The holy grail of Southeast Asia – Thailand is one of the most visited countries in the region, and a typical holiday destination for every type of traveller. I’m so glad we visited Thailand during our time in this region, and whilst it had some incredibly beautiful places, it wasn’t our favourite destination by a distance. Maybe we spoiled ourselves by visiting Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos before entering Thailand! It is also definitely the most tourist-y of all these countries, which may not have been helped by us visiting during the Christmas period.
We spent a total of 24 days here, and spending an average of £43.66 a day:
£383 for activities
£211 on transport
£188 on accommodation
£170 on food
And £96 on miscellaneous goodies (laundry, coffee, shopping etc)
Days 1 to 4: Chiang Mai
The north, and Chiang Mai in particular, was one of our favourites. For one of the days, we hired bicycles (200 baht each) and cycled around the key highlights and temples of Chiang Mai. You can find the main spots on this map.
Beyond this, we went to our first muay thai show, tickets cost about £14 which is much cheaper than in South Thailand. We really loved this, although it got a little bit squeamish at points. 😅
We checked out some of the popular organised tours as well, including a day trip to Chiang Rai to visit the iconic blue, white and red temples which were all incredible (and would highly recommend visiting them!) as well as with Doi Inthanon National Park which boasts the highest point of Thailand alongside some beautiful views. These tours were around £28 and £45, respectively.
For staying in Chiang Mai, I would highly recommend the Inncome hostel. The rooms and bathrooms were good quality, clean and quiet. There is also a gym (conventional and muay Thai) connected to the hostel, so if you are looking to get fit or just have a go at muay Thai whilst in Thailand – this is the spot for you!
Days 4 to 6: Pai
Pai was the cutest town! You don’t really need longer here unless you really want to slow down and relax in a quiet town. The market in the evening is so peaceful, and there are tons of great nature and waterfalls to see around.
Our main activities for Pai were a tour around the main sights, which cost about £10 and included transport to waterfalls, viewpoints and other stunning highlights. Aside from this, we explored the night markets and did a muay thai class for ~£4 which was so enjoyable, and I’d highly recommend it! They split us off into groups based on ability as well as some work 1-1, which was ideal as I was a bit nervous even with experience in boxing.
You also need to take a visit to Pai Canyon for the ultimate sunset view, but just be sure to wear proper shoes and things you don’t mind getting dirty as it’s quite dusty and has some awkward bits to walk through.
Days 6 to 7: Chiang Mai
Just a quick pit stop before heading to Bangkok as there are no direct buses! We got in an extra gym session at Inncome Hostel but feel free to use this time however you want. ☺️
Days 7 to 9: Bangkok
Enter: everyone’s favourite city in Asia! Personally it wasn’t my favourite but maybe I just wasn’t in the right area. 😅
We spent our time exploring the Grand Palace (~£12) which was beautiful but quite crowded, and unfortunately we visited during the mourning period for the late Queen Mother which meant a portion of it wasn’t accessible. It is definitely worth a visit though! It’s also worth checking out the temples surrounding the palace if you still have the energy! 😂
Beyond that, you can explore Khao San road at night for some tasty treats – scorpion, tarantula, other bugs…, or if you appreciate good food and want to learn how to make Thai food then you can get involved in a cooking class. We learnt amazing recipes like pad thai, coconut chicken soup and mango sticky rice!
Days 9 to 12: Khao Sok NP
Staying at Khao Sok Inn, the hostel has a great selection of tours you can pick when you arrive where we selected a day trip to Cheow Lan lake. We took a boat across the water, before visiting our lunch spot where we can swim and kayak around, before a waterfall hike. There is the option to do this as a 2 day activity with a stay on the lake, but from what we’ve heard – this isn’t worth it, you don’t see anything extra than what you would on a day trip.
Days 12 to 15: Koh Samui
If you’ve looked into travelling Asia, then you’ve definitely seen something about Koh Samui – either it’s pig island neighbour, or the cool mummified buddha. 😎
Our first serious experience of how touristic South Thailand is, Koh Samui was something. As people that don’t drink, it was a difficult island to get on board with as well as finding a decent place to stay. We chose Chill Inn, which wasn’t too bad but it has similar typical hostel activities of bar crawls and happy hours. However, they do offer some other good tours to see the islands.
It’s easy enough to book various tours to see the highlights of the island, which I mentioned earlier, as well as some very ‘instagram’ places. One thing I will warn you against, however, is the fisherman’s market. We visited, after spending an extortionate amount of taxis to get there, and after hearing such great things we were disappointed. It was overly busy, food was expensive (I’m talking prices I’d expect from a restaurant), and it was impossible to find a table that didn’t require us to buy a trick – with a typical menu of alcoholic drinks. It’s only worth it if you are staying nearby so you can walk there, and are happy to take your food back to your accommodation.
If you aren’t interested in Koh Samui, I’d swap this for the quieter Koh Phangan.
Days 15 to 20: Koh Tao
We have arrived to the holy grail of scuba diving in Asia…or so people tell us. We were meant to get qualified during this time, but over the first 4 days we got food poisoning on two(!!) separate occasions. This meant we only had an opportunity to do a boat tour on our last day to snorkel at 5 spots around the island, which were beautiful but not quite scuba!
If you aren’t interested in scuba, I would shorten this to a minimum of 2 nights. Regardless of how long you stay, I would recommend the White Jail hostel. In an ideal location, with clean and comfortable dorms and bathrooms, a little cafe attached and free snorkelling masks available. What more could you need!
Days 20 to 24: Krabi
Our final stop, and we got the joy of spending Christmas here on our trip! This was very cosy, it was amazing to so easily see beautiful sunsets over the beach each night and we got to enjoy a good swim at Railay beach to celebrate Santa Clause 🎅 which is only slightly different to Christmas in the UK. 🥶
We also did an island hopping tour in the area, but you can also do this to each individual island if you want – chicken island amongst others nearby! We found this ok, definitely over-touristy especially as it was just filled with people getting their perfect Instagram pictures, but nonetheless it was still beautiful.
Beyond the islands, it is worth checking out Tiger Cave Temple which gives you panoramic views over the area which is stunning, just be prepared for the 1262 steps and the odd monkeys… 🐒
We stayed at Sleeper Hostel, which was a good hostel – just watch out for the sign to keep clear of monkeys that might be at the bathroom sinks!! 😅 A benefit of this hostel was they had a huge amount of information on tours and transport options, so if you want to know more about what’s on offer, you have plenty of information here.
The Round Up:
We ended up giving Thailand an overall score of 7 out of 10. It is incredibly beautiful, with a variety of sights to see from the mountains in the North to the islands in the South. I’m so glad we went, and I have definitely scratched the Thailand itch. However, if you are after somewhere less touristy and cheaper, but still easy to navigate, I’d highly recommend Vietnam which has all of the above just in the North of the country.
If you agree or disagree with my (potentially) hot take on Thailand, I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments!
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