Physical geography Thailand is in Asia next to Malaysia, Myamar (Burma), Laos and Cambodia. It is divided into 4 main zones and the first one I headed for was the plains around the Chao Phraya river in the centre of the country. Here the land is very fertile and lots of crops are grown. Next I headed up North to an area full of mountains and valleys. The highest one is Doi Inthanon and it's 2596m tall. After this I skipped across to the northeast plateau. Here the land is poorer and it's hard for people to survive. Finally I travelled south through rainforests to arrive at the coast. For some of the way I travelled on an elephant - something I've always wanted to do. About 20% of Thailand is covered by forest - there's an amazing variety of trees and over 850 types of bird living in them. In some of them you can see tigers, leopards, elephants and bears, but I think I made too much noise and scared them all away. I also explored caves and waterfalls, swam in crystal clear lakes and slept in a tree house. I didn't stop when I reached the water, I carried on to explore some of the islands. Some of these were wonderful, typical paradise islands with palm-fringed beaches and coral reefs. However, tourism is becoming a problem, some of the coral is dying and there is more pollution. Phuket is one of the best-known islands, although it's actually attached to the mainland by a bridge. It's sometimes called the 'pearl of the south' because it's so beautiful. From here I went to Phang Nge Bay which has appeared in a James Bond film, and I could certainly see why they chose it. There are three main seasons in Thailand - dry, wet and hot. I was there in November which was dry and warm. In February it starts to get sweltering and the hot weather lasts until May. It rains most days between June and October but some parts of the country are wetter than others.