We tackled the steep Monkey Trail from Ao Nang to reach the quiet beach at Pai Plong. The trail is about 450m each way, made up of boardwalk and steep wooden steps, and macaques live along the way. Pai Plong is a small bay of its own, home to the Centara Grand resort.
Later we travelled back to Bangkok and checked into the Sukosol Hotel for the last few days of the trip. The hotel is on Si Ayutthaya Road in Phaya Thai, and it opened in 1990 as the Siam City Hotel before taking the family name in 2012.
Good to know
- The Monkey Trail: it’s about 450m each way, roughly 15 to 20 minutes of boardwalk and steep wooden steps. The macaques will snatch bags and phones, so keep them zipped away.
We checked these details in October 2026. Times, prices and rules do change, so it’s worth a quick look at the official sites before you go.