10 THINGS TO DO IN THAILAND

Send

Thailand is one of the most dreamed and visited destinations in the world. The reasons are many: a millenary culture full of history, a tasty and low cost cuisine, green mountains dotted with waterfalls, temples where you can approach Buddhism, dream beaches that will make you fall in love and a capital that never rests ... come on, the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable trip!

If you are lost, you want to see everything and do not know where to start today we will tell you what are the 10 essential things to do in Thailand.

Bangkok is one of our favorite cities. We do not know very well the reason and it is that at first sight it can cause some rejection: it is too wet, with too much traffic, with too many people ... come on it is too much! But has something that catches us and that makes us come back again and again. They will be their street stalls, they will be temples like Wat Po or Wat Arun, it will be the Royal Palace, they will be their skyscrapers where to have a cocktail in the heights, it will be their exoticism ... We have visited Bangkok a 7 times and we do not see the time to return !

Know everything you have to do in Bangkok
Check out the 9 most beautiful temples in Bangkok
All information about accommodation / transportation / food / scams / weather in Bangkok
And of course, our Bangkok guide for foodies

The "Wat Rong Khun”(Known as the White Temple) it is well worth approaching the city of Chiang Rai. It is undoubtedly the most amazing and quirky temple in Thailand (and perhaps in the world). If on the outside it looks like something incredibly delicate and of sublime beauty on the inside it will leave you freaked out: it is full of drawings of Dragon Ball, Superman, Doraimon and more fictional characters 🙂

Here we tell you how our first time was with Chiang Rai and White Temple
And everything to see and do in Chiang Rai

Chiang Mai is simply wonderful: cooler and more manageable that the chaotic capital, in Chiang Mai you can get lost among temples, excursions to the Doi Sutep, swimming in pools, craft markets, hipster coffee shops and beach bars full of tasty specialties.

If you want to read everything there is to see and do (and not) in Chiang Mai
Check out some of the best cheap and charming accommodations in Chiang Mai
And it will be for temples, here you have the 15 best temples in Chiang Mai
Here you eat fabulous, we leave you a guide with some of the best restaurants in Chiang Mai

Thailand is known for being the country of smiles ... but beware: behind so much tooth sometimes scams hide! The most common are Budda's birthday and the ping pong show, although there are a few more. Keep your eyes wide open Even if you don't obsess, as we always say, the world is full of good people.

More information about the most typical scams in Asia

If you want to go see the elephants in a recovery center be careful! Unfortunately, many of these 'centers' are true prisons where elephants are mistreated and used to surprise the tourist and enrich the pockets of business owners.

A good way to know if the center takes care of elephants is if they promote a ride on them: as paradoxical as it may seem (given the size of these animals), elephants cannot carry weight on their backs, since their spine is very delicate If the center offers elephant rides ... it is not doing any work to safeguard the pachyderms! (Not to mention those who promise drawing sessions and football games between elephants!). But things don't end here: differentiating a good center from a bad one is much more complicated ...

There are centers such as the Elephant's World (Kanchanaburi) or the Elephant Nature Park (Chiang Mai) that, although they do not promote the walks on elephants, if they keep them in a continuous stress because they are in contact with tourists all the time, washing them, giving them to eat, etc ...

A center that we DIDN'T see in the first person but they talked to us very well was the Chang Chill in Chiang Mai.

The best thing is that you inform yourself well about the experiences of other travelers and in specialized pages such as Faada Here is a list of animal recovery centers in Thailand, where things are done well.

Thai gastronomy is one of the richest in the world and if you are passionate about cooking ... why not take as a learning souvenir? The Thai cooking classes are super common and cheap (about € 20 approx). For us, the best place to learn to cook dishes such as pad thai, green curry and mango sticky rice is Chiang Mai.

If you like cooking do not miss the richest dishes in Thailand
Learn all about Thai cuisine in this guide

In Thailand there are several archaeological parks with ruins of ancient temples and cities. The best known are those of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, although there are more!

Ayutthaya It is more comfortable because it can be seen on a day trip from Bangkok, while Sukhothai He needs more planning because he is bigger and is halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. However, if you want to go to a non-tourist area of Thailand like Buriram, you will freak out with two of the best ruins in the country:Phanom Rung YPrasat Muang Tam.

Choose the one you choose. You will love it: ruins of a past time in which Thailand (or Kingdom of Siam) was very, very, very powerful, with remnants of a really sublime architecture. Come on, without a doubt another of the things to do in Thailand.

All information about the visit to the ruins of Ayutthaya
All information about the visit to the ruins ofSukhothai
Everything to see and do in Buriram

Now it will seem silly to you… but one of the things we miss most about Thailand is its extraordinary fruit shakes: especially the shake mango, yum! Take advantage once you're there to drink a lot, as if there wasn't a tomorrow * word of addicts who would pay anything to have a fresh mango smoothie right now *

The islands of Thailand are one of the great reasons to get on a plane and spend a few hours between clouds!

♣ On one side is the Andaman Sea with Koh Phi Phi and his famous excursion to the beach of Maya Bay (the same one that appears in the movie The Beach with Leonardo di Caprio); the Krabi Peninsula with the incredible cliffs of Railay, paradise for every climber; Koh Lipe, with crystal clear turquoise waters that will invite you to leave everything and move there forever; or some more remote islet like Koh Mook, where life passes slowly.

♣ On the other side is the Gulf of Thailand, with Koh Samui a huge island with many possibilities but that we were not particularly excited about; Koh Phangan where you can celebrate the full moon party or find peace on the northern beaches; or Koh Tao the paradise of divers or those who want to become!

We leave you the post with our experience in Koh Lipe
And of the days we enjoyed Railay
Also of the 3 days we spent in Ao Nang
Also the one that we tell our way through Koh Mook

For a first trip to Thailand we believe that things we have advised you to see and do They are quite successful. Of course, Thailand is a very large country and full of attractions to discover. Other interesting ideas can be: take a trip to Kachanaburi with its bridge over the river Kwai; at Erawan waterfalls; to the hippie village of Pai;or to the unknown east of Thailand! And if you get tired of the land of smiles (really ??) you have all of Southeast Asia to explore 🙂

That said: you will end up coming back and it is that Thailand hooks ... or at least we knew how to catch very well XD Hopefully you are 10 things to do in Thailand on your first trip you liked them!