Thailand: Earth's Tropical Paradise

In the heart of south-east Asia is an ancient kingdom...

..with over 3,000km of coastline.

But beyond its golden shores,

there are secret worlds.

Home to mysterious creatures...

..and forest giants...

This is a fast-changing country

where East and West collide.

People and animals must work together to survive...

..forming unique relationships.

A spiritual land,

full of magic and wonder.

This is Thailand.

South-west Thailand.

A wild paradise of limestone castes,

golden beaches and dense forests.

Along this rugged coast are some close-knit families.

A troupe of 30 long-tailed macaques has made this their home.

This youngster has relied on his mother for the last six months.

But he's now at an age where he needs a more varied diet.

Trouble is, this is one of Thailand's most extreme locations...

..a vertical rock face, 50 metres high.

Up here, good food is scarce.

Bark and leaves provide little energy.

Macaques are the most resourceful and wide-ranging monkeys on earth

and have learned to take advantage of every opportunity.

But this one involved a precarious commute.

It's especially risky for a mother carrying an infant.

For a young macaque still learning the ropes,

having a tail longer than your body gives you the edge.

It can both grip and act as a counterbalance.

This daily descent is well worth the effort.

Across Thailand, there are thousands of Buddhist temples

and families like this get a surprisingly warm welcome.

MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Thai Buddhists have a unique relationship with nature.

To feed animals is to have mercy for them.

This is all part of being a Buddhist.

For them, every living thing contributes something to the world

and deserves respect.

Generous acts of compassion make the world a better place

and strengthen the equilibrium of our planet.

This compassionate relationship is the perfect example

of the spiritual connection so special in southern Thailand

where humans are not set apart from nature, but live within it.

There are other welcome benefits for the macaques who visit this temple.

A chance to cool off and have some fun in the heat of the day.

Southern Thailand is a natural paradise

for people and animals alike.

Hidden coves and scattered islands

give it a total of 3,000km of coastline.

Its western shores have been carved and shaped by the Andaman Sea.

Here, astonishing limestone castes have been created -

towering stacks of ancient shell and coral.

This one stands 50 metres tall.

Once part of the seabed,

it was thrust up by extreme geological forces.

The power of the sea and seasonal rains

continue to sculpt this dramatic landscape.

Every year, millions of people are drawn here.

Most come to relax.

Others are here for an adrenaline rush.

Ao Nang Tower stands nearly 100 metres high.

The ultimate challenge for thrill seekers.

People come from all over the world to climb these extraordinary cliffs.

But the locals have been scaling them for centuries.

And it's not thrills they seek.

It's natural treasure.

These men have their sights set on

a cave hundreds of metres up a vertical cliff face.

Inside, there's a hidden prize,

but reaching it is fraught with danger.

There's no hi-tech climbing gear here.

Just old ropes and local knowledge.

They must also navigate a treacherous interior...

..a ten-metre drop into total darkness.

This is what they're after.

This one is good.

Tiny, almost translucent birds nests.

They may not look much, but in Asia,

they're a highly sought-after delicacy.

Eating birds nest soup is thought to boost the immune system,

improve skin complexion and fight ageing.

It's no wonder one kilogram of nests is worth over 2,000.

Wild nest collecting has been going on for over 500 years.

Recently, the safety and sustainability

has been brought into question.

But an unexpected answer was found.

BIRDSONG PLAYS FROM LOUDSPEAKERS

Thousands of loudspeakers in the town of Pak Phanang

play birdsong at full blast.

Tweeting 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What was once a traditional fishing town is now at the heart

of a brand-new industry -

bird nest farming.

Windows have been sealed up.

The darker inside, the better.

All to accommodate a very particular resident.

The edible nest swiftlet.

During the breeding season, the salivary glands of the swifts expand

and produce extra thick saliva.

Layer upon layer over 40 days,

the birds craft it into a cup-like nest.

These new nesting sites are helping this bird

make a good recovery after years of decline.

Each day, as the swiftlets are out feeding,

farmers like Mr Mu check the nests.

He waits until pairs have bred successfully

and the chicks have fledged

before collecting their precious nests.

The people of Pak Phanang have a risk-free,

sustainable way to harvest the nests

and the swiftlets have a new network of nesting sites.

Across southern Thailand,

people and animals are finding new ways to live together

and that sometimes requires a bit of ingenuity.

Over 50km off the mainland

lie two of the remotest groups of Thai islands,

Similan and Surin.

With crystal clear waters

and golden beaches...

..this place might look like paradise,

but dragons roam these shores.

A giant monitor lizard,

two metres long...

..looking for food.

It tastes and smells the air with its 30-centimetre tongue,

sensing even the slightest hint of a meal.

Hermit crabs protect themselves by hiding their soft bodies

in the abandoned shells of other creatures.

They live up to 30 years, so as they grow,

they need to upsize their homes.

But there's something of a housing crisis on this island.

These idyllic hideaways are a magnet for tourists,

who find it hard to resist taking the occasional souvenir.

Every time a shell is removed, a crab loses a potential new home.

So these canny crabs have found another source of housing.

Each evening, the rangers clear the beaches, piling up the litter.

And now the crabs do something extraordinary.

This hermit has found herself a more modern home...

...in a mackerel tin.

With so few shells around, it's an ingenious solution.

And she's not alone.

This is a fast-growing trend.

An aluminium fizzy drink can makes a lightweight home

that's worth fighting for.

Life in the mackerel tin isn't ideal...

..and the local rangers know it.

So they leave seashells near the rubbish piles

to help the homeless crustaceans.

The crab normally winds its body into the spiral of a shell.

It's far harder to grip a straight and slippery can.

There are plenty of options.

It's all about finding a snug fit.

Well, she can be picky if she wants.

Moving house is an important decision.

At last, the perfect home.

It might look like paradise,

but living along this coastline requires great resourcefulness.

In southern Thailand, long-tailed macaques are sometimes known as

"Ling Thalay" - sea monkeys.

And it's not hard to see why.

But this isn't just about having a good time.

Like their temple-visiting cousins, they've got a clever plan.

They've adapted their lives to the rhythm of the sea.

And twice a day, low tide reveals a feast -

nutritious shellfish.

Trouble is, shells are tough to crack.

But ever resourceful, these macaques have found a smart solution.

They've worked out that rocks make perfect shellfish hammers.

Although clearly some macaques are a little smarter than others.

Either way, low tide provides a seafood bounty.

Stone tool use is a rare skill among monkeys.

But these macaques can only benefit from it by being completely in tune

with the cycles of nature...

..something many of Thailand's human residents aspire to.

The south of the country is rich in Buddhist temples and shrines.

MONKS CHANT

Sacred places where monks seek to understand themselves and the world

in which they live.

Buddhist principles place human life in the context of a series of cycles

like those in the natural world.

For more than 2,000 years,

the full moon has been celebrated as an embodiment of this idea.

This celebration of the full moon is embraced by visitors to Thailand,

but their version is rather more exuberant.

LOUD MUSIC BLARES

Koh Phangan's famous beach party is a rite of passage for backpackers

passing through southern Thailand.

Partygoers are bathed in ultraviolet light

and their fluorescent body paint glows.

But hidden from view, just below the water's surface,

there's an equally vibrant display.

By shining the same ultraviolet light underwater,

an unexpected wonder is revealed.

These tropical waters are home to an abundance of coral reefs.

A protein within them absorbs the ultraviolet light,

emitting back a whole new spectrum.

These corals are all fluorescing.

First discovered in the 1930s,