Glorious Thailand in Pictures

Rawai Beach Pier, Phuket

Photograph by Narong Rattanaya, My Shot

Twilight settles on the Rawai Beach Pier in Phuket, the largest of Thailand’s islands. Phuket’s tropical climate, forested mountains, and wide beaches draw international tourists in droves—a popularity turned tragic when a tsunami swept the area in December 2004, killing hundreds in Phuket alone.

Gulf of Thailand

Photograph by Jonathan Milnes, My Shot

A surprised diver looks on in wonder as a school of barracuda glides past him in the Gulf of Thailand near Pattaya. Sunken wrecks in the area lure divers and history buffs.

Bangkok

Photograph by Peter Adams/Getty Images

The Thai people don’t call their capital Bangkok. The official name begins with the words Krung Thep (City of Angels) and unrolls in a litany that means, in part, “the Great City, the Residence of the Emerald Buddha, the Grand Capital of the World Endowed With Nine Precious Gems, the Happy City” and so on. Bangkok’s Asian contours are now almost completely hidden by a welter of skyscrapers.