Things to Do in Thailand

Thailand has islands on two coasts with opposite weather, and picking the right side is the single biggest planning decision. The Andaman side, meaning Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi and Koh Lanta, is at its best from November to April. The Gulf side, meaning Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, stays usable through the Andaman monsoon and peaks between December and August. Group day tours run by speedboat; chartering a longtail boat for the day costs more but lets you skip the crowded stops.

The Grand Palace was the royal residence from 1782 and is still the ceremonial centre of the Thai monarchy. Inside the walls stands Wat Phra Kaew, which holds the Emerald Buddha, a jade figure well under a metre tall whose robes the king changes three times a year with the seasons. The dress code is enforced at the gate: covered shoulders and knees, no sheer fabric, for everyone. Arrive at opening, around 8.30 am, ahead of the coach groups and the heat, and allow two hours.

Street food is the cheapest good eating in Thailand and it changes by region: pad krapao and boat noodles in Bangkok, khao soi in Chiang Mai, southern curries and roti in Phuket, som tam and grilled chicken in the northeast. Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, becomes an open-air food street after dark and is the single best crawl in the country. Pick stalls with a queue and fast turnover, and eat where the pots are being refilled rather than sitting.

Koh Tao is one of the cheapest places in the world to get PADI Open Water certified, and the three to four day course is the main reason travellers stop on the 21 sq km island at all. Water is warmest and clearest there from March to May. On the other coast, Similan Islands liveaboards run from mid-October to mid-May for the best Andaman reefs, manta rays and the occasional whale shark, while Koh Lanta, Koh Phangan, Pattaya and Phuket all have day-boat dive centres for certified divers and discover-scuba sessions for beginners.

Almost every Thai town has a night market, and they are where locals eat rather than a tourist add-on. Chiang Mai's Sunday Walking Street closes a kilometre of the old town to traffic; Bangkok's Rod Fai Train Market runs late and leans vintage; Chiang Rai and Pai have compact, food-focused versions you can cover in an hour. Most open around 5 or 6 pm and wind down by midnight. Carry small notes, because few stalls take cards.

Wat Pho holds a 46-metre gold-leafed reclining Buddha with mother-of-pearl inlay on the soles of its feet, and it is a five-minute walk from the Grand Palace, so the two are done in one morning. It is also the birthplace of Thai massage and still runs the national training school, with hour-long massages given in the temple grounds at a fraction of spa prices. Entry is cheap and includes a bottle of water. Take the cross-river ferry afterwards for Wat Arun.

Thai massage is done clothed on a floor mat with no oil. The therapist uses palms, thumbs, elbows, knees and feet to press along energy lines and to move you through assisted yoga stretches, and yes, they may walk on your back. An hour is the standard unit, and a shop-front massage in Bangkok or Chiang Mai costs a fraction of hotel spa rates. Wat Pho in Bangkok runs the country's oldest training school and gives massages on site. Say something if the pressure is too much; it is meant to be firm, not painful.

Muay Thai is Thailand's national sport, fought over five rounds with fists, elbows, knees and shins. Bangkok's Rajadamnern and Lumpinee stadiums run cards several nights a week and are the two that matter; ringside tickets cost several times the upper tier, but the upper tier is where the Thai crowd and the live betting are. Phuket, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui have smaller stadiums with cheaper seats, and gyms nationwide take complete beginners for training courses by the day or the week.

Doi Suthep is the temple on the mountain above Chiang Mai and the one sight in the north that nobody skips. A 306-step staircase flanked by naga serpents, or a funicular if you would rather not, leads to a courtyard built around a gilded chedi with the whole city laid out below. It was founded in 1383 and sits 15 km from the old town, about 40 minutes by red songthaew. Go early, before haze and coaches build, and cover shoulders and knees.

Damnoen Saduak, 100 km southwest of Bangkok, is the biggest and the most photographed, and also the most staged; arrive before 9 am or the boats around you are all tourists. Amphawa, closer to the city, runs Friday to Sunday afternoons, is where Bangkok residents actually go, and serves seafood grilled on the boats followed by firefly trips after dark. Taling Chan is the small in-city option if you only have half a morning. All three are half-day trips, and a hired car or a joined tour is easier than public transport.

Held on Haad Rin beach on Koh Phangan on or near every full moon, this all-night beach party draws a few thousand people in low season and well over 20,000 around December and January. Expect buckets of cheap spirits, fire skipping ropes and competing sound systems until sunrise. Ferries from Koh Samui take about half an hour, rooms on the island sell out weeks ahead of each date, and prices roughly double for the night, so lock in accommodation before you fly.

Chatuchak, or JJ Market, covers about 35 acres beside Mo Chit BTS and Chatuchak Park MRT, with more than 15,000 stalls in 27 numbered sections running from clothing and handicrafts to furniture, plants, art and antiques. Sections are crossed by 65 narrow sois, and getting lost is part of it. It runs Saturday and Sunday, roughly 9 am to 6 pm. Go early, because the lanes are airless by noon, and haggle, because the asking price assumes you will.

Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh is the cove from Danny Boyle's film The Beach. It was closed to visitors in 2018 to let the trampled reef recover and reopened in 2022 under strict rules: boats moor at the back of the island and walk you in, swimming in the bay is banned, and both visitor numbers and time on the sand are capped. It closes again every year from August to September. Take the first boat of the day from Phi Phi Don or Krabi.

Known For : Ayutthaya Historical Park Wat Mahathat Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam from 1350 until the Burmese sacked it in 1767, and what is left is a UNESCO World Heritage Site 80 km north of Bangkok. The set pieces are Wat Mahathat, where a sandstone Buddha head sits wrapped in banyan roots, the three chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, and Wat Chaiwatthanaram on the river bank at sunset. Trains from Krung Thep Aphiwat take about 90 minutes and cost very little. Hire a bicycle; the park is flat but spread out.

Best Time: November to February

57 Ayutthaya Attractions

A half-day Thai cooking class usually opens at a local market, where the teacher walks you through galangal, kaffir lime, holy basil and the three curry pastes, then moves to a kitchen where you cook three or four dishes at your own station and eat them. Chiang Mai is the cheapest and most competitive place to do it and adds northern dishes such as khao soi; Bangkok and Phuket classes lean central and southern. Morning and evening sittings run daily, vegetarian and vegan versions are standard, and most schools send you home with the recipes.

Phang Nga Bay is a shallow bay holding more than 40 limestone islands between Phuket and the mainland, protected as a 400 sq km national park. Sea kayaking is the reason to go: guides paddle you through low sea caves at the right state of the tide into hongs, collapsed lagoons hidden inside the islands that motorboats cannot enter. Most trips run as a full day from Phuket or Krabi and include James Bond Island. Water is calmest from November to April.

Thailand snorkels well on both coasts. The Similan and Surin islands off Khao Lak have the clearest water and the largest reefs and are open roughly mid-October to mid-May; Coral Island and Racha off Phuket are the easy day-trip versions. On the Gulf side, the shallow bay at Koh Nang Yuan beside Koh Tao is calm enough for children. Green turtles are common, leopard sharks and whale sharks are the lucky sightings. Boats supply masks and fins, but reef-safe sunscreen is worth bringing from home.

Bangkok's rooftop bars are the cheapest way to use a skyline that genuinely competes with any in Asia. Sky Bar at Lebua, on the 63rd floor, is the one from The Hangover Part II; Vertigo at the Banyan Tree and Octave in Thonglor are the other regulars. Entry is normally free but drinks are priced for the view, and most enforce a dress code, so no shorts, vests or flip-flops. Sunset slots fill first, and an afternoon storm will close the terrace with no refund on your taxi.

Railay in Krabi is why climbers come to Thailand: a peninsula cut off by cliffs and reachable only by longtail boat, with several hundred bolted routes on limestone rising straight out of the sand. Half-day beginner courses including harness, shoes and a guide run daily from the beach and need no experience. Neighbouring Ton Sai is the cheaper, scruffier version with harder routes. Up north, Crazy Horse Buttress outside Chiang Mai is the other main area. The climbing season is the dry season, November to April.

The steel bridge at Kanchanaburi carried the Burma Railway, built by the Japanese army in 1942 and 1943 using Allied prisoners of war and conscripted Asian labourers, of whom more than 100,000 died. You can walk the span, and trains still run the surviving line across the Wampo viaduct to Nam Tok. The Thailand-Burma Railway Centre and the war cemetery opposite it are where the history is actually told. Kanchanaburi is about 130 km west of Bangkok and works best as two days combined with the seven tiers of Erawan Falls.

The Chao Phraya runs 372 km through central Thailand and carries around 50,000 commuters a day through Bangkok. The cheapest way onto it is the orange-flag express boat, which costs a few baht and stops within walking distance of Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. Dinner cruises with a buffet and live music are the other option and cost many times more. Either way, go at sunset, when the temples along the bank are lit and the heat has gone.

The tuk-tuk is Thailand's three-wheeled auto rickshaw, and a short hop across Bangkok or Chiang Mai is worth doing once for the noise and the photographs. Fares are not metered, so agree the price before you get in; for anything over a couple of kilometres a metered taxi or a ride-hailing app is usually cheaper. Turn down any driver who offers a suspiciously cheap all-day city tour, because those almost always end at gem shops and tailors that pay him commission.

Songkran is the Thai new year, fixed to 13 to 15 April, and it has turned into the largest water fight on earth. Chiang Mai's moat is the epicentre and Bangkok's Khao San Road and Silom the loudest streets; for three days water is thrown by everyone at everyone, including from the back of pickup trucks. Waterproof your phone, passport and cash. It is also the hottest week of the Thai year, and flights, trains and hotels are booked out months in advance.

Loi Krathong falls on the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month, almost always in November, when people float small banana-leaf rafts carrying a candle, incense and a coin to send off the past year's bad luck. In Chiang Mai it coincides with Yi Peng, the Lanna festival at which thousands of paper lanterns are released into the sky, and that is the version everyone has seen photographed. The date shifts each year and is confirmed a few weeks ahead; Chiang Mai hotels sell out for it.

Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, is a privately owned art project 13 km south of Chiang Rai, begun in 1997 by the artist Chalermchai Kositpipat and still unfinished. The all-white plaster and mirrored glass read as a conventional temple until you cross the bridge over a field of outstretched hands, and the murals inside the ubosot mix Buddhist teaching with Superman, Neo and burning towers. Allow an hour. It sits on a half-day loop with the Blue Temple and the Black House.

Khao Sok in Surat Thani province protects one of the oldest evergreen rainforests on earth, older than the Amazon, under limestone karsts that rise straight out of the jungle. The reason to stay rather than day-trip is Cheow Lan Lake, where you sleep in floating raft houses reached by longtail boat and wake to gibbons calling across the water. Hornbills, macaques and the Rafflesia flower are the wildlife draws. This is the wettest corner of Thailand, so December to April is the practical window.

Best Time: June to September

Thailand has thousands of elephants working in tourism, and most are trained for riding or staged shows. Observation-led sanctuaries are the alternative. Elephant Nature Park, about 60 km north of Chiang Mai, keeps rescued elephants in a herd and has phased out bathing with visitors. Book weeks ahead.

The 45-metre Big Buddha sits on Nakkerd Hill above Chalong Bay, 6 km up a switchback road from the Kata and Karon beach strip. From the terrace you can see most of southern Phuket, Chalong Bay on one side and Kata on the other. Entry is free and donations fund the construction, which is still unfinished. Shoulders and knees must be covered and sarongs are lent at the gate. Late afternoon gives the best light and the least heat.

Thai cabaret is a lip-synced revue performed by transgender and ladyboy artists, built on sequinned costumes, big band numbers and broad comedy. Tiffany's Show in Pattaya, running since 1974, and Simon Cabaret in Phuket are the two large-scale productions; Calypso is the Bangkok version. Shows run roughly 70 to 90 minutes, are tame enough for families, and the cast line up outside afterwards for photographs, for which a tip is expected.

Maeklong Railway Market is built directly on a live railway track about 70 km southwest of Bangkok. Eight times a day a train rolls through at walking pace, and in the seconds before it arrives the vendors fold back their awnings and slide their produce trays clear of the rails, then push everything out again the moment it has passed. Check the timetable before you travel, and pair it with the Damnoen Saduak floating market on the same half-day trip.

Coral Island, also known as Ko Hey, is a small island in Rawai southeast of the mainland of Phuket. Blessed by coral reefs and blue waters, the island has vibrant tropical fishes, making it perfect for snorkeling and diving. The island has two white sand beaches, a long beach, and a banana beach, and it is open all year long. It is a 15-minute speedboat ride from Chalong Pier.

Doi Inthanon is Thailand's highest mountain at 2,565 m, about 90 km southwest of Chiang Mai. The summit itself is a forested car park, so the walking is the point: the Ang Ka boardwalk through dripping cloud forest, the Kew Mae Pan ridge trail, and the Mae Klang and Wachirathan waterfalls lower down. More than 350 bird species have been recorded here, which makes it Thailand's best birding site. It is genuinely cold at the top in December and January, which is exactly why Thai visitors come.

Doi Pui Hmong Village sits high on the mountain above Chiang Mai, about 4 km beyond Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, so most people combine the two on a half-day trip. There is a small hill-tribe museum, a terraced flower garden, and stalls selling woven textiles and silver. It is an easy, touristy stop rather than a remote one, which is what makes it work as a short add-on to the Doi Suthep run.

Sak Yant are Thai talismanic tattoos, hand-tapped with a long steel needle rod by a monk or a lay master rather than a machine, and blessed on completion. The design is traditionally chosen for you rather than by you, and each yant carries rules the wearer is expected to keep. Wat Bang Phra outside Bangkok is the best known temple for it and Chiang Mai has established studios. Cover shoulders and knees, bring the customary offering, and expect no anaesthetic and a week of healing.

Known For : Trekking/Hiking Wildlife Wineries

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Khao Yai National Park is Thailand's oldest and most visited national park.  It covers more than 2,100 square kilometers and boasts a lush green landscape, rugged mountains with thick forests, marvelous waterfalls, and exotic species of birds and animals. Being the third largest park in the country, Khao Yai National Park is spread across four territories, including Nakhon Nayok, Saraburi, Prachinburi, and Nakhon Ratchasima. There are over 300 species of birds, as well as bears, deer, elephants, gibbons, and macaques.

Best Time: November to April

6 Khao Yai Attractions

What is actually worth carrying home: Thai silk from Jim Thompson in Bangkok or Wualai Road in Chiang Mai, celadon pottery and lacquerware, soap carvings, curry pastes and dried spice kits, and Thai spa products. Chatuchak in Bangkok and the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar carry the widest range, and airport shops charge multiples of the market price for the same goods. Ivory, tiger parts and other wildlife products are illegal to export from Thailand and illegal to bring into India.

Most visitors see Phi Phi on a day trip from Phuket or Krabi and are back on the boat by mid-afternoon. Staying a night on Koh Phi Phi Don buys you the viewpoint at sunrise and the beaches before the tour fleet arrives. Accommodation splits by mood: Tonsai village for bars, cheap rooms and noise until 2 am, Laem Tong and Long Beach for quiet resorts reached by longtail. There are no cars on the island, so pack light, and ferries from Phuket take about two hours.

Thailand's caves split into three kinds. Tham Lod near Pai and Tham Nam Talu in Khao Sok are walked or rafted with a lamp-carrying guide. Tham Khao Luang in Phetchaburi and Wat Tham Suea in Kanchanaburi hold Buddha images lit by shafts of daylight through the roof. Tham Luang in Chiang Rai, where the football team was rescued in 2018, is now a memorial park. The sea caves of Phang Nga Bay are a fourth kind again, reached only by kayak at the right state of the tide.

The Mae Taeng River north of Chiang Mai is Thailand's main rafting run, roughly 10 km of Class III and IV water with operators running trips from June to February when the river is high enough. Kaeng Hin Phoeng, on the Nakhon Nayok side of Khao Yai National Park, is the other well-known set of rapids and is close enough to Bangkok for a weekend. Trips include guide, helmet and buoyancy aid, and no experience is needed, though you should be a confident swimmer.

The Golden Triangle is the point on the Mekong where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, about an hour north of Chiang Rai at Sop Ruak. The name comes from the opium trade, and the Hall of Opium museum is the substantive stop; the viewpoint itself takes ten minutes. Longtail boats run short trips out onto the river. Almost everyone does it as a day trip from Chiang Rai combined with the White Temple or the border market at Mae Sai.

Best Time: November to February

Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World occupies the basement of the Siam Paragon mall and covers around 10,000 sq m, which makes it one of the largest aquariums in Southeast Asia. There are sharks, rays, penguins, otters and a walk-through glass tunnel, with glass-bottom boat rides and a 4D cinema sold as add-ons. It is the obvious rainy-afternoon option in central Bangkok, works well with children, and takes about two hours. Book online, since the gate price is higher.

Durian is banned from Bangkok's BTS trains, most hotel rooms and many taxis because of the smell, which is most of the reason to try it. Under the spiky shell the flesh is soft and custard-like, closer to sweet onion and almond than to any other fruit. Monthong is the mild variety to start with; Chanee and Kan Yao are stronger and cost more. Peak season is May to August, and street vendors sell it pre-cut by the box so you do not have to fight the shell.

Kitesurfing runs on a season the rest of Thailand does not. Hua Hin and Pranburi on the Gulf, about three hours from Bangkok, get steady cross-shore wind from November to April, with a second southwest season roughly May to September, so the sport is rideable most of the year. Hua Hin has the largest cluster of IKO-certified schools and a beginner course takes about three days to get you riding. Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, Chumphon and Koh Chang have smaller setups.

Thailand is not a serious surf destination, but the Andaman coast picks up rideable swell during the southwest monsoon from May to October, which is the exact inverse of the normal Thailand season. Kata and Kalim on Phuket are the main breaks, with boards, lessons and beach patrols in place through those months, and Khao Lak and Koh Lanta pick up smaller waves. Expect waist to head high on a good day, and cheap board hire because demand is low.

Thailand's established tandem dropzone is at Pattaya, about two hours southeast of Bangkok, where jumps run from roughly 13,000 feet over the Gulf coast with an instructor strapped behind you. A tandem needs no experience and no training day: you are on the ground within about half an hour of boarding the aircraft, after roughly a minute of freefall. Video and stills are sold separately. Book a morning slot, because afternoon wind and cloud ground jumps far more often.

Visakha Bucha, also written Vesak, marks the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, all held to have fallen on the same full moon. It is a national public holiday on the full moon of the sixth lunar month, so usually May or June. Temples run sermons through the day, and after dark a candlelit procession called wian tian circles the main hall three times. Alcohol sales are suspended nationwide for the day, which catches out visitors expecting a normal night out.