Mike Meaney - Photos: Thailand

The beautiful spot of West Railay beach near the town of Krabi.

East and West Railay beaches. This area has one of Thailand's most beautiful beaches, is a rock climbers paradise and though on the mainland the beaches cannot be reached overland due to high mountains cutting them off.

Little waterfalls in a Thai park.

The Vegetarian festival in southern Thailand, apart from featuring great vegetarian food, is also the host of some weird religious parades and displays of self-mutilation! Party on ...

This barbed-wire-wrapped guy is in a trance. His friend looks like he's in a bit of a state as well.

This unusual limestone rock is featured in the final scenes of the Bond outing 'The Man With the Golden Gun.'

Here I got up close and personal with an inmate of Bangkok's snake farm.

I guess I'm not showing much respect here, doing a take-off of Buddha.

Sukhothai is an ancient archaeoligical site, full of great temples, in the centre of Thailand. Here it is at sunset.

The north of Thailand is home to various hill tribes. Here is one woman with her baby carried in a traditional sling.

This woman is from a hill tribe that is into silver would you believe?

A woody, shady lane.

Ancient Sukhothai is all lit up for the festival of lights, Loy Krathong.

The finale of Loy Krathong, the festival of lights, is a sound and light show with many participants and plenty of fireworks.

Near the Hilton Hotel, Bangkok, is this temple of fertility, filled with interesting statues, by none of which I was intimidated!

Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, which lies along the Chao Phraya river that runs through Bangkok.

Patpong, Bangkok's infamous red light district, is a tourist shoppers paradise as well as home to some, er, interesting clubs.

How many women are in this photo? None!

A golden statue in the grounds of the fabulous Grand Palace of Bangkok.

Ornate golden door, Grand Palace, Bangkok.

Some unusual trees at the Grand Palace.

Here I am trying to tune in Radio Bangkok.

An unusual tree with a Buddha face in it.

Some statues in the strange Hindu-Buddhist sculpture garden at Sala Ku Kaew.

My camera for the first year had a fixed 35mm zoom lens, pretty useless for wildlife photography but this lizard stayed still even when I got within a foot of it allowing me to get this photo.

The beautiful Erawan Falls national park is a myriad of cascading falls and emerald pools, one of the best places I visited in Thailand.