Sue Perkins: Lost in Thailand S01E03 - Episode 3

In the final episode Sue visits the country's heady and exotic capital, Bangkok.

Her journey starts with a bang. At home, she enjoys an occasional bout at the boxing gym but that's no preparation for being thrown into the ring with a highly flexible Muay Thai champion fighter. Jade Sirisompan is as impressive in the ring as she is outside of it, explaining how she led the way for Thai women in a male-dominated sport.

In the lush Phetchaburi province Sue visits a charity refuge where she's shocked to hear of the scale of tiger exploitation in Thailand, with over 2000 tigers held in captivity, compared to less than 200 left in the wild. She prepares a meaty feast for one of the fortunate tigers who has been rescued from a zoo where her days were spent chained to a small concrete pad.

Back in Bangkok, Sue moves onto more positive matters at an electric tuktuk company addressing Bangkok's sky-high air pollution, which kills nearly 30,000 people every year – more than road accidents, drug use and murder combined. Amid a tropical storm, Sue is let loose at the wheel of one of these £9000 vehicles, and it doesn't take long for her to realise that the acceleration is very efficient!

In the seaside town of Bang Saen Sue cheerfully follows a sign that says ‘Welcome to Hell'. Hidden behind a Buddhist Temple is a ‘Hell Garden' which - with the visual aid of some very graphic statues - outlines the potential consequences of sin.

Next Sue meets an ethical coconut farmer who encourages her have a go at harvesting the aromatic coconuts with secateurs 20 feet above her head. Why ethical? Because most coconut farms use chained monkeys to harvest the crop, whereas here there is not a monkey in sight. Back in town, Sue helps prepare a little taco that packs a big punch with one of Thailand's most impressive – and youngest – Michelin-starred chefs.

Sue rounds off her journey in a suitably rambunctious style by jamming with a group of musicians who are taking traditional Molam music (northern folk, Thai style) to the next level with some truly banging disco tracks. It's the perfect way to end an utterly magical and revealing voyage through Thailand.