Breathtaking Pattaya & Bangkok

Into Suvarnabhumi, out by road: the direct two-hour transfer south puts you on Pattaya's seafront by evening without touching a Bangkok hotel. Settle in at Jomtien, where the beachfront dinner tables sit a short stroll apart and nobody hurries you.

Boat day at Koh Larn, and the trick is to go early - the morning water is calmest and the beaches emptiest before the day-trip rush builds. Parasailing and jet skis are there if you want them, arranged on the spot, entirely skippable if you do not. Back by mid-afternoon for pool time.

Transfer up to Bangkok and spend the first evening in its newer skin: ICONSIAM on the river, then the Chinatown food street after dark, where the pavement kitchens out-cook most restaurants. Vegetarians, look for jay signage - Thai Buddhist vegan food with no fish sauce.

Grand Palace and Wat Pho in the cool morning hours, dressed for temple rules, then a riverside lunch. Keep the afternoon for shopping - MBK for bargains, Platinum for wholesale-style fashion floors - and a rooftop view of the city at sunset.

Pack the market hauls carefully, leave a buffer of three hours at the airport, and fly home. Four nights is a tight, efficient first taste of Thailand - the itinerary most people upgrade to six the second time around. If the group wants one last outing, the neighbourhood morning market beats any farewell purchase made at the terminal.