Epic Miata Road Trip Through Khao Yai: A Photographer’s Dream Weekend
This has to be one of the coolest photography assignments I’ve ever had the privilege of shooting. A weekend trip up to Khao Yai with eight, yes eight, Miatas (MX-5 if you’re reading in the UK), and a group of truly awesome people to share the experience with. All I can say is thank you so much to all the guys and gals who made this trip possible, and a special thanks to Chip for organizing the whole thing and bringing me in on the action.
Before diving into the adventure, let me quickly introduce the lineup of Miatas and their owners who made this road trip so memorable. Golf brought along his beautifully-kept cream NA, built by Kaitoon_roadster. Ooh arrived in a sleek and stealthy black NA, while Champ drove his stunning grey ND, built by Champpomp. Maek rolled in with his red NA from Lifestyle90, and Chip joined with his immaculate Crystal White NC, the car I spent much of the trip shooting from. Kai brought a clean and classy black NC, Arm showed up in his eye-catching blue metallic NC, and Show rounded out the pack with a blue NA. Eight Miatas, eight unique personalities and one unforgettable road trip.
Just a heads-up: this blog doesn’t contain all 684 images from the road trip. I know, I know… I got a little snap-happy on this one. If you want to browse the full gallery, simply scroll down to the link at the bottom. Thank you!
Khao Yai National Park
Khao Yai National Park is extremely popular with Bangkokians as a much-needed escape from the mega-city rush. It’s roughly a 2 hour and 30 minute drive to reach the northern side of the park, where most of the hotels and restaurants are located and where you’ll find the best and easiest access into the national park itself.
I met up with Chip and Champ in their beautiful NC and ND Miatas somewhere around Pathum Thani (I think). Thankfully, some of the journey had already been taken care of by the world’s slowest taxi driver, but that’s another story. I hopped in with Chip, and we made our way to Khao Yai. Obviously, I snapped a few shots along the way as we drove and made a quick fuel stop.
We arrived at the area we stayed around 7 p.m., which in Thailand means it was already completely dark. No chance for evening or sunset shots of the cars, but definitely time for some amazing Thai food and a lovely relaxing evening. I was pleasantly surprised by how cool it was. As a Brit, I almost never feel cold in Thailand, but sitting there in my sports clothing, shorts and a T-shirt, I actually felt a slight chill.
Sunrise Start: 6 a.m. and Pure Heaven
After a well-deserved sleep, especially after doing another photoshoot Saturday morning. Tired was an understatement. We woke up at 5 a.m. to get ready, meet the guys in the hotel lobby, line the cars up for a few group shots, grab the obligatory coffee, and hit the road.
6 a.m., 15°C, and absolute heaven on earth.
We checked into the national park, and this is where the real fun began: rolling shots, detail shots, snapshots of the guys and girls and a few group photos. Khao Yai is truly magical, and if you ever visit Thailand, I strongly suggest adding this mesmerizing place to your itinerary. Mountainous jungle as far as the eye can see. Perfection. As it turns out, it’s also an incredible place for photographing cars.
As we drove through the twisty jungle roads, the light just kept getting better. A warm golden glow bathed every surface, and playing with angles and depth of field gave me some beautiful details and amazing rolling shots. I can’t lie, shooting with the bright sunshine bursting in and out between the trees was quite challenging, but wow, was it worth it. This section of the drive produced the biggest batch of images, capturing all the awesome action shots of the cars. A few stops along the way gave me the chance to grab some lovely detail shots of each Miata.
Oria Coffee: The Perfect Final Stop
We made our way out of the park and back to the hotel to collect our belongings, check out and of course, grab a few more car detail shots. Then we headed to one of the nicest coffee shops I’ve ever visited: Oria Coffee. It’s idyllic. The backdrop is, you guessed it, mountainous jungle. The interior has a surprisingly British, cottage-style vibe, and even the back garden has designated photo spots (which I didn’t manage to capture, but trust me, they’re beautiful).
And the coffee? As always in Thailand, excellent. The Banoffee pie was equally delicious.
I grabbed a ton of shots at the café since most of the group had to leave after this stop, making it my final chance to photograph all the cars. We even had a bonus arrival: a gorgeous NB Miata with stunning bodywork modifications, giving it a real classic-car character. It belonged to the owner of Oria, who turned out to be an awesome guy.
One Last Blast Through the Mountains
Finally, it was time to head home, just Chip and me in his NC. And of course, it would’ve been rude not to take the scenic route back and blast through those incredible national park roads once more. So that’s exactly what we did. There may or may not have been a few more photo stops along the way… I simply can’t help myself.
Wrapping Up an Unforgettable Road Trip
And that brings us to the end of this blog and the end of an unforgettable road trip. I can honestly say I loved every minute of it. Sitting in the boot of these little cars, twisting our way through the jungle with my camera in hand, was everything I love about car photography and car culture.
As I said at the start: great cars, great places, and great people. Car culture at its finest and Thailand delivers perfection yet again. Thank you, Thailand, and thank you to everyone who made this trip so awesome.
Click this link for the full gallery and to download your images!
