Pier in the quiet town of Satun for a trip to Tarutao National Park, which was declared an Asean heritage park and reserve in 1982, Sixty years ago, the island was the most noted jailhouse for pirates who terrorised the Andaman Sea.

Today, the national park is a popular tourist spot, with 51 beautiful islands and white sandy beaches as well as many soaring caves and a vast mangrove forest.

Nearby is the famous Lipe Island, part of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's "unseen Thailand" project. We go snorkelling and are thrilled to see schools of clown fish, as well as colourful sea anemones and urchins.

Our last day is spent on Koh Hin Ngam, an island covered with glittering stones in various shapes. The guide tells us if we manage to place 12 stone in a pile without them falling, our wishes will become true.

We finish the day exploring the underwater world at Koh Adang Rawi, where we marvel at a wide range of colourful corals and schools of tropical fish before stopping to take photos against the stone archway at Koh Khai with the white sandy and emerald Andaman Sea glistening in the background.

BOX

>>>Phraya Rasadanupradit Mahisaraphakdi Museum is on Khai Pitak Road in Trang's Kantang district and is open daily except Monday from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Call (075) 251 100.

>>> Bo Nam Rawn Kantang Forest Park is located in Baan Khuan Khaeng subdistrict. Call (086) 470 4425, (089) 724 6247 or visit www.DNP.go.th/Kantang.

>>>For information on Tarutao National Park, call (074) 783 485, (074) 783 597 or visit www.SatunProvince.net.

>>>State Way of Thailand, call (02) 222 0175, (02) 621 8701 or visit www.Railway.co.th