Inside all-inclusive holiday hotspot with beachside restaurants and pool bars

THE smell of lemon grass and spice laces through the trees of our jungle-like lunch setting.

The sun’s heat only magnifies this delicious aroma, while our teacher Kwan continues to bash garlic into her mortar with her worn, stone pestle.

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We watch as she grabs a bunch of leaves sprouting up from the earth, in the garden of Nai Mueang restaurant and tears a few, gesturing for us to eat them.

This is the brilliant thing about Kwan’s cooking school, tucked away in a local village in southern Thailand — everything that goes into the traditional Thai dishes served here is grown right on site and you’ll get to try them all fresh before you cook them.

Within two hours, my friend Rowan and I had whipped up a spicy panaeng curry and a noodle prawn starter that looked far fancier than anything I’d eaten in a Thai restaurant back home.

All these delicacies somehow tasted even better knowing that an ice-cold cocktail and a shaded sunbed awaited us back at our resort, Avani+ Khao Lak.

All-inclusive resorts like ours are one of the big selling points of Thailand.

With white sand beaches, swaying palm trees and everything you need at the click of a finger, staying here feels as if you’ve stepped straight on to a movie set, even more so, now that TV hit The White Lotus is heading to Thailand for its third series.

A cooking class is just one of many excursions on offer from Avani+ Khao Lak.

But for those who want to holiday in pure luxury this is the place to be.

There’s a laid-back outdoor bar with multi-coloured bean bags backing on to a beach littered with hammocks from which you can sip on wine while watching the waves crash on to the shore.

Further along the sand, our room (technically villa) is equally fancy, with a private pool, indoor and outdoor dining area, lounge and two modern and stylish bedrooms fitted with all the mod cons.

There are no cooking facilities though, as you have a hefty choice of restaurants including a breakfast and lunch buffet, a coffee house, a poolside Italian bar and a beachside restaurant that serves a Western/Thai fusion with dishes such as spaghetti tom yum.

And just like the fictional employees in The White Lotus, staff here go above and beyond, with golf buggies to escort you anywhere within the resort at your beck and call.

Of course when you venture to this exotic area of the world, some exploring is a must.

At the nearby Wang Kiang Ku river, you can book in for a bamboo rafting experience (£12 for two people) that will get you up close with nature.

Each raft, cleverly crafted by locals, will transport you through winding waters where wildlife flourishes — we spotted snakes hiding in trees and a baby turtle perched on a rock.

There’s plenty more wildlife to see too, but make sure you do your research as there are still lots of unethical companies offering pictures with baby apes and elephant rides.

If you want to do your bit to help, while also getting up close to some wild animals, Phuket’s only remaining rainforest, in Khao Phra Thaeo national park, is home to The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (gibbonproject.org), a charity founded in 1992 that rescues gibbons that have been snatched from their homes by poachers.

Most of the workers are volunteers and entry fees go straight back into further rescue missions.

Sunrise yoga

You’ll get to observe the apes in their natural habitat, swinging from ropes.

We smiled as the white-handed female Tam, who only has two fingers on her left hand and one leg, happily gobbled up her mango, just as fascinated by our presence as we were by hers.

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When you’re done, take the short rainforest walk from here to Bang Pae waterfall or hire a driver to take you on a tour of the top spots of the island.

Popular attractions such as Wat Chalong temple and Big Buddha are further south (you’ll need to wear modest clothes), or pay a visit to the Old Town, crammed with traditional cafes selling bargain dumplings and boutique shops packed with hand-made garments and handbags.

If you want to be in the thick of the action, but still close to beaches and pools for down time, then sister resort Avani+ Mai Khao is in a prime spot, a short drive from the Old Town and a ten-minute walk from the sea.

Early risers can pop down to the beach for sunrise yoga, while kids can spend the entire day by the pool with a swim-up bar and a giant inflatable cinema.

Quality restaurants are in abundance here.

Try the Phuket lobster, available on most menus but done best at Sea.Fire.Salt which serves the fish still sizzling on a piping hot brick with a sweet and spicy Thai sauce and garlic butter.

If you fancy trying a bit of everything, then Claws & Co, within the resort, does seafood buckets (literally) of sweet lobster, juicy prawns, sticky calamari, flaky sea bass and crab smothered in sauces and delivered to your table with a shell-smashing hammer, aprons and disposable gloves — trust me, you’ll need them.

Around meal times, there are so many on-site activities to sink your claws into.

Just make sure you leave enough time between lunch and tackling the resort’s climbing wall or, better still, channel your inner Jennifer Coolidge and order another poolside rosé instead.

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