There is a version of Thailand you may know and already love. Perhaps it involves big city lights and glittering skyscrapers, buzzy bars and sizzling street stalls. Perhaps it involves beaches – mile upon mile of them, fringed by spindly coconut palms – and hotels, some of the most luxurious and healing spaces in the world.

But beyond the more classic ways to experience Thailand is a country that is ripe for a more gentle adventure – where the activities are more immersive and more considered, and often more meaningful because of it. This is soft adventure – a way of seeing a country like Thailand through an entirely different lens. Soft adventure isn’t just about the places you choose to travel to, as important as they are in lending themselves to all kinds of activities. It’s also about the journey there and the experiences you have, and the things you learn along the way.

Bangkok at a slower pace

You may think that a city like Bangkok can’t lend itself to soft adventure. This is a city with a population of 11 million – it’s busy and urban, crisscrossed by bridges, roads and rail tracks. But venture away from the crowds and chaos and you’ll find Bang Krachao, Bangkok’s green lung and one of the most popular cycling spots within the city’s reaches. It’s an agricultural area where elevated pathways sit above mangrove forests and canals, weaving between a floating market, centuries-old Buddhist temples and small villages. It’s one of many slow adventure days out in the city; similarly serene, but a little more sedate, is a khlong, or canal tour. Don’t just hop on any longtail though, but a solar boat river tour through the lesser-seen khlongs, stopping off at temples and gardens for a wander.

For a bigger, slightly longer adventure, you could toss some clothes in a bag for an overnight boat trip to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and former kingdom of Siam. Or, if you’re keen on something a little more heart-quickening but culturally immersive, a Muay thai class is the answer. You’ll see muay thai gyms scattered across the country –  open-air spaces where people practice the nation’s sport, focusing on eight points of contact to deliver powerful strikes to their opponent. For something solo, try a sky dive or ride a lift 314metres up into the sky to stand suspended over a glass floor, peering down at the bustling streets below.

Easy escapes from the capital

You don’t have to venture far from the bustle of Bangkok to embrace adventure. Some of the most beautiful regions in the country are within easy reach of the capital – like riding the railway from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, famous for the bridge on the river Kwai. It’s a journey that’s just three hours long – a chance to gaze out the window and take in the sights few get to see, from rural communities to local life. You could choose to linger longer – kayaking alongside the misty banks of the River Kwai in the early morning, soaking in the sounds of birdlife, before an afternoon pedalling through rural villages and farmland. The region is also home to one of Asia’s greatest waterfall hikes – seven tiers of turquoise pools, each one swimmable, in Erawan National Park. Continue the peaceful theme with a night or two staying in a floating raft house – it’s the simplicity that makes it so special, with little more than a mattress and a mosquito net, and the moving river lulling you to sleep come dark.

Slow journeys by bike and train

That’s one detour, but the next question is where to travel and how to get there. The most active may set out on two wheels to take on a multi-day cycling route through Thailand. Some routes are simple, easy and best taken slow, bedding down in community lodges and small guesthouses, getting to absorb a slower, more local way of life. Some are more challenging, like the Mae Hong Son Loop, one of south-east Asia’s greatest slow journeys, typically travelled by motorbike. The 600 km route takes in mountain passes, fog-draped valleys and villages home to little more than a temple. It’s challenging, but rewarding – and a way to access the corners of the country that few would consider venturing to.

An easier yet equally epic way to slow travel through Thailand is by train, where the journey may just become your most memorable holiday moment. The rail network in Thailand remains one of the world’s best travel bargains, where a sleeper cabin with fold-down bunks can cost you as little as £30 a night, helping you save on accommodation and use your precious holiday time more effectively. For something more luxurious, take the new Blue Jasmine, a luxury train built in the ‘60s and refurbished in collaboration with Jim Thompson to create carriages of rich textiles and plush, padded beds. The nine-day route takes in rural communities and countryside, giving you a whole new perspective on Thailand, all with just 36 other travellers.

Northern Thailand’s gentler wild side

Northern Thailand is the place for those with an adventurous spirit, without the worry of anything being too strenuous. It’s about leisurely days soaking in scenery in every shade of green, immersing yourself in northern culture and setting phones and laptops aside to let your brain switch off. Trekking through the hill tribe regions of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai remains one of the most rewarding experiences in Thailand – getting truly off the beaten path in the Akha and Karen villages and learning about the communities that many travellers in Thailand don’t see, where the pace of life is entirely different, and you can’t help but be slowed down to match it.

It’s a land of waterfall hikes and forest trails, slow, sun-dappled paddles on bamboo rafts, and farm stays where you get hands-on experience of living a more rural life. It could mean going through the surprisingly meditative process of rice planting, or your brain slipping into a slower gear with long craft sessions, where time becomes meaningless and the focus becomes the craft at hand – feeling warm clay on a potters wheel, painting ceramics or weaving cotton.

Softer adventures in the south

Heading south – much further south, some 450 miles beyond Bangkok – the landscape shifts again. Despite its staggering beauty, Khao Sok National Park reminds one of Thailand’s best-kept secrets. It’s home to a rainforest older than the Amazon, where trees surround karst limestone formations and flooded valleys. At its heart is Cheow Lan Lake, a vast, still stretch of water that’s fringed by vertical peaks. The region is dotted with places to stay, but slow adventurers should book into a floating lodge – open-air on almost all sides, they bob on the water, giving you easy access to the lake. Wake in the dark, take a sip or two of coffee and paddle out on the water at first light, experiencing a silence and stillness that few people ever get to experience.

From here, your day unfolds with activities – trekking through the rainforest with an expert guide, fascinating facts interspersed with quiet moments of enjoying simply putting one step in front of the other, leaves rustling beneath your feet. Here is your chance to spot wild elephants that roam the jungle, being one of few people to witness them in their natural habitat. After dark, night safaris see the jungle come alive in different ways – gibbons, hornbills, croaking frogs and dozens of varieties of insects providing the soundtrack to your evening out.

Further south is a Thailand you may be more familiar with. You’ll have seen it on the brochures, the cover of magazines and your TV screens. But travelling here, to the likes of Phuket, Krabi and Koh Samui, doesn’t have to mean basking on beaches or hauling up in hotels. In fact, it’s one of the loveliest spots for soft adventures, where you can revel in the spellbinding scenery in different ways. This is a place where you’ll be happiest on or in the water, paddleboarding from forest-fringed coves and exploring sea caves and marvelling at bioluminescent waters by sea kayaking in Phuket. Neighbouring Phuket to the north is the sleepy, surfy region of Khao Lak, then out west, just a short boat ride away, is the Similan Islands, where visibility reaches some 20 or so metres down, and reef systems are home to sharks, hawksbill turtles and for the luckiest, manta rays.

Looking up instead of down, you’ll find some of the best climbing in the country in the Krabi region. At the edge of Railay Beach, limestone cliffs rise straight out of the Andaman, and there are routes for every ability, whether you’re keen on a taster or to scale to the summit. Also in the region is Koh Lanta, one of the most chilled-out islands in Thailand, with its acres of mangrove forest on the east coast – a peaceful kayaking spot where curious monkeys scamper through the trees as you dip your paddle in the water alongside them.

Beyond the resort-facing beaches of Koh Samui is a jungly interior: head high up into the hills for hikes to waterfalls, finding your perfect meditation point at sunset. It’s also the jumping off point for Koh Tao, a small island that you’ll reach by ferry in a couple of hours. Once here, it’s tempting to sip smoothies on the golden sand beaches, but really this is the place for diving – not just the enthusiasts (who’ll have their pick of dozens of dive sites), but for beginners too, where you can pick up a PADI certification with a relaxed programme that moves at a pace you’re comfortable with.

To keep things even more chilled, hire a long-tail boat and hop between the bays, leaping into gin-clear water and watching as tiny emerald-blue fish swim inches from your snorkelling mask. It’s just another example of how a softer adventure in Thailand may just be the best adventure in Thailand.

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^{All photos: ©Thailand Tourism}